Commercial Home Gardens under Conservation Agriculture and Drip Irrigation for Small Holder Farming in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract. Commercial home gardens under conservation agriculture (CA) combined with efficient water application technology have potential to contribute towards a sustainable agriculture development in sub-Sharan Africa (SSA). A USAID funded project conducted vegetable home garden experiments in three SSA countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania and Ghana) in order to investigate the effect of CA and conventional tillage (CT) practices both under drip irrigation. A total of 43 farmers are selected for this experiment in all three countries. The experiment is laid out in a paired t design on a 100 m² plot to investigate the effect of CA and CT on vegetable yield and irrigation water management. Various level of discussion is conducted with farmers, governmental and non-governmental organizations to locate the sites, select farmers and establish the experiment. Data collection protocol is developed based on statistical analysis and field-scale modeling requirements. The results showed significant increase in vegetable yields under CA in Ethiopia and Ghana, but the lower yield is observed under CA in Tanzania due to pests and nitrogen stress associated banana leaf mulch. Similarly, significantly lower irrigation water is used under CA in Ethiopia. Various opportunities and challenges are observed in the context of these conservation agriculture setting that could potentially transform small holder farming communities for increasing food and nutrition security. Initial modeling attempt using Agriculture Policy/ Environmental extender (APEX) model for home garden studies depicted consistent decrease of runoff and evapotranspiration under CA .