Sustainable Smallholder Farming: A Demonstration Project in the Oilfield Region of Chad (2008)
Lori Leonard, Sc.D., Associate Professor, Department of Health, Behavior & Society, JHSPH
This project is concerned with improving the sustainability of smallholder agriculture by improving soil fertility and enhancing food security in the oilfield region of southern Chad. In an area experiencing land shortages due to oil extraction and a compensation and resettlement regime, low-cost and locally available soil and crop management techniques will be introduced. Researchers will evaluate how these techniques are adopted and, over a longer period of time, the impacts of these techniques on crop yields and soil quality. Current soil problems include deficiencies in key nutrients and topsoils that are low in soil organic matter. In conjunction with Leonard’s co-investigators (Siba Grovogui, political science professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Ray Weil, professor of soil science at the University of Maryland), fieldworkers in Chad will introduce low-cost techniques in three villages. The techniques include composting, changes to crop planting and spacing practices, and the use of modified tilling equipment. Several longer term techniques will also be evaluated. This project is not a controlled experiment because the goal is to assess the feasibility and acceptability of these methods and to improve soil quality and improve farming yields as much as possible. The study area is in a region of Chad where land pressures were significant before the oil and pipeline project got underway, and the project has greatly exacerbated problems of access to land. The researchers are already working with 80 families in the area to assess the effects of the oil and pipeline project. Results Research in progress  |
