scholarly journals Climate Change and Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices: Opportunities and Challenges in the Semi-deciduous region of Ghana

Author(s):  
E. Oppong ◽  
A. Opoku ◽  
H. O. Tuffour ◽  
Atta Poku P. Snr. ◽  
C. G. Kyere

Aim: This study was conducted to investigate small holder farmers’ awareness of climate-smart agricultural practices and challenges to climate change adoption in the semi-deciduous zone of Ghana. Study Design: A descriptive research design was used for the study. Place of study: The study was conducted within the Sekyere South district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Methodology: Questionnaire was the main tool for data collection. Statistical Package for Social Science [SPSS], version 20 was used for data analysis. Pearson Product Correlation was used to determine the correlation between variables and CSA at 0.05 significant level. Results: Results from the study revealed that agroforestry (52.0%) and rainwater harvesting techniques (80.0%) were never known among majority of the respondents’ as CSA strategy. Besides, farmers were moderately aware of fire and pest management (48.0%) and crop rotation (36.0%) strategies as CSA approach (48%), as well as, minimum tillage which farmers testify of having a considerable idea on it (52%). Nonetheless, respondents often used improved seed variety (64%) and also resorted to residue management and usage (52%) as CSA options in crop productivity. The study further revealed that a higher segment of the farmers attested that no proper training/education, no governmental support, lack of finance, lack of climate information and non-availability of extension field officers, representing 64%, 76%, 84%, and 76% respectively were the major challenges faced by farmers in adopting and practicing climate-smart agriculture. Conclusion: Farmers little knowledge on climate change impeded the successful adoption of CSA practices.

Author(s):  
Gayatri Sahu ◽  
Pragyan Paramita Rout ◽  
Suchismita Mohapatra ◽  
Sai Parasar Das ◽  
Poonam Preeti Pradhan

World population is increasing day by day and at the same time agriculture is threatened due to natural resource degradation and climate change. A growing global population and changing diets are driving up the demand for food. The food security challenge will only become more difficult, as the world will need to produce about 70 percent more food by 2050 to feed an estimated 9 billion people. Production stability, agricultural productivity, income and food security is negatively affected by changing climate. Therefore, agriculture must change according to present situation for meeting the need of food security and also withstanding under changing climatic situation. Agriculture is a prominent source as well as a sink of greenhouse gases (GHGs). So, there is a need to modify agricultural practices in a sustainable way to overcome these problems. Developing climate smart agriculture is thus crucial to achieving future food security and climate change goals. It helps the agricultural system to resist damage and recover quickly by adaptation and mitigation strategies. Sustainable Intensification is an essential means of adapting to climate change, also resulting in lower emissions per unit of output. With its emphasis on improving risk management, information flows and local institutions to support adaptive capacity, CSA provides the foundations for incentivizing and enabling intensification. Since climate smart agriculture is defined along three pillars (productivity increases, building resilience and adapting, and GHG emission reduction), key concepts such as productivity, resilience, vulnerability and carbon sequestration provide indicators for future empirical measurements of the climate smart agriculture concept.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-66
Author(s):  
J. J. Gairhe ◽  
M. Adhikari

Climate change has been the burning issue in agriculture sector. The research world is focused on developing appropriate technology, innovations and concept to cope up this change. The Climate Smart Agriculture [CSA] has been adapted globally for cultivation and crop management in changing context without compromising yield and productivity. The CSA involves wide range altered techniques and innovations like using resilient varieties, water management, zero tillage, legumes incorporation, cover cropping, site specific fertilizer management, variation in planting date etc. Grounding on the similar practices and principles of CSA, the research in maize was conducted in 2014 in farmers' field of Eastern Nepal. Three progressive farmers with 1 hector of land were selected and Maize was cultivated using Zero tillage seed cum fertilizer driller tractor. This field experiment considers farmers as replication with six different treatments. All treatments differ to each other based on nutrient management, water management, residue management, tillage practice, crop establishment, and inclusion of legumes in the cropping system. Six treatments are coded as follows: Current Irrigated (CI), Improved Irrigated Low (IIL), Improved Irrigated High (IIH), Climate Smart Agriculture-Low (CSA-L), Climate Smart Agriculture-Medium (CSA-M), and Climate Smart Agriculture-High (CSA-H). Significant impact of intervention was observed in yield and yield attributes in the trial with climate smart agriculture practices than in conventional practices of farmers. Plant density, ear number, filled grains per cob and grain yield was substantially higher in climate smart practices revealing CSA to be the appropriate technology to minimize potential loss of climate change.


Author(s):  
B. E. Fawole ◽  
S. A. Aderinoye-Abdulwahab

AbstractIn a bid to reinforce the efforts of agricultural professionals within the domain of climate change studies and with particular emphasis on rural farmers in Nigeria, this chapter explores the mechanics for adoption of climate smart agricultural practices among rural farmers for an increased agricultural productivity. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is paramount to the success of farming activities today in the face of the menace of the impact of climate change. Climate Smart Agricultural Practice (CSAP) is one of the major keys that agricultural development approaches aimed at; to sustainably increase productivity and resilience, while also reducing the effects; as well as removing emissions of greenhouse gases. It is pertinent to note that most of the CSAPs adopted by the rural farmers in this study are conservation agriculture, use of organic manure, crop diversification, use of wetland (Fadama), planting of drought tolerant crops, relocation from climate risk zones, prayers for God’s intervention, and improvement on farmers’ management skills. This study divulged and showcased the import of CSAP in boosting agricultural yield and also highlights the bottlenecks inhibiting agricultural farming practices such as lack of practical understanding of the approach, inadequate data and information, lack of suitable tools at local and national levels, supportive and enabling policy frameworks, and socioeconomic constraints at the farm level. The study concluded by recommending an aggressive awareness and mobilization campaign to boost the adoption of CSAPs in Nigeria.


Author(s):  
ZA Riyadh ◽  
MA Rahman ◽  
SR Saha ◽  
T Ahamed ◽  
D Current

Geographical position makes Bangladesh globally as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. It is observed that climate change has become a burning issue jeopardizing the agricultural production in the country. Considering the issue, adoption of climate smart agriculture (CSA) is indispensable for mitigating climate change by reducing emissions, capturing the atmospheric carbon and storing it in biomass and soil. The study reviewed the literature to evaluate the potentiality of agroforestry practices as climate smart agriculture to mitigate climate change impacts. Agroforestry has traditionally contributed to climate resilience in Bangladesh by integrating trees and/or crops into different land use practices. Agroforestry systems enhance resilience to climate change through increasing tree cover, carbon sequestration, increasing production, reducing threats to associated crops, creating favourable microclimate to support associated crops, reducing harvest pressure on natural forests, conserving biodiversity and cycling nutrients. Globally 23 countries recognize agroforestry as a mitigation priority, whereas 29 as an adaptation priority. Bangladesh has potential to expand agroforestry practices to mitigate climate change and boost food security. From socioeconomic and ecological point of views as well, agroforestry offers strong potential to evolve climate smart agricultural practices supporting food security, and adaptation and mitigation. Agroforestry practices should increase in climate vulnerable agroecosystems of Bangladesh. Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 11(1): 49-59, June 2021


Author(s):  
Sneha Kumari ◽  
Yogesh Patil

With time there has been an unpredictable climate change affecting the requirement of water for agriculture. Survival of agriculture has become a matter of concern with an efficient management of water. The aim of the chapter is to design a conceptual framework in sustaining water for agriculture in the era of climate change. The authors in the present chapter have used secondary data from previous research work and critically analysed the cases on water management for agriculture. The chapter discusses on practices like drip irrigation, new adaptations, mitigation technologies, vapour pressure, agro-ecological zone model and other water management strategies and the agricultural practices which though increases the yield but is leaving an adverse impact on climate. The chapter designs a conceptual framework to sustain water for agricultural use in the era of climate change and discusses it. This must be dealt through in order to attain sustainability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Munyaradzi Chitakira ◽  
Nombuso Z. P. Ngcobo

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.


Author(s):  
Sneha Kumari ◽  
Yogesh Patil

With time there has been an unpredictable climate change affecting the requirement of water for agriculture. Survival of agriculture has become a matter of concern with an efficient management of water. The aim of the chapter is to design a conceptual framework in sustaining water for agriculture in the era of climate change. The authors in the present chapter have used secondary data from previous research work and critically analysed the cases on water management for agriculture. The chapter discusses on practices like drip irrigation, new adaptations, mitigation technologies, vapour pressure, agro-ecological zone model and other water management strategies and the agricultural practices which though increases the yield but is leaving an adverse impact on climate. The chapter designs a conceptual framework to sustain water for agricultural use in the era of climate change and discusses it. This must be dealt through in order to attain sustainability.


Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Mathews ◽  
Leandri Kruger ◽  
Gideon J. Wentink

Climate change is an environmental phenomenon with the potential to exacerbate existing disaster risks and cause extensive human, financial and environmental losses. The Mooifontein agricultural region in South Africa is considered to be a region vulnerable to climate change– associated risks. These climate risks would pose a substantial threat to the livelihoods of farmers in the Mooifontein area. This article aims to explore climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as a resilience-building tool to ensure sustainable agricultural practices. A qualitative research approach was utilised to gain insights into climate change and the lived experiences of farmers and agricultural experts in Mooifontein. The findings revealed that agricultural communities should focus on the identification and application of adaptation strategies like CSA. The adoption of appropriate CSA practices will play a vital role in ensuring sustainable livelihoods and improved community resilience for farming communities in the Mooifontein region.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-51
Author(s):  
Nisha Subedi ◽  
Samir Poudel

Climate change has caused serious effect on agriculture production. The global population is increasing and to meet their demand for fuel, food, and fiber, Farmer should adopt sustainable agriculture practices which provides resilience to climate change and uplifts the farmers’ livelihood. Climate-smart agriculture practices are taken as eco-friendly practices that help to enhance production sustainably with minimum effect on resources and environments. These practices include No-tillage, reduced tillage, Intercropping, integrated pest management, Rainwater harvesting, use of information and communication technology, etc. As women are an integral part of agriculture production and are more vulnerable to climate change, the Gender-responsive approach needs to be addressed which helps to close the gender gap in agriculture. Nepal, as a vulnerable country in terms of climate change, is adopting different programs and policies at the national and local level to tackle climate change. Climate-smart villages(CSV) in Nepal are practicing different CSA practices at the farm level to secure foods and livelihoods.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-129
Author(s):  
Dhanusha Balakrishnan ◽  
Vani Chandran ◽  
B. Seema ◽  
Preethu K. Paul

The reality of climate change is harsh and it’s a bitter truth for most of our farmers. In the present situation, climate change is one of the most important challenges to food security. Pertinent actions are, therefore, needed to address these challenges to enable the agricultural sector to significantly contribute to the attainment of agriculture development. Climate adaptive agricultural approach is an approach for developing agricultural strategies to secure sustainable food security under climate change. Through CAA the quality and quantity of agricultural production can be increased and production costs can be decreased. For example, with climatologically data it is also possible to recognize bad weather conditions and to be more prepared to minimize the damage. Many projects have recently adopted with the idea of climate smart agriculture for mitigating the challenges of climate change. With the help of suitable extension approaches we can effectively disseminate various climate smart agricultural practices to farming community.


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