Dynamics and Diversity: Soil Fertility and Farming Livelihoods in Africa

Contents......Page 4
List of Tables......Page 6
List of Figures......Page 8
List of Boxes......Page 9
Foreword......Page 10
Preface......Page 11
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations......Page 13
Introduction......Page 14
The current policy debate......Page 15
Understanding soils in Africa......Page 17
Styles of investigation and sources of evidence......Page 21
Science and how the policy debate is framed......Page 25
Case study sites: some contrasts and comparisons......Page 28
Diversity and dynamics: new perspectives on soil management......Page 39
Soils, agriculture and livelihoods: multiple pathways of change......Page 47
Conclusion......Page 57
Introduction......Page 58
The Wolayta context: an introduction to the study areas......Page 59
Agricultural and environmental history......Page 61
Biographies of change: the intertwining of social, economic, political and biophysical processes......Page 69
Land users’ perspectives on soils and their management......Page 72
Social and economic dimensions of soil management......Page 78
Impacts on farm- and plot-level nutrient balances......Page 84
Conclusion......Page 88
Introduction......Page 91
The Malian context......Page 92
Agricultural and environmental issues in Mali......Page 94
Farming Systems in Mali......Page 96
A comparison of the four research sites......Page 102
Soils and their management......Page 104
How do people gain access to soil nutrients?......Page 107
Managing soil-fertility: analysis of nutrient balances......Page 114
Assessing the significance of the partial nutrient balances......Page 119
Institutional and policy contexts: explaining differences in soil-fertility management......Page 120
Conclusion......Page 127
Introduction......Page 129
Researching soils in Zimbabwe: a brief overview......Page 130
The case study areas......Page 133
Ecological dynamics and soil-fertility......Page 135
A brief history of soils and landscapes......Page 139
Local understandings of soils and fertility......Page 148
Nutrient budget analysis......Page 150
Managing soil-fertility: input use......Page 154
Efficiencies of nutrient use......Page 157
Pathways of soil-fertility change......Page 160
Soil-fertility management strategies: case studies......Page 164
Socio-economic issues: access, control and management of fertilty resources......Page 166
Conclusion......Page 175
Introduction......Page 177
Agro-ecosystem complexity and diversity......Page 178
Farmers and scientists working together......Page 181
Adaptive experimentation and joint learning: experiences from Africa......Page 182
New challenges......Page 186
Introduction......Page 189
Diversity of agro-ecological setting and farmer practice......Page 191
Farmers’ concern for soil-fertility management: the broader context......Page 192
Technological choices......Page 194
Impacts of policy on farming practice......Page 198
Policy options and strategies......Page 211
Strategies for integrated soil-fertility management: following a phased approach......Page 215
Future directions?......Page 219
Notes......Page 222
References......Page 228
Index......Page 248