relation: http://oar.icrisat.org/11564/
title: Limits of conservation agriculture to overcome low crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa
creator: Corbeels, M
creator: Naudin, K
creator: Whitbread, A M
creator: Kühne, R
creator: Letourmy, P
subject: Smallholder Farmers
subject: Crop Yield
subject: Sub-Saharan Africa
description: Conservation agriculture (CA) has become a dominant paradigm in scientific and policy thinking about the sustainable intensification  of food production in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet claims that CA leads to increasing crop yields in African smallholder  farming systems remain controversial. Through a meta-analysis of 933 observations from 16 different countries in sub-Saharan African studies, we show that average yields under CA are only slightly higher than those of conventional tillage systems (3.7% for six major crop species and 4.0% for maize). Larger yield responses for maize result from mulching and crop rotations/intercropping. When CA principles are implemented concomitantly, maize yield increases by 8.4%. The largest yield benefits from CA occur in combination with low rainfall and herbicides. We conclude that although CA may bring soil conservation benefits, it is not a technology for African smallholder farmers to overcome low crop productivity and food insecurity in the short term.
publisher: Nature Research
date: 2020-07
type: Article
type: PeerReviewed
format: application/pdf
language: en
identifier: http://oar.icrisat.org/11564/1/Corbeels_etal_CA_SSA_NatureFood_2020.pdf
identifier:   Corbeels, M and Naudin, K and Whitbread, A M and Kühne, R and Letourmy, P  (2020) Limits of conservation agriculture to overcome low crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa.  Nature Food (TSI), 1 (7).  pp. 447-454.  ISSN 2662-1355     
relation: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-020-0114-x
relation: doi:10.1038/s43016-020-0114-x