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Conservation agriculture (CA) and integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) practices are receiving increased attention as pathways to sustainable high-production agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about the effects of these practices on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). The study aimed at understanding the long-term effects of (i) ISFM and CA on AMF communities and functioning, and on glomalin concentrations. The study also aimed at understanding the (ii) role of AMF in soil aggregation, plant nutrition and crop yield under field conditions and (iii) combined effect of AMF and earthworms on soil aggregation, plant nutrition and crop yield under greenhouse conditions. The study was conducted in two long-term field trials. The ISFM trial was in Kabete (central Kenya) and compared fertilization (nitrogen and phosphorus) and organic amendments (farmyard manure, crop residue) for 32 years, while the CA trial was in Nyabeda (western Kenya) and compared effect of tillage (conventional versus no-tillage), residue application, cropping system (monocropping versus rotation) and N-fertilization for 5 years. Long-term use of mineral fertilizer and organic amendments, as well as tillage and N fertilization altered AMF species composition, but the changes were relatively minor. Organic amendments alone or in combination with NP fertilization increased AMF incidence, whereas no-tillage in the presence of residue increased spore abundance and root colonization. N fertilization increased root colonization but had a negative effect on spore abundance and species richness. Crop rotation had no effect on AMF. Glomalin was also sensitive to management, but the response was site-specific. Glomalin responded more to CA in Nyabeda than ISFM in Kabete. N fertilization and residue increased glomalin, especially under conventional tillage. Path analysis indicated that AMF symbiosis and glomalin enhanced soil aggregation and crop nutrition and yield in both sites.

Keywords: food security, biophysical and socioeconomic conditions, farmer resource groups, productivity, economic evaluation, scenario analysis Smallholder livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa(SSA) are constrained by a number of factors that limit food production and thereby threaten food security. Soil fertility is one of the major factors explaining the decrease in per capita food production in SSA. Nutrient deficiencies in particular N and P severely limit agricultural production in many regions in the tropics. Supply of adequate amounts of nutrients throughfertiliserapplication is therefore a prerequisite to balance soil fertility budgets and to boost food production. However, mineral fertilisers are not accessible to the large majority of smallholder farmers. Farmyard manure, an important source of organic fertiliser for smallholder farmers, is available at limited quantities due to low livestock densities in many regions, for example Rwanda. Agroforestry, a low-input technology, was shown to contribute to the enhancement of food production while ensuring sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa.Agroforestry may contribute to soil fertility by increasing nutrient availability and providing other various benefits and services. However, to be successful agroforestry technologies need to match the characteristics of different smallholder farming systems, like for example soil fertility status, socioeconomic status and farmer management. These factors are rarely studied in an integrated manner. This thesis aims to understand and characterise different farming systems, evaluate the potential for the most promising agroforestry practices and suggest the most suitable agroforestry recommendations for different farming systems in targeted agro-ecological zones of Rwanda. The approach combined characterization of farming systems, participatory tree testing, farmer’s evaluations of technologies, and scenario and trade-off analyses in two agro-ecological zones: Central Plateau (

African farming systems are highly heterogeneous: between agroecological and socioeconomic environments, in the wide variability in farmers’ resource endowments and in farm management. This means that single solutions (or ‘silver bullets’) for improving farm productivity do not exist. Yet to date few approaches to understand constraints and explore options for change have tackled the bewildering complexity of African farming systems. In this paper we describe the Nutrient Use in Animal and Cropping systems – Efficiencies and Scales (NUANCES) framework. NUANCES offers a structured approach to unravel and understand the complexity of African farming to identify what we term ‘best-fit’ technologies – technologies targeted to specific types of farmers and to specific niches within their farms. The NUANCES framework is not ‘just another computer model’! We combine the tools of systems analysis and experimentation, detailed field observations and surveys, incorporate expert knowledge (local knowledge and results of research), generate databases, and apply simulation models to analyse performance of farms, and the impacts of introducing new technologies. We have analysed and described complexity of farming systems, their external drivers and some of the mechanisms that result in (in)efficient use of scarce resources. Studying sites across sub-Saharan Africa has provided insights in the trajectories of change in farming systems in response to population growth, economic conditions and climate variability (cycles of drier and wetter years) and climate change. In regions where human population is dense and land scarce, farm typologies have proven useful to target technologies between farmers of different production objectives and resource endowment (notably in terms of land, labour and capacity for investment). In such regions we could categorise types of fields on the basis of their responsiveness to soil improving technologies along soil fertility gradients, relying on loca

African farming systems are highly heterogeneous: between agroecological and socioeconomic environments, in the wide variability in farmers' resource endowments and in farm management. This means that single solutions (or 'silver bullets') for improving farm productivity do not exist. Yet to date few approaches to understand constraints and explore options for change have tackled the bewildering complexity of African farming systems. In this paper we describe the Nutrient Use in Animal and Cropping systems - Efficiencies and Scales (NUANCES) framework. NUANCES offers a structured approach to unravel and understand the complexity of African farming to identify what we term 'best-fit' technologies - technologies targeted to specific types of farmers and to specific niches within their farms. The NUANCES framework is not 'just another computer model'! We combine the tools of systems analysis and experimentation, detailed field observations and surveys, incorporate expert knowledge (local knowledge and results of research), generate databases, and apply simulation models to analyse performance of farms, and the impacts of introducing new technologies. We have analysed and described complexity of farming systems, their external drivers and some of the mechanisms that result in (in)efficient use of scarce resources. Studying sites across sub-Saharan Africa has provided insights in the trajectories of change in farming systems in response to population growth, economic conditions and climate variability (cycles of drier and wetter years) and climate change. In regions where human population is dense and land scarce, farm typologies have proven useful to target technologies between farmers of different production objectives and resource endowment (notably in terms of land, labour and capacity for investment). In such regions we could categorise types of fields on the basis of their responsiveness to soil improving technologies along soil fertility gradients, relying on loca

Soil and water conservation practices need to be tailored to suit the diverse local conditions in smallholder farms.Using a combination of survey methods, field experimentation over several seasons and farm scale analysis, this research explored the targeting of recommended options to field and farm types. Smallholder farmers’ in Mbeere and Meru South Districts of Central Kenya acknowledged the occurrence of soil erosionin their farms and understood the water erosion process. Trash lines were common in the low potential Mbeere area for the control of erosion, except for farmers with high resource endowment who instead preferred fanya juu and vegetation barriers. In Meru South, contour farming was popular for different farmers although the preference was for vegetative barriers with multiple benefits. Three field types on a relative scale of soil fertility were identified by the farmers: good, medium and poor. Physical and vegetative measures were more common and well maintained in good fields but rare and neglected in poor fields. Farming on sloping arable fields with no vegetative barriers lead to soil degradation and establishment of vegetative barriers curbed soil erosion. Napier grass barriers were efficient in conserving soil and water but competed with crops for available water. This competition was especially strong with minimum tillage even when the Napier was intensely harvested. Leucaena barriers had a complementary water use pattern with crops across tillage practices but were less efficient for soil and water conservation. Considering economic returns and the soil conserved, leucaena barriers had attractive and less risky economic returns across tillage practices but conserved less soil. Napier barriers with regular tillage presented a win-win scenario for farmers and environmental impacts because of simultaneous attractive economic returns and efficient soil conservation. Cumulative maize grain yields in the good fields were above 15 Mg ha-1 across crop

This study aimed at understanding the effects of crop management practices on soil macrofauna and the links with soil aggregation and soil organic matter dynamics, which is key to the improvement of infertile or degrading soils in Sub-Sahara Africa. Soil macrofauna, especially earthworms and termites, are important components of the soil ecosystem and, as ecosystem engineers, they influence the formation and maintenance of soil structure and regulate soil processes, such as organic matter decomposition and nutrient dynamics. In comparison with natural systems, earthworm and termite diversity and abundance were low in fallow, high soil-carbon (C) and low soil-C arable treatments in 12 long-term trial fields across the sub-humid to semi-arid tropical zones in Eastern and Western Africa. Continuous crop production had significant negative effects on earthworm diversity, but little effect on termite diversity, as compared to long-term fallow. Agricultural management resulting in high soil C increased earthworm and termite diversity as compared to low-C soil.Long-term application of manure in combination with fertilizer resulted in higher earthworm diversity and biomass, associated with improved soil aggregation and enhanced C and N stabilization within this more stable soil structure. These practices therefore result in the dual benefits of improving soil physical and chemical properties. A micromorphological study of undisturbed soil thin sections showed that fallowing, conservation tillage plus residue application (in East Africa) and hand-hoeing plus manure (in West Africa) enhanced biogenic soil structure formation, resulting in a well developed soil structure and a continuous pore system characterized by many faunal channels. In contrast,intensive tillage and absence of organic inputs resulted in soil with less biogenic soil structural features. Farmers in Nyabeda, West-Kenya, were aware of the activities and nesting habits of termites, but 90% percent of the farme

cum laude graduation (with distinction)

The need to promote fertiliser use by African smallholder farmers to counteract the current decline in per capita food production is widely recognised. But soil heterogeneity results in variable responses of crops to fertilisers within single farms. We used existing databases on maize production under farmer (F-M) and researcher management (R-M) to analyse the effect of soil heterogeneity on the different components of nutrient use efficiency by maize growing on smallholder farms in western Kenya: nutrient availability, capture and conversion efficiencies and crop biomass partitioning. Subsequently, we used the simple model QUEFTS to calculate nutrient recovery efficiencies from the R-M plots and to calculate attainable yields with and without fertilisers based on measured soil properties across heterogeneous farms. The yield gap of maize between F-M and R-M varied from 0.5 to 3 t grain ha-1 season-1 across field types and localities. Poor fields under R-M yielded better than F-M, even without fertilisers. Such differences, of up to 1.1 t ha-1 greater yields under R-M conditions are attributable to improved agronomic management and germplasm. The relative response of maize to N-P-K fertilisers tended to decrease with increasing soil quality (soil C and extractable P), from a maximum of 4.4-fold to -0.5- fold relative to the control. Soil heterogeneity affected resource use efficiencies mainly through effects on the efficiency of resource capture. Apparent recovery efficiencies varied between 0 and 70% for N, 0 and 15% for P, and 0 to 52% for K. Resource conversion efficiencies were less variable across fields and localities, with average values of 97 kg DM kg-1 N, 558 kg DM kg-1 P and 111 kg DM kg-1 K taken up. Using measured soil chemical properties QUEFTS over-estimated observed yields under F-M, indicating that variable crop performance within and across farms cannot be ascribed solely to soil nutrient availability. For the R-M plots QUEFTS predicted positive cro

Keywords: adaptability, agro-ecosystems, biophysical and socio-economic heterogeneity, economic benefits, N2-fixation, productivity.This thesis explores the potential of using herbaceous and grain legume species to improve soil fertility and farm productivity in the heterogeneous smallholder farming systems of westernKenya. Poor soil fertility is responsible for the limited productivity of the westernKenyasmallholder farming systems. Although legumes have the potential for improving productivity, their sustainable use is impeded by the high degree of biophysical and socio-economic heterogeneity that characterizes the farming systems. The socio-ecological niche concept was proposed as a framework for facilitating the identification and integrated assessment of biophysical and socio-economic factors with potential influence on the choice of sustainable legume technologies for smallholder farmers.The utility of the socio-ecological niche concept was tested through on-farm experiments and socio-economic surveys in westernKenya. The on-farm experiments were conducted across three major agro-ecological zones (AEZ), and under different soil fertility conditions, to assess legume emergence, survival, nodulation, diseases tolerance, grain yield, biomass production, atmospheric N 2 -fixation and net N contribution to soil N fertility. In addition, the economic benefits of growing grain and green manure legumes in rotation with maize were assessed to determine how they are influenced by agro-ecological conditions and within farm soil fertility heterogeneity. Socio-economic surveys characterized farmer legume production objectives, as well as socio-cultural, economic and institutional factors with potential impact on the use of legume technologies by westernKenyasmallholder farmers. The biophysical and socio-economic factors were integrated and analysed to identify legume species for different farmer resource endowment groups, agro-ecological conditions and field typologies. An

There are numerous examples of technologies with great potential that have not been accepted by smallholder farmers. Quite often, these technologies do not fit well into smallholder systems due to the inherent high level of heterogeneity of these systems. For example, despite their great potential, the adoption of legumes by smallholder farmers in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa has remained poor. A wide range of biophysical (e.g. climate, soil fertility, etc.) and socio-economic variables (e.g. preferences, prices, production objectives etc.) influence the use of legumes in smallholder systems. While some of these variables constrain the adoption of some legumes, others offer opportunities for beneficial use of other legumes in the same system. Therefore, widespread adoption of legumes in smallholder systems can only be achieved if all of the major biophysical and socio-economic constraints are simultaneously identified and addressed. The `socio-ecological niche¿ concept proposed in this paper provides the framework through which this might be achieved. The socio-ecological niche, in any given region of agricultural activity, is created by the convergence of agro-ecological, socio-cultural, economic and ecological factors, to describe a multidimensional environment for which compatible technologies can be predicted. The socio-ecological niche concept can be applied in many different contexts in technology development. However, this paper discusses its use with respect to the development of legume technologies. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the concept and to demonstrate its practical significance. The concept is being used in on-going research on legumes in smallholder farming systems in western Kenya.