Biological and social feasibility of Sesbania fallow practice in small holder agricultural farms in developing countries: a Zambian case study.
Many small holder farmers in developing countries face problems of declining soil fertility and crop yields and insufficient money to buy expensive inorganic fertilizers. The Sesbania fallow system, an agroforestry technology, seems to hold a key to these problems. Based on field studies in eastern Zambia, this paper reports that fallow system has the potential to improve and sustain soil productivity in the small holder farms. However, the paper also reports that the ability for subsistence farmers to adopt the Sesbania fallow system is affected by gender differences in resource allocation to productive resources and institutional, cultural, and social structural settings in which farmers exist and make decisions.
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Forestry Program, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, British Columbia, V2N 4Z9, Canada.
D000383:Agriculture; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D003906:Developing Countries; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012924:Social Conditions; D012987:Soil; D014197:Trees; D015024:Zambia
D012987:Soil