Indigenous Smallholder Farming Strategies in South-Western Burkina Faso in Climate Variability Context

2018 ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
Thiombiano Boundia Alexandre ◽  
Ouédraogo Dénis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Nutrient Balance ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Western Burkina Faso

Existing production systems in West Africa are unable to maintaining a good enough nutrient cycling at farm level. Climate change is expected to increase food production issues in agro ecosystems. Adaptation of smallholders to climate change requires rethinking and adjusting their existing production systems in order to improve their nutrient balance and to ensure an efficient provision of food demand. To that end, better understanding indigenous strategies is still needed. The present study was conducted in South-western Burkina Faso. Three communities of the province were chosen through a cluster analysis using NDVI index, land use map, soil degradation information, and population density. Using soil map, six villages were randomly selected and 360 farms were surveyed. The findings show that farmers overwhelmingly (99%) perceive rainfall variability in the studied zone. Farmers used in average 22.69 ± 3.11 kg ha -1 of mineral fertilizer. A total of 28.06 % and 23.6% of interviewed farmers were using farm yard manure and compost from crop residues, respectively. Stone bunds were implemented by around 35% of farmers. The study also showed that most farmers rely on non-scientific methods for determining sowing period. The study demonstrates the need for rethinking the policy intervention strategies to ensure a better uptake of proven practices in sustainable nutrient management, and to build capacities of smallholder farmers in agro-meteorology to guide the decision making.

scholarly journals Within-Season Changes in Land-Use Impact Pest Abundance in Smallholder African Cassava Production Systems

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Kalyebi ◽  
Sarina Macfadyen ◽  
Andrew Hulthen ◽  
Patrick Ocitti ◽  
Frances Jacomb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Bemisia Tabaci ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Manihot Esculenta Crantz

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), an important commercial and food security crop in East and Central Africa, continues to be adversely affected by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. In Uganda, changes in smallholder farming landscapes due to crop rotations can impact pest populations but how these changes affect pest outbreak risk is unknown. We investigated how seasonal changes in land-use have affected B. tabaci population dynamics and its parasitoids. We used a large-scale field experiment to standardize the focal field in terms of cassava age and cultivar, then measured how Bemisia populations responded to surrounding land-use change. Bemisia tabaci Sub-Saharan Africa 1 (SSA1) was identified using molecular diagnostics as the most prevalent species and the same species was also found on surrounding soybean, groundnut, and sesame crops. We found that an increase in the area of cassava in the 3–7-month age range in the landscape resulted in an increase in the abundance of the B. tabaci SSA1 on cassava. There was a negative relationship between the extent of non-crop vegetation in the landscape and parasitism of nymphs suggesting that these parasitoids do not rely on resources in the non-crop patches. The highest abundance of B. tabaci SSA1 nymphs in cassava fields occurred at times when landscapes had large areas of weeds, low to moderate areas of maize, and low areas of banana. Our results can guide the development of land-use strategies that smallholder farmers can employ to manage these pests.

scholarly journals Drought-tolerant Varieties as an Adaptation Strategy in the Context of Climate Change: Insight from Maize Production Systems in Benin

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Mohamed Nasser Baco
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Maize Production ◽  
Ecological Zones ◽  
Drought Tolerant ◽  
Agro Ecological Zones

Previous studies suggested that maize is set to become a cash crop while ensuring food security better than any other crop. However, climate change has become one of the key production constraints that are now hampering and threatening the sustainability of maize production systems. We conducted a study to better understand changes here defined as adaptations made by smallholder farmers to ensure food security and improve income through maize production in a climate change context. Our results show that maize farmers in northern Benin mainly rely on traditional seeds. Drought as abiotic stress is perceived by farmers in many agro-ecological zones as a disruptive factor for crop production, including maize. When drought is associated with pest damages, both the quantity (i.e. yield) and the quality (i.e. attributes) of products/harvests are negatively affected. The adverse effects of drought continue to reduce production in different agro-ecological zones of the country, because of the lack of widespread adoption of tolerant varieties. The study suggests actions towards the production of drought-tolerant maize seeds, a promotion of seed companies, the organization of actors and value chains. Apart from climate change, the promotion of value chains is also emerging as one of the important aspects to take into account to sustain maize production in Benin.

SMALLHOLDER FARMER’S LIVELIHOOD DIVERSIFICATION AS A RESPONSE TO CHANGED CLIMATIC PATTERNS IN CHONGWE DISTRICT, ZAMBIA.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Mbewe Jacqueline ◽  
Kabwe Harnadih Mubanga
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Rainfall Patterns ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Purpose: Climate change affects local and global rainfall patterns and hence has a counter effect on smallholder agriculture. Impacts of climate change on agriculture are largely due to rainfall variability resulting in reduced yields due to crop-water stress and emergency of pathogens and diseases. In Zambia, climate change has been manifested through increased intensity of droughts and floods. These rainfall anomalies adversely affect agriculture and food systems. In order to survive the impacts of climate change and variability, smallholder farmers in Chongwe have adopted their livelihoods and farming systems to the new climatic patterns.Methodology: This study assessed how smallholder farmers in Chongwe District have adopted their livelihoods as a response to changed climatic conditions. It also investigated the perceptions of smallholder farmers as regards changes in aspects of their climatic conditions. Data collection involved a critical review of literature related to climate change and agriculture, observations, semi- structured interviews with 60 smallholder farmers and eight key informants. The data were analysed using multiple analysis techniques which included the descriptive statistics, One-way analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and the post-hoc Least Square Difference for pairwise comparisons of incomes from different livelihoods engaged in by smallholder farmers .The gendered comparisons of livelihood engagement was done using the chi-square test of association.Findings: The results showed that all farmers perceived occurrence of changes in climatic conditions in the light of changed rainfall patterns in that there has been uncertainty in onset of rains, short rainy season, more intermittent rainfall and increased frequency of intra-seasonal droughts. These changes have led to farmers to adopt such farming techniques as potholing in preference to oxen and tractor ploughing when farming is done on smaller pieces of land. There was a significant difference in the mean annual incomes generated from on-farm livelihoods (ZMW 3677.59; n=58) and off-farm livelihoods (ZMW 6840.91; n = 58) (p= 0.001). Farmers generated the highest income returns by engaging in casual work (ZMW 10307.69; n = 13) compared to every other livelihoods common in the area such as gardening (p=0.002), petty trade (p=0.002) and on-farm livelihoods (p=0.001).Contribution to policy, theory and practice: It was therefore concluded that diversification of income through diversified livelihoods would help smallholder farmers enhance their resilience in the face of changed climatic conditions. On-farm livelihoods should not always be the main income source for farmers as results indicated that farmers engaged in casual work generated higher incomes than those who depended on farming. It was recommended that policy direction should be towards introduction of a gender responsive credit facility that can help improve women’s engagement in off-farm income generating livelihoods, as well as encourage climate change resilience.

scholarly journals From farmers to livestock keepers: a typology of cattle production systems in south-western Burkina Faso

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 2179-2189 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Zoma-Traoré ◽  
A. Soudré ◽  
S. Ouédraogo-Koné ◽  
N. Khayatzadeh ◽  
L. Probst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Cattle Production ◽  
Western Burkina Faso

Review of Climate Change Adaptation and Social Protection Policies of Ghana

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwasi Frimpong ◽  
Eddie Van Etten ◽  
Jacques Oosthuzien ◽  
Victor Nufam Fannam
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
African Region ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Adaptation Policies

Smallholder farming has become a significant livelihood coping strategy of the population in Ghana. However, in the last decade the upsurge of climate change and the effect of heat stress vulnerability on smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana are alarming. This article investigates the chances of using social protection and climate change adaptation policies towards the management of risks associated with heat stress emanating from climate change. It reviews salient literature on heat stress, social protection, and climate change policies and develops a model upon which both domestic and international interest in climate and social protection policies of Ghana and Sub-Sahara Africa can reduce or aggravate heat stress impacts on smallholder farmers both at their working environment and at household level. It exemplifies the efficacy of the strength of social protection and climate change adaptation policies in Ghana and its impacts on vulnerable rural smallholder farmers and how such situation is replicated in many parts of Africa. It outlines further measures that can be undertaken by governments and international donor agencies to revamp the destitution of smallholder farmers to climate change and heat stress in African region.

Use of crop residues and agro-industrial by-products in ruminant production systems in developing countries

1993 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. N. Jayasuriya
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Mixed System ◽  
Crop Failure ◽  
Cropping Patterns ◽  
By Products

AbstractRuminant production systems in developing countries could be classified into three categories: the extensive systems, systems incorporating arable cropping and systems integrated with tree cropping. Systems have evolved in response to the agro-ecological environment, the availability and type of land, nature of cropping patterns, frequency and intensity of cropping, area of uncultivated land and animal species and animal numbers.Smallholder livestock farmers in most developing countries appear to have adopted a mixed system that incorporates the traditional extensive system and the system that combines arable cropping with livestock. Both in Africa and in Asia, livestock production is an important component of traditional agriculture, complementing arable cropping. Livestock utilize existing food resources such as communal grazing lands which are marginal for arable cropping, crop residues and agro-industrial by-products. Besides supplying meat and milk, organic manure and draft power, livestock are an investment and an insurance against crop failure.Crop residues and agro-industrial by-products are a major source of nutrients for ruminant livestock in developing countries, especially during periods of fodder shortage. Despite the large research effort on upgrading crop residues in recent years, there has been little improvement in the utilization of crop residues in developing countries. Reasons for this are many but include, the absence of detailed production patterns of crop residues within countries, including when and where they are produced, the difficulties of transporting and storing crop residues, inappropriate technology and the near absence of extension services.Both in the African and Asian continents, smallholder farmers who rear livestock for supplementary income are rather reluctant to change their traditional practices, when new technologies call for extra labour, time and capital, since the methods may be too demanding in relation to the benefit produced. The more likely application of any new technology will be with larger-scale operations where benefits are clearer and sufficiently large to warrant the extra efforts.

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

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.

scholarly journals Coping with and Adapting to Climate Change: A Gender Perspective from Smallholder Farming in Ghana

Environments ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsie Assan ◽  
Murari Suvedi ◽  
Laura Schmitt Olabisi ◽  
Andrea Allen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Farm Households ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Savings And Loans ◽  
Adaptation Capacity ◽  
Adaptation Practices

The negative impacts of climate change on agriculture could erode gains made toward gender equality in Ghana. Much of the literature on gender dimensions of climate change adaptation has focused on assessing differences in coping and adaptation practices of smallholder farmers. Mostly overlooked is whether gender influences influenced perception of effectiveness of adaptation practices and preferences for institutional support for future adaptation. Using key informant interviews, household surveys, and focus group discussions, we address these gaps by exploring coping and adaptation measures adopted by heads of farm households to counter climate change impacts on their livelihood activities and household well-being in the Guinea Savanna agroecological zone in Ghana. Additionally, we assessed the preferred institutional adaptation support of heads of farm households in adapting to future projected impacts. We find that female heads of farm households relied mainly on borrowed money from village savings and loans group as a coping measure; male heads of farm households depended primarily on sales of livestock. Varying planting and harvesting dates, crop diversification, and use of improved crop varieties were the major adaptation strategies adopted by farmers. We argue that provision of dams and/or dugouts, postharvest processing facilities, adaptation capacity-building resources, and improved access to markets and credit could enhance the adaptive capacity of male and female heads of farm households to mitigate projected climate change impacts on their livelihood activities and household well-being.

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