CONNESSA

Sustainable intensification of smallholder agriculture is fundamental to food security, poverty reduction and conservation of natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Soil degradation is a major driver of poor agricultural productivity. This implies low resource use efficiencies, including fertilizer, water and labour inputs, and entails low resilience of food systems to climate variability. Effective measures for rehabilitation (or aggradation) of degraded soils rely on organic amendments and agronomic practices that increase soil organic matter. However, variation in social and biophysical contexts across SSA underpins the need to target aggradation measures to the local context, including locally available soil amendments. In particular, there is an urgency to improve diagnosis of soil-related fertility constraints (‘responsiveness of soils’). Optimization of the use of organic resources further needs to take into account trade-offs in resource availability and human well-being at different spatial and temporal scales.Reallocation of organic resources may simply transfer nutrient depletion from one site to another, while changes in labour requirements may disproportionally affect certain social groups (e.g. gender-related).

This project builds on the premise that integrated solutions for sustainable land use, combined with local adaptation of soil fertility management are urgently needed to address the challenges associated with smallholder agriculture in SSA. We aim to develop a generic knowledge network that connects (it:connessa) scales and actors towards adaptive soil fertility management and agroecosystems’ resilience. The project objectives will be addressed in three interrelated Work Packages (WPs): aggradating degraded soils and enhancing resource use efficiencies (WP1), exploring diversity and optimizing trade-offs (WP2) and linking local capital and science for innovation (WP3).

We concentrate activities in focal sites that represent different agroecological contexts across East (Kenya) and West Africa (Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire) as well as social issues (e.g. population density, proximity to urban areas). The project capitalizes on existing projects and novel analytical capacity for diagnosis of soil responsiveness and contribute to a better understanding of pathways for soil aggradation. Existing data and research trials support model adaptations required for trade-off analysis at different spatial and temporal scales. Tools for participatory scenario evaluations are shared and adapted to the local context. Finally, the project will recommended policies and practices for local adaption of organic resource management. ConneSSA will foster integration of scientific disciplines and creates important added value to existing research and stakeholder networks at the focal sites.