Improving Soil Fertility Management in South Africa: Learning through participatory extension approaches

This paper describes how the problem of declining soil fertility was addressed by the Broadening Agricultural Services for Extension Delivery (BASED) project, which was set up to assist the Department of Agriculture, and which focuses on the development of participatory extension approaches. In a series of phased activities, the team helped farmers to identify and prioritise their most pressing problems, organise soil sampling and discuss the results of soil analysis. The programme also focused on facilitating the development of local organisations.