Improving the management of manure in Zimbabwe

Agriculture in Zimbabwe falls into two distinct sectors: the predominantly private, commercial sector that is given over to large-scale agriculture, and the communal sector, which is dominated by subsistence farming. Most communal land is found in regions with low rainfall and poor soils, and the majority of smallholders farm on inherently infertile sands or sandveld soils. These soils are not only critically deficient in nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) (Mashiringwani, 1983; Grant, 1981), but are also subject to widespread degradation and declining fertility caused by the loss of organic matter, the breakdown of soil structure and erosion (Elwell and Stocking, 1988).