Using local resources to improve soil fertility in Tanzania

Despite their concern about declining soil fertility, farmers from the Tanzanian village of Kwalei use very little mineral fertilizer to improve their crop yields. A PRA study in this benchmark site for the African Highland Initiative (AHI) revealed that although this type of input was available, it was considered too expensive for widespread use. As their livestock could not produce enough farmyard manure for their needs, farmers coped by using the leaves of certain local shrubs as green manure, which seemed to improve soil fertility when ploughed into the fields. However, although they based their soil fertility management strategies on these shrubs, researchers and extension workers did not know their scientific name or nutrient content, and it was agreed that an inventory should be made of this important local source of nutrients.