Le zaï : dépasser la pénibilité d’une pratique agroécologique chez les producteurs de mil à Ndiob (Sénégal)

Sidy Tounkara a, ?, Sambou Ndiaye a, b, Laure Tall a, Elisabeth Gueye a, Abou Ba a, Cheikh Oumar Ba a

Abstract

The aim of this article  is to share  the results  of the capitalization study  conducted by the  Initiative Prospective Agricole  et Rurale  in July  2021  on the  practice of zaï by millet  producers in the municipality of Ndiob in Senegal,  and thus  contribute to ongoing  reflections on possible  agroecological transition dynamics in Africa. To this end, a review  of the  scientific  and  technical literature on zaï and  2 technical meetings with  the  municipal team  formed  the  basis  of the  empirical research. In addition, a comprehensive and  qualitative approach was implemented through semi-structured interviews with  resource persons  and  focus groups  in 7 villages.  This approach was complemented by 2 community and  technical feedback  workshops, which  enriched the results  obtained. These results  show that  there  is a political will and  a favorable predisposition on the part of farmers to adopt  the zaï technology. The improvement in soil fertility  and water retention capa city, the increase in yields and the rationalization of organic  matter, which is often insufficient, are all factors in favor of zaï. However,  the massive spread  of zaï still faces a number of hurdles, the most important of which is the arduous nature of zaï. Consequently, we need to work on reducing this arduous task through appropriate mechanization. Ultimately, this study  has contributed to a better understanding of the limiting  factors  of zaï and those  that  would  contribute to its diffusion.