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To effectively implement manure collection, storage and treatment:

• Step 1: Use gloves before handling animal manure from any livestock.
• Step 2: Use shovels and wheel barrows to load and transport the material.
• Step 3: Store manure in a contained area, with a solid bottom (cement pad) to prevent runoff and leaching into local waterbodies or groundwater.
• Step 4:  Mix all types of manure with organic substances such as vegetable waste, garden debris, dead leaves, sawdust, wood ash, hay and straw etc. to add structure and other organic compounds to the soil.
• Step 5: Turn mixed manure over regularly to allow for combining of nutrients and further aeration.
• Step 6: Cut-up large particles of animal manure to no more than 10 cm in size.
• Step 7: Spread manure evenly on field a few weeks prior to planting or during planting. It can also be applied in micro-doses around crops and trees directly.

To effectively carry out fodder tree-shrub production using a nursery environment – a covered or exposed separate planting area, often close to the farm so saplings can be tended easily - consider the following steps:

• Step 1: Identify one or more suitable species for fodder production, looking at suitable climatic, soil requirements, nutritional value and palatability, also considering source-plant (for cuttings) or seed availability.
• Step 2: Take cuttings of up to *1 metre in length from mature trees, cutting at an angle. Cutting should be planted within three days, and if transported, cutting end should be covered in wax or petroleum jelly.
• Step 3: Cuttings should be planted in 10 to 15 cm of soil either directly where they will grow or shallower in polythene planting cups.
• Step 4: Fodder crops should be planted as the rainy starts, providing sufficient water and mobilising enough nutrients to assist rapid growth.
• Step 5: Harvesting is again species specific*, and it is important to determine if drying prior to feeding, affects palatability or nutritional value.
• Step 6: Harvesting frequency should also be determined independently*as plants mature to ensure sustainable production that does not stunt long-term growth and productivity.
• Step 7: The farmer should consider how much fodder needs to be consumed immediately, how much dried as hay, and how much chopped and compressed to make silage.

Length of cutting, period prior to transplantation, and harvest quantities vary from species to species. Seek guidance from an agroforestry specialist or farmers that have experience with the process when selecting species, and how specifically to plant, manage and harvest fodder crops. An important element to understand is the volume of tree or shrub-based fodder each animal will require.

To effectively implement Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration:

• Step 1: Degraded land needs to be identified and living stumps, roots and seeds need to be encouraged to regrow. This may include periodic watering. Focus should be on indigenous species, and present tree species (existing stumps).
• Step 2: Consider leaving the field un-grazed to promote tree growth.
• Step 3: Select tree stumps and the tallest and straightest stems to grow into trees.
• Step 4: Prune and manage by removing stems and unwanted side branches.
• Step 5: Maintain the process by occasionally pruning side branches.
• Step 6: Manage the land consistently to avoid overgrazing, which can lead to further degradation.
• Step 7: Consider rotational grazing to allow seeds, stumps and underground shrubs to re-grow. This will reduce the cost of replanting. Shrubs and growing trees and saplings need to be protected before introducing livestock. Shrubs and growing trees and saplings need to be protected before introducing livestock.

To effectively implement hedge planting:

• Step 1: Purchase saplings of selected tree species from a local nursery or grow saplings in separate on-farm nursery. If growing on-farm, saplings should be held-up with an upright support bamboo/wooden pole. Ideally, the farmer should begin exploring silvopasture tree species beginning with indigenous trees, such as acacias, and other local trees. It is worth considering a mixture of species, as well as mixed shallower and deeper rooted trees.
• Step 2: Once at a meter or over in height, transplant to pastures, surrounding each individual sapling with a wire mesh cage-tube or insert into five-centimetre diameter PVC pipe to protect from browsers. Plant at least ten to twenty meters apart, in either a random or uniform pattern. This is a matter of preference.
• Step 3: Once saplings are planted, only allow grazing livestock (cows, sheep, ducks, geese, chickens) in the silvopasture, avoiding browsers (goats, etc), which will strip, damage or destroy the saplings.
• Step 4: Once mature and above browsing height, two plus meters, remove protective cage or pipe.
• Step 5: Depending on species, pruning, coppicing etc should be performed every two months to ensure that trees remain healthy and productive, while maximising outputs for in-field and cut and carry fodder.

To effectively implement Boundary Planting practices:

• Step 1: Plant long lines of two fast growing trees, Caesalpinia velutina trees, between a Bombacopsis quinate and a Swietenia humilis to be replaced over time.
• Step 2: Consider planting the boundary trees 1.5 metres apart along pre-existing fences.
• Step 3: Attach metal fencing to the trees to support the large trees without endangering their growth. Harvest fodder when the tree is overgrown.
• Step 4: Prune lower brunches to encourage upward growth of trees and reduce shed on the plants.

While agroforestry practices are deemed highly beneficial and climate smart, it is important to ensure that proposed practices are appropriate for the specific context – the benefits of the agroforestry practice match the needs of the farmer - and are fit for purpose. Obtain advice from an agroforestry expert before embarking on secondary crop/hedge species selection.

To effectively implement alley-cropping the following should be carried out:

• Step 1: Clearly understand the objectives of the intervention and identify an appropriate species for intercropping. For maize and sorghum in a smaller subsistence farm setting, selection and growth of hedge rows of a legumes such as cowpea or Gliricidia can provide sustainable benefits in terms of soil quality and secondary fodder/food products. In larger fields, timber trees can be planted every five to ten crop rows, depending on the height of the mature tree, and the shade-tolerance of the crop.
• Step 2: Identify and understand key conditions, such as prevailing wind direction, and sunlight to ensure that the field is planted in an appropriate configuration, with primary crop and secondary (hedge/shrub/tree) crops planted in such a way as to benefit the primary crop and not compete with it. East to west row orientation should maxmise sunlight, topography permitting.
• Step 3: For beneficial hedgerow growth with legume species such as Leucaena, cliricidia, and Sesbania sesban, the trees should be planted in rows between two and four metres apart, with individual trees planted as close as possible - between 10 to 15 cm apart. If planted closely, the trees will favour leaves over step growth, creating more mulch to prune for cover. Note that if rows are planted too closely, the secondary crop can dominate the available crop land reducing productivity. Furthermore, the closer the hedges, the more shade will present, which can depress crop growth, and also start to compete for soil water and nutrients, which is not beneficial.
• Step 4: Once reaching sufficient maturity, after approximately six months (one-metre tall for legumes)– hedges should be pruned to generate mulch for working into the soil. Then the primary crop (maize) can be planted. Pruning once per month thereafter provides cover and ensures that light penetration is maintained. Planting legumes approximately six months before planting the primary crop can ensure that sufficient pruned material is available to incorporate into the soil to enhance growth.
• Step 5: After harvesting the primary crop, hedgerows can be left to grow taller so that shade reduces weed grown, and to develop material to prune and incorporate into the soil again during the following crop cycle. However, hedges should not be allow to grow too high or dense as their roots will dominate the soil and out-compete primary crops for water and nutrients.

Before implementing any of these technologies, further research may be required beyond the guidance provided here. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has many resources, toolkits and success stories that can support such research.

To effectively undertake contour planting:

• Step 1: Construct an A-frame that has a plumb-line with a rock hanging down the centre. The base of the A-frame should be 90 cm.
• Step 2: Calibrate the A-frame on flat ground. Ensure that both legs are on the ground. Mark where the plumb line meets the cross bar.
• Step 3: On a slope, working perpendicular to the slope, plant one leg of the A-frame and swing the other leg around until the plumb line meets the mark on the cross bar. Drive a stake into the ground where the first ‘planted’ leg is and continue the process across the slope.
• Step 4: Once the extent of the contour has been staked, tie a string from post-to-post across the slope; this identifies the contour to be planted.
• Step 5: Plant selected crops, develop contour ridges or plant contour strips along the contour line.
• Step 6: Subsequent contours should be spaced 3-5 m up or downhill of the preceding contour line. To determine the length between contour lines, measure off the top of each stake to a stake up or downhill with a tape measure or accurately measured third stick.
• Step 7: Contour ridges can be implemented like Water Spreading Bunds (Technical Brief 28) to form ridges of soil that are formed by tilling or ploughing and can be left after land preparation to further prevent erosive forces. Crops can be planted between these ridges.
• Step 8: The planting of contour strips can be implemented by planting grasses or hedges 20 m (shallow slopes) to 10 m (steeper slopes) apart up or downhill, similar to Trash Lines (Technical Brief 14). This intercropping allows for erosion control and can be used as fodder for livestock.

To effectively implement cover crops:

• Step 1:  Research whether locally available crops (especially legumes) provide potential options for cover crops.
• Step 2: Establish a demonstration plot could provide farmers with an example of how cover crops function.
• Step 3: Plant cover crops between primary crop growing systems to improve soil fertility, quality and nutrients.
• Step 4: Monitor soil structure, nutrient levels, and field integrity to ensure efficacy.
• Step 5: Incorporate cover crops with other climate smart practices enhance soil, including: Intercropping (Technical Brief 07), Crop Rotations (Technical Brief 09) Reduced/No-tillage Options (Technical Brief 12) etc

Without a topographic survey, this technology may require trial and error to begin with, to see how rainfall and run-off responds to the contouring. To effectively implement erosion control measures the following should be carried out:

• Step 1: Perform a thorough local study of the landscape, soils, land use and erosive processes that most impact the area: steep slopes, flood plains, high winds etc.
• Step 2: Source a large number of stones, preferably five to ten centimetres square blocks (from a quarry) or five to ten-centimetre diameter cobbles (from a river-bed). You will need 30 to 50 tonnes of stone per hectare for contour bunds approximately 300 metres long.
• Step 3: Mark out contours, as discussed in Technical Brief 16 Contour Planting.
• Step 4: In larger fields with shallower slopes, place stones in rows of two along contour line, interlocking alternately, burying the lower half. The bunds can be between 25 and 40 metres apart. On steeper slopes, stack and bury stones against or in vertical/near vertical walls of contours much closer together (five to ten metres apart) to reinforce them.
• Step 5: Make sure that stone bunds follow the contours from one side of the field to the other, ensuring that no ‘pour’ points (larger gaps) exist along the way, lining the drainage channel or weir from one contour to the next with stones to avoid or reduce scouring in these locations.
• Step 6: Following, and if possible, during rainfall events, check the stability of the slope, adjusting stone bunds where necessary.
• Step 7: At the end of the rainy season and again following harvest, review the performance of the technology, and prepare for the next growing season.

Switching to no-till or reduced tillage should be planned at least a year in advance so preparations can be made necessary implements can be obtained. Implements should match farm labour availability. You will also need to decide if no till or reduced tillage methods are appropriate based on farm area and desired crops, and start with a small area to determine feasibility. Cereal and legume crops are suitable for no tillage while vegetables and other crops often require some tillage – i.e. reduced tillage.

There are two forms of no-tillage, conventional and organic. Conventional no-tillage includes the application of herbicides to manage weeds, prior to and after planting. Organic no-tillage does not incorporate the use of herbicides, but includes other methods for controlling weeds, including cover crops, crop rotation and free-range livestock. Organic no-tillage is more suitable as it assists mitigate any climate change impacts on the farm.

No till

• Step 1: Prepare fields using conventional (herbicide application) or organic processes include cover crop (Technical Brief 15) and crop rotation (Technical Brief 09).
• Step 2: Test soils – aiming to balance nutrient and pH levels. In the case of acidic soils, add small amounts of lime each year.
• Step 3: Avoid soils with bad drainage, as they become water-logged.
• Step 4: Level the soil surface, removing uneven areas to assist even seed planting.
• Step 5: Eliminate soil compaction.

Reduced Till

• Step 1: This approach is similar to regular tillage, but with significantly less disturbance of the soil. Tilling is only done where needed, and the rest of the soil is undisturbed.
• Step 2: Strip-tillage or zone-tillage involves tilling and seeding in 15 cm strips leaving areas in-between undisturbed.
• Step 3: Ridge-tillage involves preparing ridges post-harvest and letting them settle over time to be planted the next seeding period; with ridges not more than 60 cm apart.

More information of each of these specific practices should be sought prior to implementation.

Crop rotation is a complimentary farming method when practicing no-tillage, as it promotes maximum biomass levels for permanent mulch cover, while controlling weeds (with pre- and post-emergent herbicides), pests, and diseases, as well as improving soil nutrition and fertility.