Case for Climate Smart Agriculture in Addressing the Threat of Climate Change

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) embodies a blend of innovations, practices, systems, and investment programmes that are used to mitigate against the adverse effects of climate change and variability on agriculture for sustained food production. Food crop production under various climate change scenarios requires the use of improved technologies that are called climate smart agriculture to ensure increased productivity under adverse conditions of increased global temperatures, frequent and more intense storms, floods and drought stresses. This chapter summarizes available information on climate change and climate smart agriculture technologies. It is important to evaluate each climate change scenario and provide technologies that farmers, research scientists, and policy drivers can use to create the desired climate smart agriculture given the array of tools and resources available.

Pathways to Enhance Climate Change Resilience among Pastoral Households in Northern Tanzania

The objective of this study was to evaluate the pathways to enhance resilience to increased climate variability and directional change among pastoral households in Simanjiro District in Northern Tanzania. The study used household survey and rainfall and temperature data. Results indicate increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation trends over the past four decades. Also, extreme climatic events, particularly drought, have become more frequent. Food and water insecurity are key factors causing an increased household vulnerability. Increased climate change-induced malaria prevalence poses additional health risks. Household adaptive strategies include livelihood diversification and migration. Local institutions are instrumental in enhancing climate change resilience at the local level. We conclude that livelihood diversification and migration are key pathways to enhancing households’ climate change resilience.

Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Among Cereal Farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria

Agriculture is the art and science of food production which spans soil cultivation, crop growing, and livestock rearing. Over the years, it has served as a means of employment and accounts for more than one-third of total gross domestic product. Cereals, which include rice, maize, and sorghum, are the major dietary energy suppliers and they provide significant amounts of protein, minerals (potassium and calcium), and vitamins (vitamin A and C). The growth and good yield of cereal crop can be greatly influenced by elements of weather and climate such as temperature, sunlight, and relative humidity. While climate determines the choice of what plant to cultivate and how to cultivate, it has been undoubtedly identified as one of the fundamental factors that determine both crop cultivation and livestock keeping. The chapter, though theoretical, adopted Kwara State, Nigeria, as the focus due to favorable weather conditions that support grains production. It was observed that the effect of climate change on cereal production includes: drastic reduction in grains production, reduction in farmers’ profit level, increment in cost during production, diversification to nonfarming activities, and discouragement of youth from participating in agricultural activities. Also, the adopted coping strategies employed by farmers in the focus site were early planting, planting of improved variety, irrigation activities, alternates crop rotation, and cultivation of more agricultural areas. The chapter thus concluded that climate change has negative impact on cereals production and recommends that government should provide communal irrigation facilities that will cushion the effect of low rains on farmers’ productivity, while early planting and cultivation of drought-resistant cultivars should be encouraged.

Menace and Mitigation of Health and Environmental Hazards of Charcoal Production in Nigeria

The use of biomass and biofuels, such as wood, charcoal, petroleum, kerosene, and gas, is becoming competitive based on the level of development of each nation. However, charcoal production (CP) and marketing now tends to be a major business among many households in both rural and urban communities with no consideration of its effects on climate change adaptation. While the research question considers the various definition of climate change adaptation, and the importance of charcoal production in Nigeria, the manuscript speaks mainly of the problems of charcoal production, the lack of planning to address these problems, and the lack of planning to move the communities away from this practice and out of poverty. It addresses the impacts of charcoal production on agriculture, such as lack or loss of labor and destruction of arable lands. The paper discusses the effect of charcoal production on health. Also, the environmental problems of CP are highlighted in the manuscript. The policy frameworks on forestry by the Federal Ministry of Environment 2006 with its flaws will be included. Remedy such as the establishment of a Land Use Planning Agency (LUPAG) and panacea for greening the charcoal value chain issues will be discussed. Lastly, attention is given to the agricultural adaptation strategies to climate change which are capable of reducing charcoal production, such as mixed cropping.

Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation in the Seychelles

As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Seychelles is quite vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and adaptation is considered a national priority. Despite efforts to enhance its adaptive capacity, a number of barriers still hamper the adaptation process such as fragile institutions and inadequate governance to climate change, financial and human resource capacity constraints, and limited scientific knowledge and understanding of how climate change affects the country. A key barrier to climate change adaptation in the Seychelles is called “remote” or “legacy” barriers – linked to land use decisions made five decades ago during which wetlands were reclaimed for property development. Therefore, 80% of Seychelles’ critical infrastructures are located on the coastline and are exposed to floods, erosion, and sea level rise. Additionally, the pros and cons of hard and soft adaptation interventions in the Seychelles ranging from rock armoring, retaining wall, groynes to ecosystem-based adaptation actions such as timber piling, beach nourishment, dune management, rainwater harvesting, and mangrove and coral restoration are assessed with recommendations on the way forward. In other words, this chapter provides some examples of actions and strategies that may assist the island nations to improve on adaptation actions. An example that addresses partly the financial constrain is the Seychelles’ Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT) that provide funding for medium- and large-scale project in the Seychelles since 2015.

Farmers’ Adoption of Climate Smart Practices for Increased Productivity in Nigeria

In 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.

Adaptation of Small-Scale Tea and Coffee Farmers in Kenya to Climate Change

The adverse effect of climate change on agriculture is well-documented and is a cause of concern for governments globally. In addition to concerns over food crop production, the economies of numerous developing countries rely heavily on cash crops. The coffee and tea sectors are key in Kenya’s economy, contributing significantly to the gross domestic product, foreign exchange, and the direct or indirect employment of millions. Farmers engaged in the production of coffee and tea are predominantly small-scale farmers, with the majority farming on less than five acres. Climate change poses a threat to the production of these two crops and by extension to the economy of Kenya and the livelihood of farmers and those employed in these sectors. This study identifies the challenges posed by climate change in the tea and coffee sectors, the adaptation and mitigation measures identified, and the scope of their implementation. The production, processing, and marketing of tea and coffee in Kenya differs widely in terms of the institutions and institutional arrangements in the two sectors. This study will therefore analyze the role played by institutions in both sectors and how this affects climate change adaptation and mitigation measures by small-scale farmers.

Climate Change and Variability on Food Security of Rural Household: Central Highlands, Ethiopia

This chapter analyzes the impact of climate change and variability on food security of rural households in the central highlands of Ethiopia taking Basona Werana district as a case study site. Data were obtained from 123 households selected using simple random sampling from three agro ecological zones. Key informant interviews and focus group discussion (FDG) were used to supplement the data obtained from household survey. The monthly rainfall and temperature data are for 56 points of 10 × 10 km grids reconstructed from weather stations and meteorological satellite observations, which cover the period between 1983 and 2016. Standardized rainfall anomaly (SRA), linear regression (LR), and coefficient of variation (CV) are used to examine inter-annual and intra-annual variability of rainfall. Annual and seasonal rainfalls show decreasing trends over the period of observation. The decreasing trends in annual and March–May (Belg) rainfall totals exhibit statically significant decreasing trends at p = 0.05 level. Kiremt (June–September) shows statically significant decreasing trends at p = 0.1 level. Mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures show statically significant increasing trends at p = 0.05 level. More than 80% of households perceived that the climate is changing and their livelihoods (crop and livestock production) are impacted. The district belongs to one of the most vulnerable areas to climate change and variability in the country where large proportions of households (62%) are under different food insecurity classes. Results suggest that local level investigations are useful in developing context-specific climate change adaptation.

Adaptation of Seaweed Farmers in Zanzibar to the Impacts of Climate Change

Seaweed farming is an important alternative livelihood activity that has been heralded as a development success story. It has advanced women’s empowerment and economic liberation in coastal communities in Zanzibar, despite recent declines in its production. Using data from 36 semistructured interviews, we explore the impacts of climate change on seaweed farming in Zanzibar and the coping and adaptation strategies available to farmers. Interviews reveal that climatic changes observed in Zanzibar are characterized by increased temperatures, increased winds, and irregular rainfall, and these changes have negatively affected coastal seaweed farming yields and quality. Combined with economic challenges, these environmental stressors are threatening the sustainability of seaweed farming and the wider development impacts that have been gained over the past decades. Establishing seaweed farms in deeper water, using new technologies, could be an adaptation method to overcome rising temperatures; however, there are significant socioeconomic barriers for this to happen. For example, women lack access to boats and the ability to swim. Adaptation options to the increasing impacts of climate change will be possible only with institutional support, significant investment, and through the empowerment of women and the participation local communities.

Food Security Concerns, Climate Change, and Sea Level Rise in Coastal Cameroon

Food security is a major public health priority in Cameroon, amidst climate change and sea level rise (CC/SLR), vis-à-vis the ever-increasing population growth with associated challenges. CC/SLR, singly or combine, is well known to have severe impacts on agricultural productivity, food security, socioeconomic activities and ecosystem (environment, plant and animal) health systems in coastal areas. They contribute to natural disasters including erosion, flooding, inundation of coastal lowlands, and saltwater intrusion, altogether reducing agricultural productivity. Additionally, these disasters provoke adverse animal, human, and environmental health implications; reduction in tourism; and potential close of some socioeconomic activities that constitute secondary (after agriculture), or main source of livelihood/income for many coastal indigents. Although there are inadequate reports on the impacts of CC/SLR, preliminary reports point to negative effects on crop production and socioeconomic activities in coastal Cameroon. This chapter highlights the susceptibility of coastal Cameroon agriculture and socioeconomic activities to CC/SLR. Furthermore, it has propose agricultural (CC/SLR and non-climatic) and educational intervention socioeconomic strategies for the mitigation and adaptation to CC/SLR and for sustainable agricultural productivity in coastal Cameroon. The proposed strategies may provide a small contribution toward a wider multi-stakeholder pool of strategies and which, when applied, may enhance food security in coastal Cameroon amidst CC/SLR and promote socioeconomic and touristic activities while reducing negative implications on animal, plant, human, and environmental health.