Semi-arid regions cover approximately 48% of Sub-Saharan Africa. Within these areas
many farmers are smallholder, small-scale or subsistence farmers whose main objective
is to produce most of the basic food requirements for the household. However they face
numerous problems as they practice rainfed farming under conditions of low and erratic
rainfall, where often early cessation of the rains results in terminal drought stress and
low yields. These farmers operate in a risky environment, and avoidance of risk is the
underlying concern berund most day-to-day management decisions. Furthermore, in the
future climate change is likely to affect agriculture and food security and will require
that farmers adapt their management practices to survive these uncertainties.
On-station and on-farm trials in Zimbabwe and Ghana tested the feasibility of
transplanting sorghum and pearl millet seedlings from pre-season nurseries at the start
of the rains, to increase the risk management options available to fam1ers and improve
food security. The effect of nursery density, seedling age at the time of transplanting,
and trimming the leaves of seedlings of four varieties of sorghum and four varieties of pearl millet, were tested under on-station conditions. On-fann trials enabled the technique to be tested within the context of smallholder farming in Zimbabwe and Ghana.
This study has shown that transplanting sorghum and pearl millet is an option for smallholder fanners m semi-arid areas, particularly m sub-Saharan Africa. Transplanting can reduce the time to maturity in the field by up to 32 days and grain
yields are often doubled. It is concluded that transplanting sorghum and pearl millet, within a semi-arid extensive agricultural system, offers an opportunity for fam1ers to improve risk management under conditions of e1ntic and unreliable rainfall, and contributes to the improvement of food security.