Poster prepared by Fred Kizito, Davie Kadyampakeni, Asamoah Larbi, Eliasu Salifu and Abdul Rahman Nurudeen for the AfrIca RISING West Africa Review and Planning Meeting, Accra, 30 March–1 April 2016

1. Water, land and soil management strategies to intensify cereal-legume
farming systems in northern Ghana
Fred Kizito1, Davie Kadyampakeni2, Asamoah Larbi3, Eliasu Salifu1,3,Abdul Rahman Nurudeen3
1International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
2International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
3International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Corresponding author email: f.kizito@cgiar.org
Key research activities
o Soil and water conservation: Preventing erosion on farmland
o Monitoring soil moisture variation and microclimatic variations
o Land cover change analysis and land health assessments
o Training and capacity building towards soil and water conservation
Implications of the research for
generating development outcomes
Results and main findings
o Critical soil moisture depth is in the first 30 cm of profile within the
crop rooting zone; there is need to increase storage options.
o Land health assessments identified vulnerable areas that helps
target appropriate agricultural zones
o Land cover change analysis showed expansion of cropland into
marginal areas hence the need for sustainable intensification
o Improved understanding of soil and water conservation measures
implementation among farmers and extension agents
o Identification of vulnerable areas would help District Planners and
the RPCU to target appropriate agricultural zones
o Expansion of cropland into marginal areas identifies the need for
sustainable intensification
o About 25% of forest have been converted to cropland between
2000 to 2014; this calls for need to have zonal forest protection
o Emphasis would be on research and partnerships for scaling out
promising technologies from Phase I;
o Characterize watershed areas to evaluate and adapt integrated soil
water and land management practices to increase productivity and
profitability, while maintaining the natural resource base;
o Quantify nutrient flows and resources use efficiency;
o Develop decision support tools for resilient production systems for
example provide climatic advisory apps that inform farmers on
rainfall trends, develop simple tradeoff analysis for farm system
components that enhance ‘options by choice’ for farmers.
How this work would continue in
Africa RISING phase 2
The Africa Research In Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program comprises three research-for-
development projects supported by the United States Agency for International Development as part of the U.S. government’s Feed the
Future initiative.
Through action research and development partnerships, Africa RISING will create opportunities for smallholder farm households to move out
of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition, and income security, particularly for
women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base.
The three projects are led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (in West Africa and East and Southern Africa) and the
International Livestock Research Institute (in the Ethiopian Highlands). The International Food Policy Research Institute leads an
associated project on monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment.
www.africa-rising.net
o Currently working with IITA, IWMI, MoFA, UDS and KNUST
o CGIAR Partnerships through the Water, Lands and Ecosystems (WLE)
Program (CRP5);
o Future engagements would focus on research for scaling and
partnerships will focus on use of ICT for Technology uptake.
Potential engagements would include ESOKO and TIGO KILIMO and
ECHO MOBILE to offer Agronomic and weather advisories and
market trends updates.
o Greater involvement with the Private Sector will be sought
Current partnerships and future
engagements for out scaling
Farmer practice Plot 1 Contour farming Plot 4 Contour Ridges Plot 7 Half-Moon Plot 10 Cowpea
Farmer practice Plot 2 Contour farming Plot 5 Contour Ridges Plot 8 Half-Moon Plot 11 Soybean
Farmer practice Plot 3 Contour farming Plot 6 Contour Ridges Plot 9 Half-Moon Plot 12 Maize
Soil moisture profile access tubes (probes are in center of plot)
Soil loss and runoff detector (Detectors placed at lower end of plot)
Suction lysimeters staggered at different depths
35 m
8 m
4.5 m
2000 2014
Field layout in Upper East
and Northern Regions
Field moisture
monitoring and
erosion control
Training activities matrix Training farmers and extension
agents in Upper East
Land health assessmentsLand use change studies
Seasonal micro-
climatic weather
data from
automated
weather stations