scholarly journals Agriculture and food systems in sub-Saharan Africa in a 4 ° C+ world

2011 ◽  
Vol 369 (1934) ◽  
pp. 117-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip K. Thornton ◽  
Peter G. Jones ◽  
Polly J. Ericksen ◽  
Andrew J. Challinor
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Commodity Price ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Agriculture And Food

Agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa faces daunting challenges, which climate change and increasing climate variability will compound in vulnerable areas. The impacts of a changing climate on agricultural production in a world that warms by 4 ° C or more are likely to be severe in places. The livelihoods of many croppers and livestock keepers in Africa are associated with diversity of options. The changes in crop and livestock production that are likely to result in a 4 ° C+ world will diminish the options available to most smallholders. In such a world, current crop and livestock varieties and agricultural practices will often be inadequate, and food security will be more difficult to achieve because of commodity price increases and local production shortfalls. While adaptation strategies exist, considerable institutional and policy support will be needed to implement them successfully on the scale required. Even in the 2 ° C+ world that appears inevitable, planning for and implementing successful adaptation strategies are critical if agricultural growth in the region is to occur, food security be achieved and household livelihoods be enhanced. As part of this effort, better understanding of the critical thresholds in global and African food systems requires urgent research.

scholarly journals Integrating wood fuels into agriculture and food security agendas and research in sub-Saharan Africa

FACETS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Mendum ◽  
Mary Njenga
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Cooking Energy ◽  
Wood Fuels ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Agriculture And Food

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), food security can be influenced by many factors including farmer productivity, access to soil amendments, labor availability, and family incomes (just to name a few). In this paper, we suggest that an additional issue contributes to food insecurity and has been historically absent from the discussion, namely access to cooking energy, particularly for very low income, food insecure individuals. This paper examines the most recent literature that describes the central role played by wood fuels, in particular firewood and charcoal, as a vital, though controversial, source of fuel used by the vast majority of rural and urban sub-Saharan Africans. We explore the reality that although the health risks of collecting and using firewood and charcoal in traditional manners are real, policy makers, researchers, and donors need to address the sustainability and viability of the current fuel types used by the majority of people. We end the paper with a series of practical suggestions for improving the wood fuel systems as they currently exist in the region.

scholarly journals IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE THROUGH AGRICULTURAL AND NUTRITIONAL POLICY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: AN INFORMED PLATFORM FOR POST-2015 DEVELOPMENT

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliot Martin
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
The Past ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Government Reforms ◽  
Inadequate Nutrition ◽  
Agricultural Diversity

A food security based approach to development did not develop as quickly in Sub-Saharan Africa in the 1970s as it had in Asia, but over the past decade and a half, especially, a cumulative wealth of evidence has led to conclusions that suggest developmental efforts focusing on food systems and nutrition are the most cost-effective and far reaching of efforts to combat poverty and improve health. While hunger indicators have improved over the years, malnutrition remains the most significant challenge to development in the region. The poverty trap caused by malnutrition, and the broader impacts of inadequate nutrition, mean that policy targeting agriculture and nutrition have higher benefits-to-cost than any other policy measures. In analysis of research and developments in agriculture, nutrition, and human development over the past 40 years, the key areas of focus which are most pragmatic for future developmental policy pushes in Sub-Saharan Africa are funding and supporting sustainable intensification of agricultural productivity, promoting women’s economic involvement, coordinating multi-pronged programs centered around food security which include smart input subsides and safety nets, urging the dissemination of agricultural diversity in addition to furthering funding and research in biofortification and improved crops, instituting equitable infrastructure development, working towards the removal of barriers to trade, and accepting accountability through national government reforms in the region.

scholarly journals Prioritizing Achievable Goals for Food Security in the Developing World

2021 ◽  
pp. 11-25
Author(s):  
Sanjaya Rajaram ◽  
Maarten van Ginkel
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Rapid Responses ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Impact

Many solutions have been proposed to address food security. We present here a prioritized set of actions achievable within the next 2–10 years. By taking a systems approach we follow the impact pathway backwards starting from the needs and desires of the end-users to eventually define the research agenda that will exactly address those targeted solutions with positive impacts. The following actions emerge as high-priority and achievable in the near future: new research tools to study food systems; dis-aggregated intra-household surveys to reveal within-family inequalities in food access; increased scientific consensus on climate change impacts in sub-Saharan Africa; rapid response measures to address sudden emergencies, such as capturing excess rainfall water; financial tools to enable rapid responses with recovery measures afterwards; consideration of restrictions that excess heat and humidity impose on human productivity; secure land ownership and tenure rights to encourage long-term agricultural investment; mechanization at all stages along the food system.

Preserving the (water) harvest: effective water use in agriculture

2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 133-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob W. Kijne
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Irrigated Agriculture ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Land And Water Management ◽  
Food Shortages ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Innovative Approaches

The alternative to increasing the world's irrigated area by an estimated 30% to secure food security for all, seems to be limited irrigation expansion and consequently higher food prices and probably food shortages. This paper explores other options for ensuring food security. It discusses meaningful similarities between innovative approaches for land and water management in rainfed and irrigated agriculture. The focus is on innovative approaches to increase yields in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Innovative technologies, such as improved tillage practices and water harvesting are important. But at least as important are the processes by which new agricultural practices are developed, improved and extended. In the end it comes down to human inventiveness.

scholarly journals Climate Change: Threat to Agricultural System and Food Security in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Adjei
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Unfavourable Weather ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Agriculture And Food ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change is unequivocal and nothing hides itself from its negative repercussions. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa will continue to be impacted due to their low adaptive capacities and geographic position. Unfavourable weather trends coupled with climatic variations will have adverse effect on agricultural sector which is the main source of livelihood to rural households on the continent. This literature review article assessed the impacts of climate change on agriculture and food security in Africa. The lives of several in Africa cling on agriculture as it supports majority of the population. However, since over 90 percent of agriculture system in the region depends on rainfall, livelihoods of the citizens on the continent have been hit hard due to rising temperature, erratic rainfall and extreme weather conditions.

scholarly journals Sustainable Agricultural Practices, Farm Income and Food Security among Rural Households in Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul-Hanan Abdallah ◽  
Awal Abdul-Rahman ◽  
Gazali Issahaku
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Treatment Effects ◽  
Rural Households ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Sustainable Agricultural Practices ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Sustainable agriculture has been recognized in the literature as one of the important pathways to ensuring food systems and livelihoods among rural households in Africa. Using data from the ‘Intensification of Food Crops Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (Afrint)’ project, we examine the impact of adoption of multiple sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) - zero-tillage, intercropping, residue incorporation and animal manure - on farm incomes and food security (captures as self-sufficiency in food production-SSF) among African rural households. Multinomial endogenous treatment effect (METE) method is applied to control potential selection bias. In addition, the multivalued treatment effects (MTE) model and dose-response-functions (DRFs) are also used to examine the treatment effects heterogeneity associated with SAPs adoption. The study reveals that joint adoption of SAPs is increased farm income and food security relative to the adoption of a single practice. Households obtain significantly higher farm income (FI) and food security (FS) via adoption of at least three practices relative to households adopting less than three practices. These findings reaffirm the benefits of adopting SAPs as a package rather than single practice, to enable farm households to derive significant welfare benefits.

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