ABSTRACT Low-input agriculture is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa but it cannot deliver future food security. Soil nutrients are being mined by small-scale farmers who continue to remove large quantities of nutrients from their soils without using sufficient manure or fertilizer inputs to maintain soil fertility. Declining soil fertility must be addressed in order to achieve sustainable intensification. A large increase in nutrient inputs is seen as a requirement but small-scale farmers face severe constraints in obtaining supplies of mineral fertilizer. Better use of available livestock manure is a possible solution. We present here a case study from Marsabit County in the largest, most arid, and least developed region of Kenya. Evidence was gathered from field studies at four locations during 2016 and 2017 combined with a farmer survey. We show that a typical smallholder farm can achieve satisfactory yields and an acceptable nitrogen balance through better use of available livestock manure. An acceptable balance can also be achieved for phosphorus, however, there is a deficit for potassium. This case study demonstrates that an integrated crop-livestock farming system offers a potential solution to soil nutrient mining and can provide a pathway to sustainable intensification for small-scale farmers in a challenging semi-arid environment.

中文翻译：

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农牧一体化为肯尼亚半干旱地区的土壤肥力开采提供了解决方案：来自马萨比特县的证据

摘要 撒哈拉以南非洲地区普遍存在低投入农业，但它无法提供未来的粮食安全。小农正在开采土壤养分，他们继续从土壤中去除大量养分，而没有使用足够的肥料或肥料投入来保持土壤肥力。为了实现可持续集约化，必须解决土壤肥力下降的问题。养分投入的大幅增加被视为一项要求，但小农在获得矿物肥料供应方面面临严重限制。更好地利用可用的牲畜粪便是一个可能的解决方案。我们在此介绍来自肯尼亚最大、最干旱和最不发达地区的马萨比特县的案例研究。证据是从 2016 年和 2017 年期间四个地点的实地研究以及农民调查中收集的。我们表明，一个典型的小农农场可以通过更好地利用可用的牲畜粪便来实现令人满意的产量和可接受的氮平衡。磷也可以达到可接受的平衡，但是钾存在不足。本案例研究表明，综合作物-畜牧养殖系统为土壤养分挖掘提供了一种潜在的解决方案，并且可以为在具有挑战性的半干旱环境中的小农户提供可持续集约化的途径。