UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Major Groups

Submitting organization:

Affiliation:	- Farmers

Name of Focal Point:	Sofia Widforss

Initiative Title:	Zaï technology in Burkina Faso

Internet links:	http://www.ifpri.org/events/conferences/2003/120103/cases/zaiburkina.pdf http://www.worldbank.com/afr/ik/iknt77.htm http://www.frameweb.org/ev_en.php?ID=11597_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC http://www.ifpri.org/divs/eptd/dp/papers/eptdp114.pdf http://www.echotech.org/technical/az/aztext/azch5dry.htm

Scope:	Regional: - Africa

Status:	Ongoing

Timeframe:	Start: Pre 1997 End:

Lead Institution:	International Food Policy Research Centre IFPRI

Stakeholders/Partners:	Indigenous Soil and Water Conservation (ISWC), OXFAM, Rural Development Fund (FDR II)

Relevent issues:	- Enhancing agricultural productivity through adequate and sustainable inputs - Community-based and indigenous approaches to food production - Diversifying agricultural production systems - Community-based programmes for efficient land use - Soil fertility improvement practices - Management of land and water interactions - Land restoration and soil productivities policies and practices

Objectives/Challenges:

Alternative farming methods including; dry-season land preparation using minimum tillage methods (either ox-drawn rip lines or hand-hoe basins laid out in a precise grid of 15,850 basins per hectare);
• no burning but rather retention of crop residue from the prior harvest;
• planting and input application in fixed planting stations; and
• nitrogen-fixing crop rotations.

Heavy labor demand and lack of knowledge of the technology constrains further expansion. A challenge will be to reach even the poor farmers, since the medium and rich farmers since they are most likely to adopt Zaï since they have more family labor, and can afford to hire additional labor force if needed.

Lessons Learned:

Zaï will prove most viable in areas with rainfall between
300 and 800 mm per year. With additional extension support, further expansion is possible into surroundings regions. It works best in areas where the labor is cheap, for farmers who can afford to hire labor.
Farmers can use "zai" technology on an individual basis.

Policy Options:

Continued public investment in the soil and water conservation (i.e. the innovative responses to drought initiated by the farmers, to find better practices).

Summary:

This technique enables farmers to response to drought and soil degradation in an ecologically sustainable matter.

It is a traditional practice of digging a 20x20 cm hole 10 cm deep during the dry season and filling it with mulch such as crop residue or manures. This leads to increased termite activity which, in turn, increases the rate of water infiltration when the rains come. Millet is planted in the individual holes, which also help protect the seedlings from wind damage.
Zai holes also allow greater water infiltration. The technique was originally used for hard pan soils which are uncultivatable using traditional farming methods. In one area in which millet yields were often less than 350 kg/hectare; with Zai holes, the yields reached 1000-2000 kg/ha. Farmers in 87 villages dug almost two million Zai holes for their millet.

Where farmers are using it, it is making a big impact on crop yields. Soils here are infertile and if farmers have manure at all they just broadcast it on top of their fields. Much of this is baked, blown and washed away. If the manure and organic matter are placed in a zai hole, losses are minimized and nutrients are concentrated where the plant can use them. Crop plants have a competitive advantage over weeds that are not in the zai hole.