One Mozambican cabbage farmer, Alberto, using half his acreage, labor, and water needs, produces the same crop of cabbage, by simply by creating permanent lightly mulched humus-rich beds. 

Once farmers grasp the principles of soil management, they reduce their dependence on expensive agricultural 'inputs' such as chemical fertilizers, weed, and pest control, as well as water. This adaptation is critical in drought-prone regions.

Prudent soil management also makes farmers stewards of the environment. By planting perennial vegetable crops, farmers can harvest food for themselves and their animals. Farmers can also grow trees such as Moringa, Albizia and Leucaena which provide food, fuel, animal feed and other products while improving the ecosystem.

This avoids, or mitigates, the effects of forest clear-cuts that erode soils and promote drought when streams dry up.