An ex-post evaluation of 10 years of Conservation Agriculture (CA) promotion in Zimbabwe: Lessons for food security interventions

The presentation will be based on findings of an ex-post evaluation of 10 years of Christian Care’s Conservation Agriculture (CA) programming which started in 2006 and ended in 2014 in five districts of Zimbabwe with funding from the United Church of Canada and the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB).  The main objectives of the ex-post evaluation is to evaluate the sustainability of CA interventions, the barriers and drivers of sustainable adoption, understand the contribution of CA to food security and the impact of CA on me   and women (i.e. access, labor and decision making).

Presenter - Putso Nyathi is a Conservation Agriculture Technical Officer for Southern Africa with MCC/CFGB supporting CFGB funded projects. She works from Pretoria, South Africa and is Zimbabwean. Putso holds a M.S. in Agriculture and Development, a Post Graduate Diploma in Project Planning and Management and a B.S. degree in Agriculture. She has 15 years of experience working with smallholder farmers in both research and development organizations. She served for five years with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Areas (ICRISAT) in Zimbabwe. Putso also worked at CNFA Zimbabwe’s USAID-funded project and she was responsible for technical training on Conservation Agriculture and linking farmers to markets. Prior to this she worked as a food security officer with World Vision and as a Training and Coordination Specialist for the Agricultural Extension Service in Zimbabwe under the
Ministry of Agriculture.