9th World Congress on Conversation Agriculture

The 9th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from July 22 to 24, 2024. The congress is hosted by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture, Landbouweekblad, South Africa’s biggest agricultural media brand, Conservation Agriculture Western Cape, the conservation-farming body African Conservation Tillage Network, CIMMYT, and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

ICARDA will be represented by Dr. Mina Devkota and Dr. Rachid Moussadek, who will speak about opportunities and challenges for adopting conversation agriculture (CA) in the MENA region, as well as scaling pathways to reach 1M ha area under CA in rainfed drylands of Morocco and multidimensional benefits of CA in drylands. Both speakers will provide new approaches on how to include research outcomes on soil health and carbon farming under CA as tangible outcomes to accelerate CA adoption, given the current climate crisis in drylands.

The 9th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture aims to promote and increase the adoption of conservation agriculture practices, particularly in Africa. Despite the proven benefits of conservation agriculture in mitigating climate change and improving carbon sequestration, its adoption rates remain relatively low. The congress aims to address this by showcasing practical farming solutions derived from global research, international best practices, and the agricultural industry. Key focus areas include quantifying soil health, integrating livestock into cropping systems, managing nutrient distribution in the soil, addressing soil acidification, and implementing progressive scaling out/up strategies.

Find out more about the program.