A hand-tool that is intermediate between, on the one hand, digging a planting hole and inserting a seed by hand, and a tractor-drawn implement on the other hand.

Avoiding bare soil and inter-row cultivation suppresses weeds.

Why Conservation Agriculture?

More than 70% of the world's poorest people depend on agriculture to sustain their lives⁸.  As an intermediate option between subsistence agriculture on the one hand and capital-intensive industrial farming on the other, Conservation Agriculture:

• is practical for smallholder farmers⁹;
• requires less capital investment¹⁰;
• yields better returns on investment¹¹;
• increases family income¹²;
• stabilizes communities¹³
• increases farming systems resilience¹⁴;
• diversifies human & animal food flows¹⁵;
• minimizes labor requirements¹⁶;
• alleviates the burden born by women¹⁷;
• mitigates the impact of HIV/AIDS¹⁸;
• improves family nutrition & health¹⁹;
• addresses food insecurity²⁰;
• increases & protects biodiversity²¹; and,
• is a key driver of sustainability by preserving Natural Capital²²