A Socioeconomic Evaluation of an ACIAR-funded Project on the Use of Forage Legumes in Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems on Smallholder Farms in Zimbabwe

摘要

A fanner participatory research project was initiated in 1998 in the Wedza District of Zimbabwe to improve soil fertility and crop and livestock production on smallholder farms in Natural Region lib (750-900 mm annual rainfall). Based on legume technologies integrated into crop-livestock farming systems, the project ran for four years. By the end of the project there was widespread adoption of legumes in ley pastures, cereal-legume intercropping and livestock feeding systems. This rapid adoption resulted from the combination of good forage technologies, the better practices process and the participatory action research approach. The project had a large impact on the community, demonstrated by improved household incomes from the sale of milk, beef cattle and seed, and improved crop yields. Forage legumes fitted well into smallholder farmers' integrated crop-livestock systems, and Lablab purpureus and Mucuna pruriens were the most widely used legumes. Adoption was hampered by shortage of seed of the recommended varieties. We concluded that farmers should produce legume seed at a commercial scale to satisfy local and external markets. Farmers said that, for an even bigger impact, the project should help them to obtain crop inputs and better breeds of cattle. Farmers' comments at the end of the four years showed that the project still had a lot to accomplish. The ready adoption of the project results demonstrated that scientists should develop and run research programs in partnership or consultation with the end-users of the technology.