Overview

Resettlement of Angolans after to the civil war requires that sustainable farming systems are re-established, and food security is assured into the future. The land has been rested during the war, but maintaining this fertility without inputs is of prime importance to the long term success of the reestablishment of economic activity.

A Special Report provides information on food security issues for Angola, some positive and some negative. Rainfall, particularly in the Northern and Central zones should in most years support good crop production. The improvements possible in security can encourage production and marketing of food. Lack of fertilizer appears to be a major constraint to increased production. Based on experiences in other countries and production constraints in general, nitrogen is usually the major limiting fertilizer element for cereal production. Therefore, the goal of this proposed project is to determine the contribution of peanut in supplying available nitrogen to the soil for supporting production of the cereals in cropping systems as well as supporting production of the legume. Other selected legumes would be compared with peanut. Replacement value of the legume for commercial nitrogen fertilizer will be estimated for different regions, soils, and cropping systems in terms of potential yield responses.