CIFOR–ICRAF publishes over 750 publications every year on agroforestry, forests and climate change, landscape restoration, rights, forest policy and much more – in multiple languages.

CIFOR–ICRAF addresses local challenges and opportunities while providing solutions to global problems for forests, landscapes, people and the planet.

We deliver actionable evidence and solutions to transform how land is used and how food is produced: conserving and restoring ecosystems, responding to the global climate, malnutrition, biodiversity and desertification crises. In short, improving people’s lives.

Restoring soil fertility in the East African highlands through participatory research

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Land degradation is the principal environmental factor behind declining percapita food production in sub-Saharan Africa. Causes include nutrient mining, soil erosion, poor land management and lack of resources. Risingpopulation pressure often obliges farmers to utilize vulnerable, sloping land withaggravated erosion and degradation (Figure 1). A major concern of many stakeholders in highland areas, besides maintainingthe fertility of lands that are still productive, is how to rehabilitate degraded arable lands that are on the verge of going out of production. The Tropical Soils Biology & Fertility Institute of CIAT(TSBF) and the African Highlands Initiative (AHI), working together with the Ethiopian Agricultural Research Organization (EARO) in an action research approach with farmer research groups, has shown that the following methods are effective in implementing integrated soil fertility management in the Areka area of southern Ethiopia.
    Publication year

    2003

    Authors

    Amede, T.

    Language

    English

    Keywords

    farming systems, fertilizers, organic matter, soil conservation, soil fertility

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