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Many farmers grow one crop repeatedly on the same field over-and-over again. Crop diversification is the cultivation of several crops of a different species or variety (of one crop) in one plot at any given point in time. The main advantage of implementing crop diversification is that it enhances household climate resilience through reducing risk of monocrop failure due to pests, disease, low rainfall and other climate risks.

Employing crop diversification may also provide opportunity of more diversified income sources and dietary diversity. Farmers can simultaneously grow both food crops, fodder and cash crops in an attempt to increase household food security and improve household incomes. There are also indications that crop diversification can increase crop productivity, which for poorer households can have significant positive impacts. For better capitalised farms, return on specialisation may be higher, and will likely not realise the desired returns.

Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) refers to a set of agricultural practices that can be applied simultaneously to improve agricultural productivity through increasing soil nutrients and improving crop water use. ISFM includes a broad range of agricultural practices that have all been adapted to local conditions to improve soil nutrients and include the combined application of the following approaches:

1. Utilisation of organic fertilisers such as green manure, compost and crop residues.
2. Application of locally available soil amendment methods, such as lime and biochar.
3. Implementation of techniques like germplasm, agroforestry, crop rotation, intercropping etc.
4. Limited use of inorganic or mineral fertilisers – seen as the last option in ISFM, when other interventions are not achieving optimal results.

ISFM can be successful for most arable farmers and has been known to double productivity and increase farm-level incomes by 20 to 50 percent if implemented correctly. It focuses on a series of practical approaches to sustainable farm productivity through locally available and affordable options for maintaining soil fertility and productivity, and is seen as a viable approach to reduce over-reliance on inorganic fertiliser. ISFM permits short- and long-term increases in productivity of cash crops and food security, and is considered climate smart as the combined ISFM approach maximises fertiliser uptake and sequestration of carbon in soil, allowing sustainable agricultural intensification driven by improved soil structure and fertility.

Biochar refers to a fine-grained charcoal, rich in organic carbon compounds, used to improve soil quality through enhanced nutrient and water holding capacity of soil, reducing total fertiliser needs. Biochar is a stable solid produced from the controlled burning of plant and waste feedstock, including wood chips and pellets, tree bark, crop residues (straw, maize stovers, nut shells and rice hulls), grain, sugarcane bagasse, chicken litter, diary manure, sewage and paper sludge. Biochar is used as a soil conditioner as part of soil amendment strategies, improving the workability of soil, particularly those with heavy clay components.. The application of biochar to soil is a strategy to minimise the climate and environmental impact of cropland systems, such as the application of synthetic fertilisers, and improve soil quality through enhancing its physical-chemical characteristics. This agricultural practice improves soil structure, nutrient cycling and water retention, and the high stability of biochar carbon compounds contributes to the reduction of green-house gas emissions by increasing carbon sequestering in soils. Biochar is shown to be effective in improving soil conditions in acidic, sandy and clay-rich soils, improving the physical characteristics, and is classified by the FAO classifies as an adaptation strategy and contributes to mitigation of climate change as the processes captures and stores carbon in soils create other secondary socio-economic benefits, through additional fuel sources, and economic opportunities for production. Biochar can either be purchased or produced on-farm on a small or large scale. Collective action may benefit communities, so discussion with neighbours and community leadership may be necessary, especially if a biochar.