VETIVAR HEDGES
AND SISAL
HALT SOIL EROSION, IMPROVE SOIL
AND WATER CONSERVATION
These technical guidelines were
prepared to guide the conservation
of natural resources with a special
focus on vetiver grass and sisal.
These have been produced with
extension workers in mind. These
include such people who are in
the fields of agriculture, forestry,
permaculture and community-
based natural resources
management. The guidelines are
also useful in schools conservation
clubs. Most of the content is from
development organisations' long
experience in the area of natural
resources management based on
indigenous knowledge systems
from Zimbabwe's Eastern High
lands.
High population growth rates,
immigration and deliberate
policies to move people to
marginal lands in Zimbabwe has
often led to over-exploitation of
natural resources. Biodiversity has
been eroded and the capacity of
natural resources to provide
products and services that have
been provided before has been
reduced.
Excessive pressure on natural
resources has resulted in a lot of
Soil improvement in Zimbabwe.
challenges. For example, there
has been a reduction of the average land holding size, which coupled with the inappropriate
agricultural practices and land use patterns, has continually and inevitably led to the
deterioration of soils and reduced crop productivity.
Modern agricultural techniques have been characterized by numerous environmental, social
and economic problems. The high external input agriculture, mostly monoculture, practiced in
most Zimbabwean communal lands bears testimony to this. The heavy reliance on agro-
chemicals, fertilizers and supplementary irrigation which coupled with the low financial
disposition of smallholder farmers has resulted in the reduction of per capita agricultural yield.
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CV23 9QZ, UK
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