Worldwide, climate change is currently recognized as one of the major challenges to increased food production. The agriculture sector is the main source of livelihoods, growth and foreign exchange earnings in many developing countries including Zambia. However, it is also a sector that is mostly vulnerable to effects of climate change. Smallholder farmers in Zambia have been adopting agricultural related adaptation strategies including minimum tillage and crop rotation to mitigate effects of climate change. There has been contentious debate on whether the two strategies (that are elements of conservation farming) increase crop yields and incomes. Available literature heavily relies on biophysical experiments and show contradictions in the ability of these strategies to improve crop yields. Taking cognizance of the differences in socioeconomic circumstances of the farmers, the purpose of this study was to estimate the impact of minimum tillage and crop rotation on maize yields and incomes for farmers adopting the strategies. The study used cross sectional data collected in 2012/13 from 1231 households across six districts of Zambia and applied propensity score matching techniques and Heckman's selection estimators to account for observed and unobserved heterogeneity between the adopters and non-adopters. The results showed that about 12 and 19% of the farmers have adopted minimum tillage and crop rotation respectively. The strategies improved on-farm maize productivity by about 26% to 38% for minimum tillage and 21% to 24% for crop rotation. Minimum tillage also improved total household maize production. On the other hand crop rotation did not significantly improve total maize production and gross income from the crop. This could reflect the small proportions of areas allocated to legumes versus the areas subsequently allocated to the maize crop during crop rotation. The impact of crop rotation on the staple maize crop could be boosted by encouraging farmers to increase the areas allocated to legumes. The legumes portfolio in the government sponsored input support programme should be increased. The results from this study generally confirm the potential direct role of agricultural related climate change adaptation strategies in improving crop productivity levels in small holder farming systems.

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It is grown for human consumption, livestock feed, and industrial raw materials (Lukeba et al., 2013). Maize yields have increased over the last decades due to an increase in nitrogen (N) fertilizer use, improvement in crop management, and enhanced stress tolerance in maize cultivars (Yakoub, Lloveras,

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), is a high value crop that can generate income for households. As a legume, soybean is incorporated in cropping systems to improve soil fertility. Soybean productivity is however limited by factors including declined soil fertility, climate change and partly due to inadequate land suitability information. This study aimed at identifying suitable land for soybean production in Kabwe district. Data layers of selected attributes relevant to soybean production were generated with slope and wetness data layers extracted from the digital elevation model (DEM). Elevation was used as a proxy for climate (rainfall and temperature) and was generated by reclassifying the elevation grid into elevation classes. Data layers for soil reaction (pH), soil organic carbon, phosphorus and texture were generated by inverse distance weighting interpolation method based on soil point data. A distance to roads layer was created using the euclidean distance tool. A spatial process model based on multi-criteria evaluation was used to integrate data layers in a weighted sum overlay to generate a soybean suitability map, whose quality was assessed using an error matrix. Results showed that 15.07% of the investigated area was highly suitable for soybean production, whereas 26.53% was suitable and 25.18% was moderately suitable. The other 20.57% was marginally suitable, 10.74% was currently not suitable and 1.92% was permanently not suitable. Based on ground truth data, the overall classification accuracy of the suitability map was 65%. The map was therefore good enough for use as a guide in selecting suitable sites for soybean production.

Abstract. Humanity depends on the existence of healthy soils, both for the production of food and for ensuring a healthy, biodiverse environment, among other functions. COVID-19 is threatening food availability in many places of the world due to the disruption of food chains, lack of workforce, closed borders and national lockdowns. As a consequence, more emphasis is being placed on local food production, which may lead to more intensive cultivation of vulnerable areas and to soil degradation. In order to increase the resilience of populations facing this pandemic and future global crises, transitioning to a paradigm that relies more heavily on local food production on soils that are carefully tended and protected through sustainable management is necessary. To reach this goal, the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recommends five active strategies: improved access to land, sound land use planning, sustainable soil management, enhanced research, and investments in education and extension. The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life. – Wendell Berry (American novelist)

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Abstract:A common strategy for ameliorating soil acidity is the application of agricultural lime. However, this measure is hampered by the lack of high resolution soil maps that can enable lime application according to the spatial variability of soil pH in an area. Therefore, this study was carried out to map soil acidity in South Eastern Zambia. The objective of the study was to apply geostatistical procedures to mapping soil acidity in the country. Ordinary kriging was performed on a set of 119 soil samples collected from the 0-20 cm soil layer whose pH was determined by the electrometric method. The kriging model that was developed was found to be satisfactory with low prediction errors (root mean square error 0.36). Thus, the map produced could be used to draw up strategies for management of soil acidity in the area.

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