A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor
of Philosophy in Life Sciences of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and
Technology
Soil fertility is one of the fundamental challenges faced by cash constrained smallholder
farmers across sub-Saharan Africa. In an effort to ward off this hurdle, some smallholder
farmers in southern Zambia opt to use anthill soil as alternative fertilizer to enhance soil
fertility and mitigate against exorbitant fertilizer costs. This study investigated the potential
of using anthill soil as fertilizer for enhancing crop productivity under conventional (CONV)
and conservation agriculture (CA) tillage systems with two principals involving minimum
tillage and soil cover. The study was conducted in Pemba and Choma districts of southern
Zambia where the practice of anthill soil utilization is widespread. Qualitative and
quantitative approaches were employed to gather data for the surveys using open data kit
(ODK) tool. Pot and on-farm experiments were set in Complete Randomized and
Randomized Complete Block Designs to assess growth parameters; plant height, girth, dry
matter yield, plant uptake, leaflet length, width and area, grain, stover and core yield of test
crop under anthill soil, mineral fertilizer, manure and their combinations. All data recorded
were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 22, STATISTICA 2010
Programme, GEN STAT 15
th
edition and Origin Pro 9.0. Results from the survey revealed
that key barriers to the application of anthill soils in agriculture production lay in biophysical,
technological, land, institutional and agro-climatic issues. The study also found that elevated
macro and micro nutrients were more pronounced in top segments of the anthills. Significant
(p<0.05) growth parameter yields were observed in sole anthill soil (5 000 kg/ha) and in
combination with manure (10 000 kg/ha) or half rate mineral fertilizer (100 kg/ha; 10% N:
20% P
2
0
5
: 10% K
2
O: 6% S and 46% NH
4
NO
3
) under both pot and field conditions.
Phosphatase enzyme activity across the study districts was lower in comparison to
arylsulphatase. Moisture retention capacity was consistent in both CONV and CA plots and
only in Pemba site. Financial benefits were accrued more in treatments involving sole anthill
and in combination with manure. To attain optimal benefits from the practice of anthill soil
utilization under CA systems, there is a need for capacity building amongst users on
appropriate application techniques.