Bringing ISFM to scale through an integrated farm planning approach: a case study from Burundi

Abstract

Integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) is generally accepted as the most relevant paradigm for soil fertility improvement in the tropics. Successes however are mainly reported at plot level, while real impact at farm level and beyond remains scattered. As a consequence, many Sub-Saharan African countries continue experiencing soil nutrient mining and insecure and insufficient agricultural production. Since technology-driven projects at the plot level failed to bring ISFM to scale, a different approach is needed. This paper describes a bottom-up approach developed in Burundi, the ''PIP approach''. It starts at farmer family level with the creation of an integrated farm plan (Plan Intégré de Paysan in French-PIP) and aims at wide-scale spreading of farmers' intrinsic motivation to invest in activities that make the household more resilient and profitable, while moving towards sustainable agricultural intensification based on concepts of ISFM. As such, and once firmly embedded in and supported by village or district plans, agriculture becomes a business rather than a default activity inherited by parents, and ISFM an intrinsic aspect of farm management. In this paper the PIP approach as currently being implemented in Burundi is explained and discussed, with special reference to soil fertility management and some preliminary promising results.

How farmers’ characteristics influence spontaneous spreading of stone bunds in the highlands of Ethiopia: a case study in the Girar Jarso woreda

“…This result is consistent with the findings by Kessler (2006) that dynamic farmers invest more in SWC practices. Following Kessler (2006), Quinn and Burbach (2010), Kessler et al (2016) and Ryan and Deci (2017), farmers' willingness and interest can be considered as a sign of intrinsic motivation, suggesting that farmers who implement stone bunds by their own initiative are more intrinsically motivated farmers.…”

Assessing Farmers’ Willingness to Participate in Campaign-Based Watershed Management: Experiences from Boset District, Ethiopia

“…However, a study that comprehensively assesses outcomes of the CBWM program is not available, as the existing empirical evidence on Ethiopia generally focuses on outcomes of project-based interventions that are carried out through food-for-work payments or incentives [4,[7][8][9]. Equally important as qualitative outcomes are the actors' perception of these outcomes, given that this often determines subsequent successful collective action [10][11][12][13] and sustainable land management [14,15]. Hence, next to quantifying outcomes, it is indispensable to also assess farmers' perceptions of outcomes of watershed management initiatives.…”

Exploring the scaling-up of sustainable land management in the Central highlands of Ethiopia

“…Both are important to motivate more farmers to adopt and implement SLM practices (Aad Kessler, 2006). Raising awareness, changing farmers' mindset, promoting genuine participation and enabling them to become intrinsically motivated to plan and invest in their future is crucial for the horizontal scalingup of SLM practices (Carter & Currie-Alder, 2006;Kessler et al, 2016). The biggest challenge for SLM in Ethiopia is therefore how to achieve wide-scale impact, at a geographical scale larger than the traditional scale of singular intervention through projects.…”

“…Following C. A. Kessler (2006), Quinn & Burbach (2010), Kessler et al (2016) and Ryan & Deci (2017), farmers' willingness and interest can be considered as a sign of intrinsic motivation, suggesting that farmers who implement stone bunds by their own initiative are more intrinsically motivated farmers.…”