Any strategy for the protection, conservation and sustainable utilisation of natural resources including that aimed at the attainment of self-reliance in crop and livestock production must include, among others, research and development (R&D) plans for about 13 million hectares of dark clay soils which for convenience we collectively termed Vertisols.
Vertisols constitute over 10% of the Ethiopian land mass where unimproved traditional agricultural production practices are still rampant. This called for the establishment in 1986 of a collaborative project: The Joint Project on Improved Management and Utilisation of Dark Clay Soils which for short is known as the Joint Vertisol Project (JVP).
There is a hierarchy of interlocked subsystems pertaining to the utilisation of Vertisols. This encompasses such diverse components that an integrative research which links all levels is required for a long-term sustainable use of such a vital resource. Research and development on Vertisols inherently address complex factors and interactions among such factors relevant for resource conservation, improvement and utilisation The JVP, therefore, had to face a multidimensional challenge to be able to exploit the comparative advantages and the complementarities thereof of partner institutions for the attainment of critical mass to make agriculture and its development sustainable in the shortest time possible.
Such a challenge could be overwhelming when comprehensiveness is sought such that the efforts of several national and international institutions had to be streamlined. This was necessary because the high number of individual and correlated complex R&D issues prevent any single institution from formulating and successfully executing a blanket programme. Despite the non-conducive policy framework and a top-down commandist political system that did not encourage resourcefulness or participatory development, the JVP has come a long way in the seven years after its initiation. Needless to say, not all of JVP's efforts were success stories.
The JVP's modest accomplishments, seen in the light of the enormity and immensity of the tasks, have been due to sheer will- power and the recognition by those who saw ahead the diverse potentials of Vertisols in Ethiopia. This should act as a beacon and driving force towards greater collaboration in capability- building in research, training and extension.
The historical perspective, organisational arrangements, strategy of choice, prioritisation, task-sharing, the achievement and related issues constitute the topics of the synthesis report for the seven-year period (1986-92). We hope that this synthesis report will impetus and reference material to researchers and extension workers on Vertisols in Ethiopia and elsewhere.
This monumental task was accomplished through the untiring efforts of the JVP Technical Committee, concerned scientists from collaborating institutions, and the often unsang heroes - the Ethiopian farmers - who cooperated with the scientists in the verification of the technologies. Without the generous support of partner institutions as well as the decisive and indispensable financial assistance of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), the JVP would not have accomplished what it did.
Mesfin Abebe (Dr.)
Chairman, Advisory Committee of the JVP, and
Minister, Natural Resources Development
and Environmental Protection
