The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) have agreed to work together to accelerate the adoption of Conservation of Agriculture with Trees (CAWT).
CAWT refers to a platform of agricultural technologies that seek to combine the best elements of agroforestry and conservation agriculture.
The catalyst for this synergy is a yearlong study of farmer attitudes to technologies promoted by ICRAF and ACT.
Using the task forces formed in four African countries, the two organizations will work with governments to test the best technologies in CAWT while addressing policy and institutional factors that may hinder adoption.
In May 2012 ICRAF and ACT revealed that a mere five per cent of farmers apply all three principles of conservation agriculture: minimum soil disturbance, effecting crop rotation and the use of permanent soil cover.
While a high proportion of farmers plant trees in their farms, the study showed that the majority did not intercrop the trees with annual crops to optimum levels that could boost yields.
"Even though the findings showed that there is substantial awareness of conservation agriculture that involves the use of trees in the four sampled countries, the practice is only limited to one or two of the principles of conservation agriculture," says Jonathan Muriuki, a scientist at ICRAF.
