A declaration by the First African Congress on Conservation Agriculture calls for national and international support to upscale conservation agriculture as a climate smart technology to reach at least 25 million farmers across Africa by 2025.

Conservation agriculture centers around 3 main principles: minimum physical soil disturbance, permanent soil cover with live or dead plant material, and crop diversification in space and time. The practice is estimated to be spreading at an annual rate of 10 million hectares, and now covers more than 130 million hectares globally.

In the declaration, conservation agriculture is described as one of the best food security and profitability options for farmers. It can be applied to a range of production systems, including horticulture, agroforestry and crop-livestock integration, and has been shown to improve the incomes and livelihoods of farmers.

Over 400 congress participants from 42 different countries attended the Congress in Lusaka, Zambia during March 2014 to share experiences and lessons in conservation agriculture and discuss how the practice can be expanded among smallholder farmers and related industries in Africa.

The declaration which came out of the Congress suggests a more conducive environment is needed to remove barriers to adoption of conservation agriculture, partnerships created and strengthened, and investments made in education, training, science and extension to further spread the practice.

Conservation agriculture is expected to become a major contributor to the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme’s (CAADP) goal of 6% annual growth in the agricultural sector which employs 80% of Africa's rural population.

Read the full story on the website of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN): Declaration of the First Africa Congress on Conservation Agriculture