This forum paper provides a synthesis and discussion of 14 categories of lessons learned from experiences for achieving farm-level impact with smallholder farmers in Africa. These lessons were reported in a symposium hosted by the Agronomy in Africa community of the American Society of Agronomy. The lessons, listed in order of frequency of reporting, were the need to: have adequate infrastructure and services; enable spontaneous adoption; have multi-disciplinary and institutional collaboration; build on previous adoption of good agronomic practices (GAP); have farmer participation in research; encourage and learn from smallholder adaptations; make GAP promotion demand-driven; allow GAP choices; address challenges and trade-offs to GAP adoption; enable GAP-by-GAP adoption; reconcile conflicting messages; offer adequate profit potential with acceptable risk; reduce labor needs, especially for women; and build capacity for farming system improvement along the chain from farmer to research. The lessons are discussed and conclusions are reported.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20363Altmetric score:
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Publication year
2020
Authors
Wortmann, C.; Amede, T.; Bekunda, M.; Ndung'u-Magiroi, K.; Masikati, P.; Snapp, S.; Stewart, Z.P.; Westgate, M.; Zida, Z.; Kome, C.E.
Language
English
Keywords
small scale farming, farming systems, farmers, profits
