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Agroecology and soil health training in Angola
Between 2015 and 2016 the African Development Bank and the Ministry of Environment have established four agroecology centers in four Angolan provinces. These centers aim at bringing agroecological concepts and practices to local communities and other interested parties. As an example, between the 19th and the 21th of June, 2017 the Agroecology Center of Bibala hosted a training on soil health management, directed to 35 Agropastoral Field Schools trainers and facilitated by experts form the Agroecology Team of FAO Rome.
The training was organized in the context of the project “Land rehabilitation and rangelands management in smallholder agro-pastoral production systems in southwest Angola" (RETESA). RETESA is the result of a joint effort by the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Provincial Governments of Namibe, Huila and Benguela, together with FAO and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The project targets five municipalities (Chongoroi, Quilengues, Bibala, Camacuio, and Virei) and aims at improving livelihoods and increasing resilience of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists by fostering land rehabilitation and rangeland management through the Agro-Pastoral Field School approach.
Healthy soils are fundamental to achieve food security and sustainable food production. Agroecology restores soil’s health status through key strategies such as crop rotation, cover crops or livestock integration. These and other practices improve key aspects of soil health such as soil biodiversity, soil organic matter content, improved nutrient cycling or carbon sequestration capabilities. The training in the Agroecological center of Bibala was designed to improve participants’ understanding of the status of soil health and of the importance of soil management, by performing hands-on exercises, field trials and collective discussion.
Key activities of the training included:
- dentification and understanding of local and readily visible indicators of healthy soils such as dark color, presence of organic matter in the profile, absence of compaction, etc.
- Highlighting soil variability within the area and its relation with farming activities and management options
- Developing a practical method to assess residues characteristics in order to improve nutrient cycling and uptake
- Performing a demonstration on how standing vegetation and mulching practices reduce soil erosion
- Demonstrating how increasing levels of organic matter improve soil water retention capacity
- Designing the field studies that will be conducted during the next maize season, which will include the experiences and knowledge generating during the training
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You can find additional information on the RETESA project here (in Portuguese): http://bit.ly/2sLPxeZ
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The new Agroecology Definitions Database
Agroecology - as an integrated approach that combines environmental, social and economic aspect - has been defined in many ways, in many places and by many different stakeholders. Even FAO’s framework on agroecology is articulated around the common principles of agroecology, a variety that includes agronomic elements and processes, social aspects and relationships, and economic dimensions.
To reflect this diversity of views and explore how they adapt to local circumstances, FAO is collecting various definitions of agroecology from scientific publications, national legislations, civil society documentations and private sector, among other sources.
The resulting Definition Database, included in the Agroecology Knowledge Hub website, is part of FAO’s efforts to reinforce the role of agroecology in supporting food production and food security and nutrition, while promoting participatory exchanges of experiences and knowledge across territories, countries and regions.
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