Abstract
Agricultural productivity improvements, particularly in grains for human consumption, are essential in Eritrea if this developing country in eastern Africa is to achieve food security. The central highlands of Eritrea, where much of the grain is produced, is characterised by low (though high-intensity) rainfall that limits the growing season to a length of 4–5 months, highly erodible soils and intense land use competition from pastoral activities. The cultural practices of Eritrean farmers, which appear to have changed little over hundreds of years, include cultivation by oxen, broadcasting of seed by hand and hand harvesting. Animal threshing of grain is still common in many of the agricultural areas. The crop and pasture residues are normally grazed, or used for fuel, thus leaving the soil exposed to wind and water erosion. Eritrean farming systems are complicated by social pressures from practices such as communal grazing and, for many farmers, a revolving 5–7-year land tenure system. With a need to achieve food security, the key to sustainable farming in Eritrea may be to develop agricultural systems based on conservation farming practices, within a farmer participatory framework, where indigenous knowledge systems are recognised and respected. This will need to be done by gradual incremental improvements that address both the socio-economic and technological barriers to systems improvement.
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Notes
- 1.
The authors have worked as consultants to the Hamelmalo Agricultural College, Ministry of Education Eritrea, over a period of 4 years, supported by the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Rural Solutions SA and The University of Adelaide.
- 2.
Based upon a multifactor productivity MFP index, defined as growth in output relative to the combined contribution of key inputs, usually labour and capital, or the increase in output that cannot be accounted for by an increase in inputs. Evidence of productivity growth usually means that ways have been found to create more output from given inputs, or alternatively, to produce the same output with fewer inputs (Productivity Commission (2005) Trends in Australian Agriculture Research Paper, p. 117).
- 3.
See Glossary for botanical names of crops.
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Cummins, J., Coventry, D. (2011). Modernisation of Eritrean Rainfed Farming Systems Through a Conservation Farming Systems Approach. In: Tow, P., Cooper, I., Partridge, I., Birch, C. (eds) Rainfed Farming Systems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9132-2_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9132-2_18
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