Introduction
Conservation Agriculture (CA) originates from the United States, where the enormous dust bowls in the 1930s required new farming practices. Since then the techniques have been spread all over the world. All though CA is mostly practiced in North and South America, Australia and more recently Europe, many extension programs in the global South are promoting CA.
The principles of Conservation Agriculture is summarized by the FAO in three points:
1. Minimal soil disturbance
2. Permanent soil cover
3. Crop rotations
This course is mainly for students that already have some knowledge about Conservation Agriculture. If you want to refresh your memory, we propose that you follow this chapter. If you are already familiar with Conservation Agriculture in a sub-Saharan context you can go on with the next chapter.
