More pics Zimbabwe

Internet came on intermittently; when it was there for a few minutes, everybody tried to get things done quickly

The centre wsa in Belvedeere, a quiet area outside of the main part of Harare

On the way to farm visit.  We passed many interesting rock formations, such as this balanced rock

Farmer and his wife (foreground, with child).  One of the biggest questions with CA is the impact on labour, some claiming it saves labour, others saying it adds labour especially for women (who do the weeding that can be more in CA, men tend to do tilling which does not occur in CA).  When asked here, the farmer said CA was less work.  The wife initially disagreed, and then equivocated on that.  It's hard getting accurate information sometimes on these things!

Sunhemp, a legume cover crop.  When dry, livestock don't like it so will let it alone as mulch

Macuna bean, a common cover crop that is promoted

Farmers there did not eat lab-lab beans, but they had heard it is eaten in other countries so wanted to know how it is prepared.  

Crossroads where we sat and ate some lunch

There were still some large commercial farms in the region, although not that many

One of the trials using tied ridges to try and capture water.  Maize is planted on ridges, and then cross ridges connect the main ridges.  Water flowing then is captured in these basins.  The concern was that it took more work for the farmer to do this, and it was not mulched as easily 

Demonstration of soil characteristics, right front is conventional tillage showing how soil readily falls apart in water, whereas with mulch and no-till (center front) there is better soil aggregation

Had fun doing some birding, here a red bishop that couldn't quite get a good picture of

Looking towards town on our jogging route - very wide streets 

Frangipani and flame tree

Lots of Tithonia growing in the fields which the birds liked

Zimbabwean band at our last night at the meeting.

Plane stopped in Zambia on the way back.  It looked very green there also.