Vanlauwe, BernardGiller, KenCorbeels, MarcGerard, B.Nolte, C.2016-04-192016-04-192014Field Crops Research 155:10–13http://hdl.handle.net/10919/70222Metadata only recordConservation agriculture (CA) is often promoted as a key to intensifying agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite significant efforts to promote CA, however, adoption remains limited in this region. This article contends that CA requires a fourth principle of appropriate fertilizer use to complement the already accepted principles of minimal tillage, maintaining a soil cover, and crop diversification. In regions where CA was widely adopted, fertilizer application was an essential part of agricultural systems, and a key to the success of CA. Appropriate fertilizer application is necessary for CA to be a successful alternative to conventional production in sub-Saharan Africa.text/plainen-USIn CopyrightConservation agricultureSoil managementTropical zonesSoil fertilitySmall-scale farmingAdoption of innovationsFertilizationFarm/Enterprise ScaleAbstractCopyright 2013 by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.10.002