Drought-Tolerant Crops in Kirinyaga County, Kenya: Climate-Smart Agriculture Adaptation Strategies

AbstractConservation agriculture (CA) based on minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop rotations is considered as a soil and crop management system that could potentially increase soil quality and mitigate the negative effects of climate variability. When CA is combined with drought-tolerant (DT) maize varieties, farmers can reap the benefits of both—genetic improvement and sustainable land management. New initiatives were started in 2007 in Mozambique to test the two climate-smart agriculture technologies on farmers' fields. Long-term trends showed that direct seeded manual CA treatments outyielded conventional tillage treatments in up to 89% of cases on maize and in 90% of cases on legume in direct yield comparisons. Improved DT maize varieties outyielded the traditional control variety by 26–46% (695–1422 kg ha−1) on different tillage treatment, across sites and season. However a direct interaction between tillage treatment and variety performance could not be established. Maize and legume grain yields on CA plots in this long-term dataset did not increase with increased years of practice due to on-site variability between farmer replicates. It was evident from the farmers' choice that, beside taste and good milling quality, farmers in drought-prone environments considered the potential of a variety to mature faster more important than larger potential yields of long season varieties. Population growth, labor shortage to clear new land areas and limited land resources in future will force farmers to change toward more permanent and sustainable cropping systems and CA is a viable option to improve their food security and livelihoods.

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Uptake of Climate-Smart Agricultural Technologies and Practices: Actual and Potential Adoption Rates in the Climate-Smart Village Site of Mali

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11174710 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (17) ◽

pp. 4710 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mathieu Ouédraogo ◽

Prosper Houessionon ◽

Robert B. Zougmoré ◽

Samuel Tetteh Partey

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Information Service ◽

Organic Manure ◽

Average Treatment Effect ◽

Agricultural Technologies ◽

Crop Varieties ◽

Drought Tolerant ◽

Household Heads ◽

Smart Agriculture ◽

And Training

Understanding the level of adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices and its drivers is needed to spur large-scale uptake of CSA in West Africa. This paper used the Average Treatment Effect framework to derive consistent parametric estimators of the potential adoption rates of eight CSA technologies and practices in the Climate-Smart Village (CSV) site of Mali. A total of 300 household heads were randomly selected within the CSV site for data collection. Results showed significant differences in the observed and potential adoption rates of the CSA technologies and practices (drought tolerant crop varieties, micro-dosing, organic manure, intercropping, contour farming, farmer managed natural regeneration, agroforestry and climate information service). The most adopted technology was the organic manure (89%) while the least adopted was the intercropping (21%). The observed adoption rate varied from 39% to 77% according to the CSA options while the potential adoption rates of the technologies and practices ranged from 55% to 81%. This implies an adoption gap of 2% to 16% due to the incomplete diffusion (lack of awareness) of CSA technologies and practices which must be addressed by carrying out more actions to disseminate these technologies in the CSV. Results showed that education, number of workers in the household, access to subsidies, and training have a positive effect on the adoption of most of the CSA technologies and practices. The adoption of drought tolerant varieties and micro-dosing are positively correlated with access to subsidies and training. The study suggests that efforts should be focused concomitantly on the diffusion of CSA options as well as the lifting of their adoption barriers.

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Scalability of Adaptation strategies to drought stress: the case of drought tolerant maize varieties in Kenya

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability ◽

10.1080/14735903.2020.1823699 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Franklin Simtowe ◽

Dan Makumbi ◽

Mosisa Worku ◽

Harriet Mawia ◽

Dil Bahadur Rahut

Keyword(s):

Drought Stress ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Drought Tolerant ◽

Maize Varieties

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Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Adaptation Strategies of Farmers against Climate Change in Lawra Municipality, Upper West Region, Ghana

Journal of Scientific Research and Reports ◽

10.9734/jsrr/2021/v27i230355 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 10-19

Author(s):

Ransford Teng-viel Karbo ◽

Aba Obrumah Crentsil

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Radio Station ◽

Economic Sectors ◽

Adaptation Capacity ◽

Crop Varieties ◽

Education And Awareness ◽

Smart Agriculture ◽

The Impact

Climate-Change is real and has daunting effects on various economic sectors. Agriculture is one of the hardest hit. The sector is the main source of livelihood for rural areas and risk being endangered. Concrete steps are needed to adapt to the situation. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices are robust coping mechanisms against climate change and the effects on agriculture. Farmers in Lawra Municipal are encouraged to employ CSA practices in farming. The CSA adaptation strategies of farmers in Lawra against climate change are unclear. Specifically, the objective of the study is to identify CSA adaptation strategies of farmers in Lawra. The importance of this study is to strengthen the adaptation capacity of farmers towards protecting their primary livelihood source (agricultural) from the impact of climate change. Employing a qualitative approach and using a semi-structured questionnaire, the study conducted in-depth interviews with farmers, and a key informant each from the Municipal Agriculture Department and one local radio station. Quota, snowballing and purposive non-probability sampling techniques were employed to select 20 farmers with knowledge and experiences on CSA practices. Findings from the study suggest that, farmers’ CSA adaptation strategies included advice on crop management, new or improved crop varieties, climate change education and awareness, and the organization of field trips to demonstration sites. To improve farmers’ adaptation strategies, the study recommends intensification of routine visits and monitoring by agriculture extension agents, encouraging farmers to frequently visit the Municipal Agriculture Department for assistance, and governments and the private sector must support farmers with logistics and credit pertaining to CSA practices.

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Assessment of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Mitigation among Agrarian Communities in North Kordofan, Sudan

Jurnal Ilmu Kehutanan ◽

10.22146/jik.v15i1.1516 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 42-51

Author(s):

Mohammed Mohammed ◽

Salih Omer Tutu ◽

Hassan Elnour Adam ◽

Alawia Osman Koli ◽

Abdalla Nourain Omer Abdalla

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Adaptation ◽

Adaptation Strategy ◽

Adaptation Strategies ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Climate Change Effects ◽

Drought Tolerant ◽

Agrarian Communities ◽

Assess Climate Change ◽

The Impact

The current study was conducted in Bara Locality- North Kordofan - Sudan to assess climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies among agrarian communities. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected by randomly interviewing 150 respondents from ten villages, using questionnaire. Descriptive statistics in SPSS software package and Microsoft Excel were used for data analysis. Results of study showed that agrarian communities, and due to climate change, have enforced to develop ten adaptation strategies suitable for agriculture in dryland conditions. The most adaptation strategies being used by the agrarian communities, are cultivation in different directions locally Sheraik (77%), sowing before rain locally Ramail (77%) and reducing cultivated area as mentioned by 67% of interviewed respondents. In forests sector, around 65 % of the interviewed respondents have been practiced agro-forestry as an adaptation strategy. The interviewees were also able to figure out 6 possible mitigation strategies to stave off climate change effects. These strategies are for example building capacity of agrarian communities (73%) and provision of early mature, high yielding and drought tolerant crops (63%). The study come out with some suggestions in order to pave the way for policymakers to tailor suitable future interventions to mitigate the impact of climate change among agrarian communities.

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