Reports on recent long-term research trials comparing organic and conventional farming systems in South Africa, which demonstrate a closure of the yield gap between the two systems in three years. Technical tools in organic farming such as farmer training and participatory guarantee systems are also explored in the context of Southern Africa.
Organic agriculture world-wide allows farmers to produce healthy food with low levels of external inputs, and often shortens the value chains, giving farmers a higher share of the consumer dollar. This book reports on long-term comparative organic farming systems research trials carried out over the last four years in South Africa's Southern Cape, as well as research on the organic sector and the technical tools it requires in South Africa, Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania. The trials show how the yield gap between organic and conventional crops was closed over 3 years. Water use efficiency was also greater in the organic farming system, and pests and diseases were effectively controlled using biological products. Farmer training approaches, soil carbon analysis, participatory guarantee systems, the Zambian organic farming sector (agronomy) and Ugandan organic farmer training support, and a sector plan for southern African organic farming are examined.
Daugiau informacijos
Students and agricultural researchers and policy makers interested in Africa and focused on international development, agriculture, organic farming, sustainability.
| Contributors |
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xi | |
| Foreword |
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xxi | |
| Acknowledgements |
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xxiii | |
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xxv | |
| Introduction |
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xxix | |
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Part 1 Conceptual and Global Perspectives |
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1 | (78) |
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1 The Developing Organic Sector in Southern and Eastern Africa: What Have We Learned About Sustainable Development? |
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3 | (18) |
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2 An Overview of Global Organic and Regenerative Agriculture Movements |
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21 | (11) |
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3 Organic Research Contributes to Sector Development and Good Organic Policy: the Danish, Swiss, American and African Case Studies |
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32 | (10) |
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4 The Organic Academy of IFOAM-Organics International: Training Multipliers in the Developing World |
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42 | (9) |
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5 Understanding a Food Systems Approach |
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51 | (9) |
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6 BERAS - a Global Network of Food Systems with Examples from Sweden, Haiti, Tanzania and India |
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60 | (19) |
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Part 2 Capacity Building and Climate Change |
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79 | (118) |
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7 The Likely Impact of the 2015-2018 Drought in South Africa: Lessons From the 2008 Food Price Crisis and Future Implications |
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81 | (19) |
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8 The Use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to Support Organic Food Systems in Africa |
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100 | (13) |
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9 Strengthening Participation in the Organic Value Chain for Small-scale Farmers in Southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |
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113 | (17) |
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10 Participatory Guarantee Systems as an Organic Market Entry Point for Small-scale Farmers in South Africa |
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130 | (9) |
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11 Development of an Inclusive Value Chain for Peri-urban Micro-farmers |
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139 | (12) |
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12 Supporting Vulnerable Communities in the Eastern Cape: Assessing the Rainfall Evidence |
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151 | (25) |
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13 Water Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and Suburban Vegetable Production |
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176 | (9) |
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14 Experiential Training of Farmers and University Diploma Students in KwaZulu-Natal and the Southern Cape |
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185 | (12) |
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Part 3 Supporting Organic Farmers |
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197 | (128) |
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15 The National Organic Agriculture Movement of Uganda |
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199 | (10) |
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16 Factors Contributing to Adoption or Disadoption of Organic Agriculture in Zambia |
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209 | (8) |
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17 The Rapid Incineration Field Test as an Accurate, Cost-effective and Practical Tool for Estimating Soil Carbon in Africa |
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217 | (16) |
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18 The Nelson Mandela Long-term Comparative Organic Farming Systems Research Trials: Baseline Study and Trial Design |
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233 | (17) |
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19 Comparative Water Use Efficiency and Water Retention in the Mandela Trials |
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250 | (14) |
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20 Biological and Chemical Soil Fumigation and Pest and Disease Management Comparisons in the Western Cape |
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264 | (20) |
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21 Initial Assessment of Selected Biological Soil Health Indicators in Organic Versus Conventional Cropping Systems in Field Trials in South Africa |
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284 | (19) |
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22 Soil Fertility Changes and Crop Yields from the First 4 Years of the Mandela Trials |
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303 | (22) |
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Part 4 Upscaling the Organic Sector in Africa |
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325 | (32) |
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23 Urban Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Water Management and Planning |
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327 | (10) |
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24 A Future Strategy for Organic Development in Southern Africa |
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337 | (20) |
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| Index |
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357 | |
Raymond Auerbach is Project Leader for the African Organic Farming Systems Research Project, and Principal Investigator (Food Production) for the Centre of Excellence for Food Security (both funded by the SA National Research Foundation), based at Nelson Mandela University (George Campus) in South Africa's Southern Cape. Having studied Biodynamic Farming in Australia in the seventies, he has worked in organic farming for 48 years, first as a farmer, then as a farmer trainer and over the past 10 years as a researcher and policy adviser in agro-ecology. As the African Board Member for the International Association for Farming Systems Research and Extension in the 1990s, he advocated a Farming Systems Research and Extension approach to agricultural development in Southern Africa, and in 1991 was part of a pioneering group which invited Jimmy Mascarenhas to South Africa to carry out the first Participatory Rural Appraisal training. This resulted in the spread of PRA as a tool-kit for rural community development. He received the lifetime award from the African Union Commission in Nigeria for 'Services to Ecological Organic Agriculture in Africa' in 2016, and received an award for Innovation in Research Engagement from Nelson Mandela University in 2015, and the Individual "Excellence in Engagement" award in 2016. He is on the Board of the South African Organic Sector Organisation, Treasurer of SA Participatory Guarantee Systems Association (PGS) and Chair of Eden PGS. He is a Trustee of the Garden Route Botanical Garden Trust, with the Environmental Education Centre and Fundraising portfolios.
