Key informant tool for the enhancement of crop–livestock systems under conservation agriculture (CLCA): Towards a sustainable CLCA production system

Abstract

The project “Use of conservation agriculture in crop–livestock systems (CLCA) in the drylands for enhanced water use efficiency, soil fertility and productivity in North East, North Africa (NENA) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries” aims to develop contextually relevant processes for enhancing the broad uptake of conservation agriculture within integrated crop–livestock systems in drylands in and NENA regions (Algeria and Tunisia). Previous development projects in Tunisia and Algeria revealed that in most cases, adoption of conservation agriculture technologies has led to enhanced and more stable yields. These economic and environmental benefits are a strong argument for greater policy and institutional support to accelerate opportunities for adoption and uptake. Conservation agriculture technologies are not only unknown when it comes to the level of integration between cropping and livestock, but their wide-scale adoption remains a challenge, especially among smallholder farmers in arid areas. Experiences across North African countries have shown that adoption and dissemination of conservation agriculture require a higher commitment and a change in behavior from all stakeholders. Within this framework, the CLCA project team is conducting interviews with key stakeholders to categorize major challenges to the adoption of CLCA systems, identify practical and affordable solutions to overcome these challenges, and provide guidance and recommendations on what sustained policy and institutional support is needed to help determine priorities for future scaling investments.