Notes to broadcasters
Soybean has suddenly become a very important food and cash crop for many people in most rural areas of Zambia. It has excellent nutritional value and is recommended for preparing weaning foods for babies. Through international partners, the Zambian Ministry of Education has also included soybeans as a major item in its pupil feeding program in rural schools. In addition, the demand for soybeans on the local and international market has risen so high that it has become a very important cash crop for small-scale farmers in Zambia.
This script is about how small-scale farmers grow soybean using climate-smart farming methods, including conservation farming and agroforestry techniques, to help mitigate climate change. The information is based on interviews with experienced agronomists specializing in soybean and other legume crops. Soybean farmers were also interviewed on their farms while other interviews were conducted by phone due to COVID-19 restrictions.
You might choose to produce the script on your regular farmer radio program, using voice actors to represent the speakers. If so, please inform your audience at the beginning of the program that the voices are those of actors, not the original people involved in the interviews.
You could also use this script as a foundation for creating your own farmer program on how small-scale farmers can produce soybeans using climate-smart practices such as conservation farming and agroforestry. You could interview small-scale farmers, nutritionists, and agricultural economists as well as experts involved in environmental conservation to tell your story. You could ask them about:
- The level of destruction caused by some traditional and even modern ways of farming.
- How small-scale farmers can adopt climate-smart farming methods to get better yields,
and contribute towards mitigating the negative effects of climate change.
- Mitigation measures taken by small-scale farmers to reduce the negative impacts of
climate change and global warming.
The estimated running time for this item, with signature tune, intro, and extro, is 20-25 minutes.
Script
FADE IN Program SIGNATURE TUNE, FADE OUT
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
Welcome to Farming is a Business. I am your host, Filius Chalo Jere, and today I bring you information about how farmers can grow soybean using conservation farming methods and agroforestry. These practices can mitigate climate change, which has caused a very sharp rise in adverse weather and climate conditions, including heavy rains, droughts, floods, and forest fires. As you embark upon this year’s farming activities, I am sure you will find the information very useful indeed!
Right at the outset, I will speak to Mr. Nathan Mulambya, a seasoned agronomist who has been actively promoting conservation farming and agroforestry among small-scale farmers in the district of Mambwe in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Next, I will speak to Veronica Banda, an outstanding woman living in Mnkhanya village in Mambwe district, who has become a model farmer in climate-smart agriculture in her area.
SHORT MUSICAL INTERLUDE
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
Mr. Nathan Mulambya, welcome to Farming is a Business. You may be happy to know that many farmers now know that farming is, indeed, a business. For this reason, they appreciate the value of recommended farm practices from extension workers like you, especially on the choice of crops to sow. Lately, many of them have realized that soybean is a good crop for business. But how can they grow it in line with conserving nature?
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
Indeed, soybean is one of the most preferred crops for climate-smart agriculture. After working with small-scale farmers for many years, I can claim that it is the best crop that has happened to small-scale farmers. The crop can be grown using conservation farming techniques such as minimum tillage, rotating it with other crops, and using agroforestry techniques such as alley cropping with Gliricidia sepium trees, which enhances soil fertility.
Soya bean is a crop that can be easily grown with sustainable methods that do not harm our environment. I say this because the crop is not a heavy feeder and grows well even without the use of synthetic chemicals. When I say it’s not a heavy feeder, I mean that it doesn’t take a lot of nutrients from the soil. Soybean also helps to improve our soils rather than deplete them because, as a legume, it can fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. The crop is also crown easily with minimum tillage, which prevents the soil erosion that leads to degradation and loss of beneficial nutrients.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
How can you say that soybean is the best? I am sure there are many other crops that are better than soybeans.
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
Sure, there must be. However, I am biased towards small-scale farmers whose nutrition and economic status can be enhanced if they take up soybean farming. This crop does not need a lot of labour or expensive chemicals. Yet it will perform well and give the farmer good yields. It is also affordable for vulnerable farmers as a farmer only needs seeds and labour to grow it. No need for a farmer to start spending on chemicals to spray and fertilizers. This makes soya beans an easy crop to grow for small-scale farmers.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
You seem to be especially keen on this crop.
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
Indeed, I am because it is unique. It is a legume and has nodules on the roots that contain a lot of nitrogen. For this reason, we advise farmers not to pull the plants out when harvesting. Instead, they should cut them with sickles so that the roots remain in the ground to enrich the soil with nitrogen. Any crop that the farmer plants afterwards will benefit from that nitrogen.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
That sounds good, but pulling the plants up sounds like too much work. Do you think farmers practice what you teach them?
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
We should go ask the farmers themselves. There is one woman in particular whom you can interview. She is our lead farmer and lives in a nearby village.
SFX:
SOUND OF MOTORBIKE STARTING UP, CRUISING, THEN PETERING OUT
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
Veronica Banda, I am happy to find you at your homestead in spite of not giving you advance notice. I have come with Filius Jere, the producer of Farming is a Business on Breeze FM.
VERONICA BANDA:
Oh, how exciting! We know your voice, sir, and it’s so wonderful to see you in person. But what could you get from me?
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
Filius is interested in how you produce soybeans with regard to soil conservation and agroforestry.
VERONICA BANDA:
Let me confess that soybean was never one of our traditional crops. We concentrated on maize as our food crop and groundnuts, our main legume for relish. But when you started telling us that farming is a business on the radio, we expanded our fields so that we could grow more maize. We wanted to increase our yields so that we would have a surplus for sale. We believed this was what you meant when you said farming is a business.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
(GIGGLING) Does that mean you think differently now?
VERONICA BANDA:
Mr. Mulambya and his teammates.
VERONICA BANDA:
Yes. But excuse me, because traditionally, we consider it disrespectful to call such an important person by their first names.
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
(LAUGHING): Oh, come on now, Veronica. We have known each other for such a long time that it should be okay to call each other by our first names. I always call you by your first name. So you should be free to do the same with me.
VERONICA BANDA:
I will try. But it will take a long time for me to get used.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
What did Nathan and his friends tell you that made you change your mind about your farming methods?
VERONICA BANDA:
First, we were told that our traditional farming methods were not good and actually injurious to our soils. At first, we were very skeptical about that because our ancestors had been farming like that for many years. For instance, we normally abandoned the crop residues in the field after harvest. This was fodder for our free-range livestock.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
According to Nathan and his team, what was wrong with that?
VERONICA BANDA:
They explained that when the cattle came into our fields to eat the free crop residues, they trampled the soil. This compacted the ground and created a hardpan immediately below the surface.
Secondly, the crop residues were mulch that protected the soil from the sun and the wind. When the rains came, the crop residues also protected the soil from getting eroded away. And as they rotted down, they became manure for the next crop.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
This is very interesting. What else did Nathan and his team teach you?
VERONICA BANDA:
They encouraged us to abandon our old way of preparing our fields. Traditionally, we removed the shrubs and dry grass from our fields. Then we destroyed the old planting ridges in the field and made new ones on new positions. All this was by hand hoe and was heavy work. We were told that this practice concentrated on the top layer of the soil and caused a hardpan to develop underneath.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
You have mentioned the hardpan twice now. What exactly, is a hardpan and what is bad about it?
VERONICA BANDA:
A hardpan is a layer of compacted soil that is formed beneath the surface of the soil due to activities on the surface. When the rains come, it prevents rainwater from sinking deep into the ground. Instead, it runs off, which results in soil erosion. The crops also find it very difficult to push their roots deep into the ground for moisture and food. As a result, they remain near the surface. For this reason, the crop easily gets stressed and wilts as soon as there is a period of drought.
Then we learnt about improved fallows using tree species like Gliricidia sepium, Sesbania sesban, Faidherbia albida, and many others.
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
A fallow is a piece of land left unplanted for a period of time to allow the soil to regain its fertility. This is a very slow process that could take between three to five years. Research has discovered that planting these special trees can shorten this period. This is what is called an improved fallow.
VERONICA BANDA:
That’s one crop I never thought I would ever adopt on my farm. Firstly, it was not traditional to us; secondly, we did not know how to cook it.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
You mean this has changed, too?
VERONICA BANDA:
Yes, Nathan and his fellow experts told us that soybean is one of the most nutritious foods. They taught us how to prepare it as a weaning food for our babies and also for adults to promote good health. Eventually, they encouraged us to grow soybean on a large scale because it is a very good cash crop.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
Just how do you grow soybeans using conservation farming methods and agroforestry?
VERONICA BANDA:
Personally, I believe that conservation farming and agroforestry should never be separated. Since I was poor, I started with a special farming implement called a Chaka hoe and dug planting basins in my field. This was very effective but a lot of work. Eventually, I acquired a pair of oxen and now I make rip lines using a special implement for tilling the land, called the Magoye ripper.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
Kindly explain what a Magoye ripper and a rip line are.
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
A Magoye ripper is a special farm implement for tilling the land. It has a frame like a common plough. But instead of a plough board, it has a strong metal tine that tears or rips straight lines deep into the ground. These are called rip lines and that is where the farmer plants the seed. The rest of the field remains intact, which is good in conservation farming.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
Why is it called a Magoye ripper?
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
That is because it was designed in the district of Magoye in the southern province of Zambia by the Mechanization Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
What is the difference between planting basins and rip lines?
VERONICA BANDA:
Both are excellent for rainwater harvesting, no matter how scanty the rains may be. But making rip lines is faster and less laborious for us poor farmers.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
I don’t think you can be called poor with the knowledge that you have learnt from Nathan and his team. Please explain how you put all this into practice in your soybean farming.
VERONICA BANDA:
For soybeans, I make my rip lines forty-five centimetres apart. But since I practice agroforestry, I plant a Gliricidia tree nursery under irrigation a month or two before the rains come. When the rains come, I transplant my Gliricidia sepium into the first row. This is not a rip line but a row of basins one metre apart. I then plant my soybeans in the rip lines after the Gliricidia. After five metres of soybean in rip lines, I again have a row of Gliricidia in basins. I continue alternating rows of Gliricidia in basins with rows of soybean in rip lines until the whole field is planted.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
You mentioned that other tree species like Sesbania sesban and Faidherbia albida are also suitable for agroforestry. Why have you chosen to use Gliricidia sepium in your farming? Has it got a higher performance than the others?
VERONICA BANDA:
I don’t know about that. However, after trying the other tree species, I personally think Sesbania sesban has a short-lived impact on the soil. Fadherbia albida is very good. However, it takes almost ten to twelve years for a farmer to realize significant impact from this tree. But Gliricidia sepium produces results in the second year. This is preferable because farmers like me do not like waiting very long.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
How do you rate the benefits of what you do over what you used to do previously?
VERONICA BANDA:
Firstly, both soybean and Gliricidia sepium are legumes. Both produce seed in pods. This means they add nitrogen to my soil. As a result, my yields have increased. In addition, I will need less fertilizer for any follow-up crop that I plant, especially maize.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
Please explain the performance of maize and other crops that you use as a follow-up. I believe Gliricidia is a tree that grows big.
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
Yes, this tree is fast-growing. It is okay to intercrop it with soybeans in the first year. But in the second year, it overgrows even maize. Since this would result in over-shading and affect the growth of maize, in the second year, the farmer must lop off the branches and lay them along the rows. This is excellent biomass that degrades in the soil and creates more nitrogen for the maize.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
How do farmers contribute to mitigating climate change when they adopt the technologies that you teach them, especially conservation farming and agroforestry?
NATHAN MULAMBYA:
One of the biggest causes of climate change is deforestation. Previously, when a farmer wanted to get more crops, he or she cut down many trees to increase the size of their farms. Conservation farming increases a farmer’s yield without increasing the area being farmed. In this way, conservation farming technologies ensure that fewer trees are cut by farmers.
FILIUS CHALO JERE:
Listener, it should be very clear to you that producing soybean using conservation farming and agroforestry techniques can be very helpful for combating global warming and climate change.
As a farmer, you must realize that all our destructive actions upon the environment help cause bad climactic conditions such as the erratic rains, floods, droughts, and forest fires that affect our lives.
But now that you can help mitigate all these climactic catastrophes, please incorporate conservation farming and agroforestry in your soybean farming this year.
My name is Filius Chalo Jere, your regular host on Farming is a Business. Please make it your business to adopt farming methods that help to mitigate global warming and climate change.
Acknowledgements
Contributed by: Filius Chalo Jere, Producer of Farming is a Business, Breeze FM, Chipata, Zambia
Reviewed by: Nathan Mulambya, Regional Coordinator, Community Markets for Conservation, Mambwe, Zambia
Interviews and resources:
- Nathan Mulambya, Regional Coordinator, Community Markets for Conservation, Mambwe, Zambia
- Veronica Banda, Principal Lead Farmer, Community Markets for Conservation, Mambwe, Zambia
- Kenneth Linyunga, Extension Manager, Community Markets for Conservation, Chipata, Zambia
References:
- Homepage of COP26 (The 26th meeting of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change): https://ukcop26.org/
This resource was supported with the aid of a grant from The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) implementing the Green Innovation Centre project.
