Save and Grow – A technical guide to agricultural practices in Zambia

Book excerpt: This guide has been developed for extension officers in both the public and the private, including those interested in agricultural development in Zambia. The goal of this manual is to serve as a tool that allows readers to access up to date information about various agricultural practices and their advantages and disadvantages. There are many organisations in Zambia that have programs that aim towards sustainable development in the agricultural sector. Amongst these programs, there are many different approaches to the goal of improving livelihoods. Although these various programs have good reasons for promoting their specific methods, this manual aims to take an independent stance to portray what all of them offer and why. This manual also includes significant information about new approaches and traditional farmer practices or conventional farming methods. The central theme in this manual is that there can never be only one way to achieve a goal under such diverse conditions as are found in agriculture. Although a certain amount of benefit can be gained by rigid guidelines to agricultural practice (for example a specific crop spacing, tillage method or fertilizer recommendation), the diverse factors that affect peoples’ decisions relate to economic, social and environmental conditions make such guidelines impractical in many cases.