Development of climate smart agriculture in Africa.

2022 ◽  
pp. 17-65
Author(s):  
Rachid Mrabet ◽  
Rachid Moussadek
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Food System ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Agricultural Potential ◽  
Smart Agriculture

Abstract Climate change, food system complexity and changing international demands are creating new realities, challenges and opportunities. In this respect, unlocking Africa's agricultural potential is both a vital and a daunting aspiration to achieve commitments to the climate and development of the visionary and optimistic framework of Agenda 2063. In response to these challenges and drivers, climate smart agriculture (CSA) was promoted by governments and international organizations to functionally contribute to reducing vulnerability and increasing adaptation to climate change while ensuring sustainable progress in living standards, value chains and mitigation capacities of farming systems. Remarkable benefits in terms of increased productivity and performances of farming systems, enhanced farmers' resilience, environment and value chain sustainability, and developments of CSA in Africa and lock-in barriers exclusion are under way. These are because of investment in policy formulation and planning, approaches, alliances, incentives, capacity development, research, knowledge sharing, networking and engagement in bold regional and local initiatives. Side benefits from CSA are numerous for Africans in general and for producers and growers in particular. They include poverty alleviation through green growth, just and ethical transformation, gender equity and empowerment, shared prosperity and entrepreneurship via innovation. Overall, investing in CSA and particularly in Conservation Agriculture may greatly enhance a country's strategic thinking and capacity to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Farmer-Prioritized Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies

2020 ◽  
pp. 423-445
Author(s):  
Caroline Mwongera ◽  
Chris M. Mwungu ◽  
Mercy Lungaho ◽  
Steve Twomlow
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Context Specific

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.

scholarly journals Climate change through the farming systems lens: challenges and opportunities for farming in Australia

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hayman ◽  
Lauren Rickards ◽  
Richard Eckard ◽  
Deirdre Lemerle
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Rural Sociology ◽  
System Level ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Emerging Issues ◽  
Reduce Emissions

Adaptation to and mitigation of climate change in Australian agriculture has included research at the plant, animal, and soil level; the farming system level; and the community and landscape level. This paper focuses on the farming systems level at which many of the impacts of a changing climate will be felt. This is also the level where much of the activity relating to adaptation and mitigation can usefully be analysed and at which existing adaptive capacity provides a critical platform for further efforts. In this paper, we use a framework of nested hierarchies introduced by J. Passioura four decades ago to highlight the need for research, development and extension (RDE) on climate change at the farming systems level to build on more fundamental soil, plant, and animal sciences and to link into higher themes of rural sociology and landscape science. The many questions asked by those managing farming systems can be categorised under four broad headings: (1) climate projections at a local scale, (2) impacts of climate projections on existing farming systems, (3) adaptation options, and (4) risks and opportunities from policies to reduce emissions. These questions are used as a framework to identify emerging issues for RDE in Australian farming systems, including the complex balance in on-farm strategies between adapting to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas concentrations. Climate is recognised as one of the defining features of different farming systems in Australia. It follows that if the climate changes, farming systems will have to shift, adapt, or be transformed into a different land use. Given that Australian farming systems have been adaptive in the past, we address the question of the extent to which research on adaptation to climate change in farming systems is different or additional to research on farming systems in a variable climate.

scholarly journals Towards Climate Smart Farming—A Reference Architecture for Integrated Farming Systems

Telecom ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-74
Author(s):  
Georgios Kakamoukas ◽  
Panagiotis Sarigiannidis ◽  
Andreas Maropoulos ◽  
Thomas Lagkas ◽  
Konstantinos Zaralis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
World Population ◽  
Reference Architecture ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Natural Resource Use ◽  
Promising Solution ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
Integrated Agricultural Systems

Climate change is emerging as a major threat to farming, food security and the livelihoods of millions of people across the world. Agriculture is strongly affected by climate change due to increasing temperatures, water shortage, heavy rainfall and variations in the frequency and intensity of excessive climatic events such as floods and droughts. Farmers need to adapt to climate change by developing advanced and sophisticated farming systems instead of simply farming at lower intensity and occupying more land. Integrated agricultural systems constitute a promising solution, as they can lower reliance on external inputs, enhance nutrient cycling and increase natural resource use efficiency. In this context, the concept of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) emerged as a promising solution to secure the resources for the growing world population under climate change conditions. This work proposes a CSA architecture for fostering and supporting integrated agricultural systems, such as Mixed Farming Systems (MFS), by facilitating the design, the deployment and the management of crop–livestock-=forestry combinations towards sustainable, efficient and climate resilient agricultural systems. Propelled by cutting-edge technology solutions in data collection and processing, along with fully autonomous monitoring systems, e.g., smart sensors and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the proposed architecture called MiFarm-CSA, aims to foster core interactions among animals, forests and crops, while mitigating the high complexity of these interactions, through a novel conceptual framework.

The agricultural pressure cooker: how climate, demography, and value chain megatrends affect European rural regions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Debonne
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Migrant Labor ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Rural Regions ◽  
European Continent ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Climate And Environmental Change

<p>Rural regions in Europe are expected to deliver a range of contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals. However, these regions are under pressure by megatrends which shape their limitations and possibilities to contribute to sustainability now and in the future. Climate change demography, and value chain dynamics are three particularly interesting megatrends, because while they are global in scope, they have distinctly heterogeneous spatial signatures. The specific patterns and manifestations of climate and environmental change, demographic dynamics, and value chain constellations at the regional scale signal the expected agricultural change in that region, as well as the possibilities the region has to offer. Therefore, studying these megatrends can provide foresight into how European agriculture is likely to evolve. Farm upscaling can for example be expected in ageing regions which are well-embedded in global value chains and for which climate change impacts are either largely positive are not overly challenging to overcome. Other combinations of megatrends may lead to land abandonment, Californization (the use of migrant labor), or the development of sustainable markets. This research quantifies and maps megatrends, and identifies hotspots of megatrend interference. It discusses the implications of various combinations of megatrends, as they emerge across the European continent.</p>

scholarly journals Climate-Smart Adaptations and Government Extension Partnerships for Sustainable Milpa Farming Systems in Mayan Communities of Southern Belize

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3040
Author(s):  
Kristin Drexler
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Livelihood Security ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
System Sustainability ◽  
Milpa Farming

There are disproportionate adverse impacts related to climate change on rural subsistence farmers in southern Belize, Central America who depend directly on natural resources for their food and livelihood security. Promoting a more resilient farming system with key climate-smart agriculture (CSA) adaptations can improve productivity, sustainability, and food security for Mayan milpa farming communities. Once a sustainable system, the milpa has become less reliable in the last half century due to hydroclimatic changes (i.e., droughts, flooding, hurricanes), forest loss, soil degradation, and other factors. Using interviews with both milpa farmers and Extension officers in southern Belize. This qualitative study finds several socio-ecological system linkages of environmental, economic, socio-cultural, and adaptive technology factors, which influence the capacity for increasing CSA practices. Agriculture Extension, a government service of Belize, can facilitate effective CSA adaptations, specifically, an increase in mulching, soil nutrient enrichment, and soil cover, while working as partners within Maya farming traditions. These CSA practices can facilitate more equitable increases in crop production, milpa farm system sustainability, and resilience to climate change. However, there are several institutional and operational barriers in Extension which challenge their efficacy. Recommendations are presented in this study to reduce Extension barriers and promote an increase in CSA practices to positively influence food and livelihood security for milpa communities in southern Belize.

scholarly journals Changes in Dairy Products Value Chain in Georgia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 5894
Author(s):  
Rami Al Sidawi ◽  
Teo Urushadze ◽  
Angelika Ploeger
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Dairy Products ◽  
Food System ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Livestock Sector ◽  
The Impact

The livestock sector, as a part of the traditional food system in Georgia, occupies a considerable portion of the national economy. Though smallholder farmers are the key suppliers at the primary stage in the food value chain, the empowerment of smallholder farmers in the dairy production system in Georgia is a questionable matter. This research study reports the results of changes in the dairy sector in Georgia (Caucasus) after becoming independent from the Soviet Union (literature survey) and how these changes are seen by experts in the dairy value chain. In addition, this study aimed to look in-depth at the dynamics of the value chain of dairy in Georgia and examine the current dairy production policies. Qualitative research was applied as the methodology for expert interviews in 2019. The findings showed the difficulties experienced by the local and national dairy market sectors in Georgia nowadays. Where these difficulties were analyzed by the parameters of the value chain, it states the impact of the current regulations and policies on the safety and the quality of dairy production in the country and the depth of social, economic, and ethical impacts on the marketing of dairy products for smallholders. Furthermore, the Sustainable Development Goals on the dairy value chain are described.

scholarly journals Towards Sustainable Shifts to Healthy Diets and Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa with Climate-Resilient Crops in Bread-Type Products: A Food System Analysis

Foods ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Martijn W. J. Noort ◽  
Stefano Renzetti ◽  
Vincent Linderhof ◽  
Gerrie E. du Rand ◽  
Nadéne J. M. M. Marx-Pienaar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Food System ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Food Product ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Double Burden ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Sub Saharan

Massive urbanization and increasing disposable incomes favor a rapid transition in diets and lifestyle in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). As a result, the SSA population is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the double burden of malnutrition and obesity. This, combined with the increasing pressure to produce sufficient food and provide employment for this growing population together with the threat of climate change-induced declining crop yields, requires urgent sustainable solutions. Can an increase in the cultivation of climate-resilient crops (CRCs) and their utilization to produce attractive, convenient and nutritious bread products contribute to climate change adaptation and healthy and sustainable diets? A food system analysis of the bread food value chain in SSA indicates that replacement of refined, mostly imported, wheat in attractive bread products could (1) improve food and nutrition security, (2) bring about a shift to more nutritionally balanced diets, (3) increase economic inclusiveness and equitable benefits, and (4) improve sustainability and resilience of the food system. The food system analysis also provided systematic insight into the challenges and hurdles that need to be overcome to increase the availability, affordability and uptake of CRCs. Proposed interventions include improving the agronomic yield of CRCs, food product technology, raising consumer awareness and directing policies. Overall, integrated programs involving all stakeholders in the food system are needed.

scholarly journals Identifying Climate-smart agriculture research needs

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 26001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Torquebiau ◽  
Cynthia Rosenzweig ◽  
Allison M. Chatrchyan ◽  
Nadine Andrieu ◽  
Raj Khosla
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Food System ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Global Food Security ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
Global Food ◽  
Change Mitigation

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach to help agricultural systems worldwide, concurrently addressing three challenge areas: increased adaptation to climate change, mitigation of climate change, and ensuring global food security – through innovative policies, practices, and financing. It involves a set of objectives and multiple transformative transitions for which there are newly identified knowledge gaps. We address these questions raised by CSA within three areas: conceptualization, implementation, and implications for policy and decision-makers. We also draw up scenarios on the future of the CSA concept in relation to the 4 per 1000 Initiative (Soils for Food Security and Climate) launched at UNFCCC 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21). Our analysis shows that there is still a need for further interdisciplinary research on the theoretical foundation of the CSA concept and on the necessary transformations of agriculture and land use systems. Contrasting views about implementation indicate that CSA focus on the “triple win” (adaptation, mitigation, food security) needs to be assessed in terms of science-based practices. CSA policy tools need to incorporate an integrated set of measures supported by reliable metrics. Environmental and social safeguards are necessary to make sure that CSA initiatives conform to the principles of sustainability, both at the agriculture and food system levels.

scholarly journals Evaluating Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Livestock Value Chain Actors on Climate Smart Agriculture/Livestock (CSA/L) in Kajiado County, Kenya

2021 ◽  
pp. 134-148
Author(s):  
Mary W. Thongoh ◽  
H. M. Mutembei ◽  
J. Mburu ◽  
B. E. Kathambi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Livestock Production ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Livestock Sector ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
Knowledge Attitudes And Practices

The livestock sector is a major contributor to food security and is mainly practiced by the rural poor but faces climate related threats. While there are many natural occurrences impacting the average global temperature and consequently livestock production, human activities in the sector continue to be a main contributing factor to climate change as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. However there has been little attention paid to integration of climate smart initiatives into livestock production and beyond into the value chains especially in ASALs where 80% of livestock production is found. A mixed method approach was used to evaluate KAP (knowledge, attitudes and practices) of the Livestock value chain actors (MSMEs). Linking Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) to MSMEs within the livestock sector value chains is imperative to producers’ engagements within the livestock value chain, reducing climate risks and increasing resilience. The study revealed that actors relate climate change to weather variability, extreme weather conditions and drought and CSA/Livestock as a concept is not well understood; there is a general knowledge of climate change albeit with low understanding on its relationship with livestock, and concern among the value chain actors on the impacts of climate change on productivity and the willingness to take part in actions aimed at protecting the environment and mitigating climate change. There is need to provide context-based CSA technologies, innovation, and management practices (TIMPs) tailored to pastoral livestock production and ASALs value chains, strengthening of peer-to-peer learning and improving extension services to increase awareness, trainings and enhance adoption of CSA since most actors interact with extension officers, and with each other along the chains.

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