Enhancing adoption of soil conservation practices through technical and institutional innovations: NVS and landcare

Sloping uplands in Southeast Asia are the most diverse, extensive, and fragile ecosystems. The development and dissemination of sustainable soil conservation technologies in these ecosystems is a formidable task. ICRAF’s research in sloping uplands in Mindanao and Visayas found that natural vegetative strips (NVS) is a farmer-led technical innovation based on contour farming that has provided a simple, low-cost solution to soil erosion. NVS unwraps the SALT package, is adaptable to the range of farmers’ land use choices and often used as a starting point towards more productive agroforestry systems. Rapid adoption of NVS by farmers was achieved through the Landcare approach. Landcare is based on partnership of Landcare groups (farmers), local government units (LGU’s) and technical service providers and facilitators (ICRAF). As an extension approach for rapid and inexpensive diffusion of conservation farming, agroforestry practices and other natural resource management systems, it consists of appropriate technologies, community institution development, and partnership building. While the most practical benefit of the Landcare approach was the rapid adoption of soil conservation and agroforestry practices, the development of human and social capital is considered its most important impact. Successful adoption of soil conservation technologies for economic and environmental benefits thus depend on a proven set of flexible technologies and a parallel, farmer-led institutional innovation for education and support.

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