Moving paradigms - conservation agriculture with alternative agronomics to minimize inputs.

Abstract The African Union Malabo Declaration outlines goals to achieve sustainable production practices for economic growth in the agriculture sector by 2025. Conservation Agriculture (CA) practices represent a climate smart and resource friendly sustainable production system, and these need to be adopted and refined. This will be a paradigm shift for academics, experts and farmers who are embedded in the intensive external-input monoculture tillage systems. From our review of literature, recent history has shown that CA systems are successful and profitable while using less external inputs and expending less energy. Energy use can be reduced by 40% and labour needs by 50%-90%. Research has shown that CA farming is superior in terms of enhancing soil functions, biodiversity, beneficial insects, energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and resilience to extreme climate events. Nitrogen and other essential elemental crop needs can be reduced by 10%-70% through CA systems. African research and farm testing have shown integrated CA cropping systems can control insect and weed pests while providing more diverse economic crops. For the paradigm shift to occur quickly, efficiently and economically, institutions need to lead change. Policy makers need to start strategic changes to research and institutions by initiating support programmes identified by innovative researchers and agricultural leaders that can move the Malabo dial towards the 2025 goals.