5. Case study: Assessment of Biodiversity Conservation Potential of ISFM in Northern Ghana

5.1 Introduction

Conventional smallholder agriculture in northern Ghana has historically relied on low-input cereal systems (maize, sorghum, millet) with limited and often imbalanced use of inorganic fertilizer, continuous cropping and frequent residue removal — practices that have contributed to widespread declines in soil organic matter and crop responses well below potential yields.

Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) is a practice package promoted to reverse soil degradation and raise productivity by combining improved germplasm, judicious use of mineral fertilizer, and locally available organic resources (manure, compost, legume residues), together with appropriate crop rotations or intercropping. ISFM explicitly aims to increase nutrient use efficiency, restore soil organic matter and improve crop yields in a cost-effective, site-specific way.

Beyond productivity gains, there is an increasing need to assess the biodiversity conservation potential of ISFM within conventional agricultural landscapes of northern Ghana. ISFM practices such as crop diversification, cereal–legume rotations, organic matter additions, residue retention and reduced reliance on blanket fertilizer application may create more heterogeneous agroecosystems that support soil biota, beneficial insects and on-farm plant diversity. However, empirical evidence on how these practices influence above-, no-, and below-ground biodiversity under smallholder conditions remains limited. Systematic assessment of biodiversity outcomes is therefore critical to determine whether ISFM can contribute simultaneously to soil fertility restoration, climate resilience and the conservation of agro-biodiversity, while avoiding unintended trade-offs associated with agricultural intensification.