Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices and Soil Health Dynamics in Semi-Arid South Africa: A Five-Year Perspective

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices have been implemented in semi-arid regions of South Africa to enhance soil health and productivity under changing climatic conditions. A total of 20 plots were established across three farming systems: traditional, conservation agriculture, and integrated crop-livestock management. Soil samples were collected annually for analysis using standard protocols. Significant increases in soil organic matter content (SOMC) were observed with the conservation agriculture system compared to the traditional method (p < 0.05). The integrated crop-livestock management system demonstrated enhanced soil aggregate stability, though MBC did not show significant differences. Further research is recommended to assess long-term sustainability and potential synergies with climate change mitigation strategies. Climate-Smart Agriculture, Soil Organic Matter Content, Microbial Biomass Carbon, Soil Aggregate Stability Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.