Conservation Agriculture Research Updates - March 2026

This paper presents overview findings from trans-disciplinary research projects from Southern, East, and West Africa to evaluate the potential importance of integrated participatory soil health studies designed to inform context-specific recommendations and policies for resilient African food systems. The paper identifies how integrated research can help shared learning and knowledge exchange required for upscaling sustainable land management practices enabled through enhanced farmer participation.

This is an interesting paper that looks at the conflicts between private interests and communal use of resources, for example the free grazing of crop residues. The objective was to assess the impacts of crop residue management on crop productivity in Burkina Faso. They use the AMBAWA model to simulate the flows of biomass and nutrients between crop and livestock systems at the village level scale for 4 types of farmers: subsistence-oriented crop farmers, market-oriented crop farmers, agro-pastoralists and pastoralists. The paper presents some interesting conclusions and suggests that the AMBAWA model can support discussion amongst stakeholders in order to co-design effective arrangements and practices for their sustainable use.

This interesting paper looks at the use of digital tools to allow farmers to access mechanization using the Uber model. This service provider provision for smallholder farmers was compared in India and Nigeria. How does it work in practice? And what is its potential to reduce the transaction costs of tractor service provision, both for tractor owners and for smallholders who use tractor services? For the empirical analysis, a mixed-methods approach was applied involving approximately 400 respondents and comprising net-maps (a participatory mapping tool), focus group discussions, interviews with tractor owners and other stakeholders, and a survey among farmers. Overall, the paper shows that Uber for tractors is a pioneering concept, but investment in enabling conditions, such as digital literacy and network coverage, is required to harness the full potential of such digital innovations for smallholder farmers in the developing world.