Increasing resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change through multiple adoption of proven climate-smart agriculture innovations. Lessons from Southern Africa

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) focuses on productivity, climate-change adaptation, and mitigation, and the potential for developing resilient food production systems that lead to food and income security. Lately, several frameworks and tools have been developed to prioritize context-specific CSA technologies and assess the potential impacts of selected options. This study applied a mixed-method approach, the climate-smart agriculture rapid appraisal (CSA-RA) tool, to evaluate farmers’ preferred CSA technologies and to show how they link to the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The chapter examines prioritized CSA options across diverse study sites. The authors find that the prioritized options align with the food security and livelihood needs of smallholder farmers, and relate to multiple sustainable development goals. Specifically, CSA technologies contribute to SDG1 (end poverty), SDG2 (end hunger and promote sustainable agriculture), SDG13 (combating climate change), and SDG15 (life on land). Limited awareness on the benefits of agriculture technologies and the diversity of outcomes desired by stakeholders’ present challenges and trade-offs for achieving the SDGs. The CSA-RA provides a methodological approach linking locally relevant indicators to the SDG targets.

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Using climate analogue tools to explore and build smallholder farmer capacity for climate smart agriculture

AAS Open Research ◽

10.12688/aasopenres.12822.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 ◽

pp. 24

Author(s):

Phyllis Opare ◽

Johnson O. Akintonde ◽

Daniel Obeng-Ofori ◽

Valerie Nelson

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Security ◽

Weather Forecasting ◽

Food Sovereignty ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Rainfall Variability ◽

Transformative Change ◽

Social Infrastructure ◽

Mitigation And Adaptation ◽

Smart Agriculture

Background: The phenomenon of climate change (CC) and its attendant challenges in agriculture have been widely document. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) focuses on sustainable agriculture intensification for food sovereignty through the adoption of mitigation and adaptation practices. Agriculture provides the livelihood for 70% of rural poor in the developing world, so building farmer capacity in CSA is imperative for food security. Studies show that transformative change must be bottom-up – integrating scientific and ethical dimensions, using participatory research approaches that employ simple comprehensive tools for building participants’ capacity to adapt. Methods: The study uses the “Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security” (CCAFS) climate analogue and weather forecasting tools. These participatory learning tools allow participants to interrogate and explore their own geographical and climatic histories and to draw conclusions on climate variability. This study examined smallholder farmers’ understanding of CC and their resilience to it. The study consisted of 5 stages – selection of tools, planning and training of teams, meetings with community leaders and community members to select participants, focus group discussions, modelling sessions and community dissemination meetings. Results: Participants showed awareness of CC, explained in terms of rainfall variability, decreasing rainforest, increasing temperature and excessively long hot days. Farmers illustrated gendered perception of past and present landscapes, time use, past seasonal trends, vulnerabilities and access to key resources. They also observed that natural resources were declining, while population and social infrastructure increased. Participants modelled the shift in seasons and projected possible future scenarios. Finally, participants were willing to adopt climate smart agronomic practices. Conclusions: After establishing that farmers are aware of CC, follow-on-studies addressing the impediments to adaptation and provision of necessary tools and resources to facilitate adaptation must be carried out. This study can also be replicated among a larger smallholder population for increased capacity to practice CSA.

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Increasing adaptation to climate stress by applying conservation agriculture in Southern Africa.

10.1079/9781789245745.0016 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 270-283

Author(s):

Christian Thierfelder ◽

Peter Steward

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Soil Moisture ◽

Heat Stress ◽

Drought Stress ◽

Southern Africa ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Conservation Agriculture ◽

Crop Productivity ◽

Soil Disturbance ◽

On Farm

Abstract Climate change and soil fertility decline are threatening food security in southern Africa and efforts have been made to adapt current cropping systems to the needs of smallholder farmers. Conservation Agriculture (CA) based on minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop diversification has been proposed as a strategy to address the challenges smallholder farmers face. Here we analyse the potential contributions of CA towards adaptation to the effects of climate change by summarizing data on infiltration, soil moisture dynamics and crop productivity under heat and drought stress. The data were taken in the main from CIMMYT's on-farm and on-station trial network. Data show that CA systems maintain 0.7-7.9 times higher water infiltration than the conventional tilled system depending on soil type, which increases soil moisture during the cropping season by 11%-31% between CA treatments and the conventional control treatment. This leads to greater adaptive capacity of CA systems during in-season dry spells and under heat stress. A supporting regional maize productivity assessment, analysing the results of numerous on-farm and on-station experiments, showed that CA systems will outperform conventional tillage practices (CP), especially on light-textured soils, under heat and drought stress. With higher rainfall and low heat stress, this relation was more positive towards CP and on clay soil there was no benefit of practising CA when rainfall was high. The long dry season and limited biomass production of CA systems in southern Africa require complementary good agricultural practices to increase other soil quality parameters (e.g. increased soil carbon) to maintain higher productivity and sustainability over time. This can be addressed by combinations of improved stress-tolerant seed, targeted fertilization, inclusion of tree-based components or green manure cover crops in the farming system, scale-appropriate mechanization and improved weed control strategies.

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Climate Smart Agriculture and Its Implementation Challenges in Africa

Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology ◽

10.9734/cjast/2019/v38i430371 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Behailu Legesse Kaptymer ◽

Jemal Abdulkerim Ute ◽

Musa Negeso Hule

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Risk Sharing ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Rural Livelihoods ◽

Conservation Agriculture ◽

Social Infrastructure ◽

Resource Base ◽

Implementation Challenges ◽

Pests And Diseases ◽

Smart Agriculture

The changing climate is hitting smallholder farmers hard. It is doing so especial in the African continent which is regularly pronounced as most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Climate change brings droughts and floods, pests and diseases; it means poorer crops, less food, and lower incomes. Agriculture in Africa must undergo a major transformation in the coming decades in order to meet the intertwined challenges of achieving food security, reducing poverty and responding to climate change without depletion of the natural resource base. Climate-smart agriculture seeks to increase productivity in an environmentally and socially sustainable way, strengthen farmers’ resilience to climate change, and reduce agriculture’s contribution to climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon storage on farmland. Climate-smart agriculture includes practical techniques including mulching, conservation agriculture, integrated crop-livestock management, crop rotation, intercropping, agro forestry, improved grazing, and improved of water management system. In spite of the potential of Climate Smart Agriculture to improve resilience and to enhance agricultural production and rural livelihoods, systematic response to climate change through adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture practices and technologies is still very limited in Africa for a host of reasons. some of the challenges facing Climate-smart agriculture in Africa includes, Lack of practical understanding of the approach; Lack of data and information and appropriate analytical tools at local and national levels; Inadequate coordinated, supportive and enabling policy frameworks; Lack of adequate and innovative financing mechanisms and effective risk-sharing schemes; Limited credit and finance and Poor physical and social infrastructure to mention few. To support the implementation of climate-smart agriculture and resolve the challenges in Africa, it is necessary to improve the coordination of policies and strengthen local, national and regional institutions.

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Uptake of Climate Smart Agriculture in Peri-Urban Areas of South Africa's Economic Hub Requires Up-Scaling

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems ◽

10.3389/fsufs.2021.706738 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Author(s):

Munyaradzi Chitakira ◽

Nombuso Z. P. Ngcobo

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Scale Up ◽

Crop Productivity ◽

Limited Information ◽

Gauteng Province ◽

Cover Cropping ◽

Crop Varieties ◽

Smart Agriculture

Climate variability and change impact significantly on food security and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers making it necessary for the farmers to prioritize investment in adaptation and mitigation approaches, such as climate smart agriculture, to enhance resilience. Climate smart agriculture approaches have been adopted in many countries around the world to address the adverse impacts of climate change on agricultural production. There is limited information about climate smart agriculture adoption by peri-urban farmers in developing countries. The present study aimed to assess the extent to which agricultural activities by smallholder crop farmers in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng province of South Africa are climate smart, and to establish the sustainable measures to be put in place to enhance the adoption of climate smart agriculture. The study made use of a mixed method design combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. A combination of simple random and non-probability sampling techniques was employed to select the study locations and identify respondents. A sample of thirty-six farmers were selected for the study. The main findings revealed overwhelming awareness of climate change and the impacts thereof on crop productivity and yields. However, the respondents' level of awareness of climate smart agriculture technologies was generally low. Despite the lack of knowledge of climate smart agriculture practices, the farmers were, to an extent, utilizing adaptation mechanisms acquired from indigenous systems or scientific knowledge. Examples of these practices include mulching, cover cropping, crop rotation and use of crop varieties. The study concludes that much more can be done to scale up the uptake of climate smart agriculture in the Gauteng province. The study recommends formal and informal strategies including one-on-one extension programs to raise the awareness of climate smart agriculture technologies appropriate to the unique conditions of the farmers.

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Evaluating the utilisation of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices among smallholder farmers in The Lawra, Jirapa and Nandom districts of Ghana

Ghana Journal of Agricultural Science ◽

10.4314/gjas.v55i2.10 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 55 (2) ◽

pp. 122-144

Author(s):

K.O. Sam ◽

V.A. Botchway ◽

N. Karbo ◽

G.O. Essegbey ◽

D. K. Nutsukpo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Market Price ◽

Small Ruminants ◽

Climate Change Impacts ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Cost Ratio ◽

Benefit Cost Ratio ◽

Budget Analysis ◽

Smart Agriculture

Climate change is posing threat to agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is proposed to solve climate change impacts on agriculture. Smallholder farmers are adopting various strategies to be resilient to climate change effects. Empirical research is required to evaluate CSA utilisation in Ghana. Lawra, Jirapa and Nandom districts in the climate-risk areas of Guinea Savannah agro-ecological zone were chosen and Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) tools were used. Farm budget analysis and market price methods were employed; key financial decision-making tools were net returns, profit margins and benefit-cost ratio. Soft systems content analysis, frequencies, means, ranking and data aggregation were employed to generate results. CSA use in the study districts was smallholder driven and male dominated. CSA was mainly used for staples including cereals and legumes and small ruminants under livestock. Crop-livestock integration and crop rotation were the common CSA practices with the highest costs (GH¢6,370.00) and highest revenues (GH¢9,460.00) respectively. Utilisation of CSA in the districts is beneficial and investments are profitable and financially viable. All actors and stakeholders must join forces to promote CSA in the districts. Rigorous promotional campaigns, capacity building and funding at all levels are crucial for CSA adoption in Ghana.

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A Synthesis of Smallholder Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change in Southern Africa: Averting Adaptation Vacuum

Climate Change Management - Climate Change Adaptation in Africa ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-49520-0_16 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 247-265

Author(s):

Obert Jiri ◽

Paramu Mafongoya

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Southern Africa ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Adaptation To Climate Change

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Enhancing climate resilience using stress-tolerant maize in conservation agriculture in southern Africa.

10.1079/9781789245745.0013 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 230-245

Author(s):

Peter Setimela ◽

Isaiah Nyagumbo ◽

Walter Mupangwa ◽

Munyaradzi Mutenje

Keyword(s):

Southern Africa ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Conservation Agriculture ◽

Growing Season ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

Maize Germplasm ◽

Maize Cultivars ◽

Climate Resilience ◽

Drought Tolerant ◽

Smart Agriculture

Abstract Recurrent and widespread droughts in southern Africa (SA) reduce agricultural productivity and increase food insecurity among smallholder farmers. The average growing-season temperatures are expected to increase by 2.5°C. In SA maize is a staple food, accounting for more than 30% of total calories. The crop is mostly grown by smallholder farmers with limited inputs of fertilizers and improved seed. Most of the maize cultivars grown by farmers are susceptible to heat and drought. Multi-stress-tolerant maize germplasm is one of the climate smart agriculture (CSA) components and, when used in combination with others, can sustainably increase production and resilience of agricultural systems. In this paper we review the performance and economic benefits of drought-tolerant maize cultivars under conventional monocropping practice, under conventional intercropping and in Conservation Agriculture (CA) as part of sustainable intensification to ensure food security for smallholder farmers.

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