Understanding soil fertility management under cereal cropping systems in southern Mali

For decades, Malian stakeholders, including farm households and scientists, have increasingly recognized soil-nutrient depletion as one of the major constraints to sustainable agricultural development. Farming systems in the country are diverse due to variations in climate, soils, and production goals. Many complex factors influence the level of soil nutrient depletion and include nutrient management, regeneration and plant protection, livestock integration, soil and water conservation, biodiversity, agricultural policies, and marketing structures. Farm households are confronted with declining price relations between farm inputs and outputs resulting in a net exploitation of soil nutrients. Due to prevailing poverty, farm households have limited options for investment in nutrient adding or nutrient saving technologies. Nowadays, this situation is worsening due to climate change and variability. Climate smart technologies such as using organic manure and micro dosing have been implemented by various actors to address soil nutrient depletion and the effects of climate change, but questions about the sustainability of this system remain. In this progress report we explore farm characterization for understanding the management strategies regarding soil fertility. This activity is the first of a series of four monitoring steps for assessing nutrient flow at farm scale in the Koutiala District of southern Mali.