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Increasing soil degradation in southern Africa and the potentially negative effects of climate change demand “greener” solutions to reverse this trend. Conservation agriculture (CA) has been proposed as one of those solutions and field level data show marked benefits of this new cropping system. Nevertheless, the use of rotations and/or associations in CA systems is challenging at both the farm and community level. Intercropped maize (Zea mays L.) with grain legumes, cowpea and pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. (Millsp.)), as well as maize rotated with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. (Walp)) and sunnhemp (Crotalaria ochroleuca L.) was studied for up to eight seasons under CA and conventional agriculture in Zimbabwe. The objective of this study, carried out on-farm and on-station, was to highlight the effects of CA systems on some soil quality indicators and crop productivity. Where possible the specific effects of …