This Thematic Series on “Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies in West Africa: learning from the ground AR4D experiences” contains seven papers presented by researchers from four West African countries based on participatory action research conducted since 2012 in the region. These research activities were funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) through a project titled “Developing community-based climate-smart agriculture through participatory action research in CCAFS benchmark sites in West Africa” (see [1]). This research action under the scientific lead of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) aimed to test and validate, in partnership with rural communities and other stakeholders, scalable climate-smart village models for agricultural development that integrate a range of innovative agricultural risk management strategies. The project also aimed to enable farmers, developers, managers and policy makers for the agriculture sector to develop cost-effective climate-smart agriculture (CSA) options that support local sustainable development and enhance livelihood resilience. It is therefore a response to the challenges (degraded lands, low crop productivity, high level of poverty for rural people, etc.) faced to satisfy the food needs of an increasing population in the face of a changing climate.
Tag: agriculture
Tillage and fertilizer effect on maize and soybean yields in the Guinea savanna zone of Ghana
Background: The most limiting factors for sustainable maize production in smallholder farming systems of sub-Saharan Africa, especially the savanna agro-ecological zone, are erratic rainfall pattern and low soil fertility. Methods: Research was conducted with smallholder farmers in 2013 and 2014 in two communities in the Upper West Region of Ghana to evaluate the effects of NPK mineral fertilizer (64-38-38 kg ha-1 N-P2O5-K2O, respectively) on growth and yield of maize at Bompari, and 375 kg ha-1 of YaraLegume™ fertilizer (0-18-13 NPK + 3 CaO + 2 MgO + 4 S) on growth and yield of soybean at Doggoh, under no-tillage (using pre-plant application of glyphosate) and conventional tillage (using hand hoe). Results: Mean grain yields of both maize and soybean were higher in 2014 than 2013. In both years, no-tillage and conventional tillage had similar effect on soybean plant height, pods per plant and aboveground dry matter production. Averaging over fertilizer treatment, grain yield of no-tillage soybean was 51% higher when compared with tilled soybean in 2014 only. Mean grain yield of no-tillage maize was 68% higher than that of tilled maize in 2013 only. Regardless of tillage method, fertilizer application significantly increased maize and soybean grain yields. Application of fertilizer to soybean resulted in 59% (193 kg ha-1) and 54% (474 kg ha-1) increase in grain yields in 2013 and 2014, respectively, over no fertilizer treatment. Mean grain yield of maize was 140 and 252% higher with fertilizer treatment in 2013 and 2014, respectively. No-till system showed cost savings due to reduced labour mainly for weed control. Conclusion: The results of these studies showed that no-tillage with fertilizer, whether for maize or soybean, generally resulted in the highest grain yields. No-tillage also gave the highest economic returns. Farmers can get better returns to the money invested in herbicide for producing maize and soybean under no-till than with their traditional practice even on degraded savanna soils with low levels of plant available nutrients. © 2017 The Author(s).
Human health and occupational exposure to pesticides among smallholder farmers in cotton zones of Côte d’Ivoire
While precautionary efforts are being made to minimize human health problems associated with agricultural pesticides, the continued occurrence of occupational poisoning from these chemicals raises major concerns among stakeholders. Information gap on human health problems associated with pesticides poses major obstacles to making informed policy decisions, particularly in developing countries where most of the poisonings occurs. In this study, we identified acute human health symptoms associated with pesticide use in cotton zone of Côte d’Ivoire and, documented the response of rural households to the symptoms. The results show that cotton farmers in Cote d’Ivoire suffer from different occupational health hazards from exposure to agricultural pesticides. Key health symptoms reported by pesticide applicators are headache, rheum, cough, skin rash and sneezing. Pesticide applicators reported four times higher symptoms of ill health than other household members who do not normally handle pesticides. Although, households recognized pesticides as an important cause of ill health, some of the symptoms have been accepted as norm by individuals who apply pesticides. Official data on pesticide poisoning in the country is most likely to be seriously under-estimated as applicators visited formal health centers for medical assistance in only 2% of poisoning cases reported. There is a high likelihood that households in the study area under-estimated pesticide-related health costs in making farm production decision-making. Approaches to use economic instruments for reliable monitoring and reporting procedures to formulate appropriate policies and regulations to minimize exposure to pesticides are recommended. Health planners and policy makers should aim at reducing the risks posed by pesticide to farm households by, improving awareness of farmers; promote complementary approach (e.g. Integrated Pest Management) and, use of economic instruments and improved surveillance to bridge the gap in the documentation of pesticide poisoning cases among farmers.
Bridging the gap I: policies for reducing emissions from agriculture
Bridging the emissions gap requires a substantial increase in ambition and action, as the previous chapters of this report have illustrated. In 2012, the UNEP Emissions Gap Report (UNEP, 2012) reviewed a number of policies in three sectors – building, transport and forestry – that are proving successful in substantially reducing emissions. In this report we review best-practice policies in agriculture, an often-overlooked emissions-producing sector. The sum of the policies from these different sectors, if replicated and scaled up, shows great potential for narrowing the emissions gapMoreover, in many cases, these policies can help fulfil important national development objectives beyond climate goals as they can, depending on the policy, boost agricultural productivity, save costs of heating homes, promote ecotourism, reduce traffic congestion, abate air pollution and associated adverse health effects, or a combination of these.
Urban agriculture, social capital, and food security in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya
Much of the developing world, including Kenya, is rapidly urbanizing. Rising food and fuel prices in recent years have put the food security of the urban poor in a precarious position. In cities worldwide, urban agriculture helps some poor people gain access to food, but urban agriculture is less common in densely populated slums that lack space. In the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya, households have recently begun a new form of urban agriculture called sack gardening in which vegetables such as kale and Swiss chard are planted into large sacks filled with topsoil. This paper examines relationships among sack gardening, social capital, and food security in Kibera. We used a mixed methods approach, combining qualitative interviews with a household survey, as well as focus group discussions with both farmers and non-farmers. We present evidence that sack gardening increases social capital, especially for those households that undertake sack gardening in groups. We also find that sack gardening in the Kibera slums has a positive impact on household food security by improving household dietary diversity and by reducing the need to resort to painful coping mechanisms that are used during food shortages.
Beyond climate-smart agriculture – toward safe operating spaces for global food systems
Agriculture is considered to be “climate-smart” when it contributes to increasing food security, adaptation and mitigation in a sustainable way. This new concept now dominates current discussions in agricultural development because of its capacity to unite the agendas of the agriculture, development and climate change communities under one brand. In this opinion piece authored by scientists from a variety of international agricultural and climate research communities, we argue that the concept needs to be evaluated critically because the relationship between the three dimensions is poorly understood, such that practically any improved agricultural practice can be considered climate-smart. This lack of clarity may have contributed to the success of the concept. From the understanding that we must hold ourselves accountable to demonstrably better meet human needs in the short and long term within foreseeable local and planetary limits, we develop a conceptualization of climatesmart agriculture as agriculture that can be shown to bring us closer to safe operating spaces for agricultural and food systems across spatial and temporal scales. Improvements in the management of agricultural systems that bring us significantly closer to safe operating spaces will require transformations in governance and use of our natural resources, underpinned by enabling political, social and economic conditions beyond incremental changes. Establishing scientifically credible indicators and metrics of long-term safe operating spaces in the context of a changing climate and growing social-ecological challenges are critical to creating the societal demand and political will required to motivate deep transformations. Answering questions on how the needed transformational change can be achieved will require actively setting and testing hypotheses to refine and characterize our concepts of safer spaces for social-ecological systems across scales. This effort will demand prioritizing key areas of innovation, such as (1) improved adaptive management and governance of social-ecological systems; (2) development of meaningful and relevant integrated indicators of socialecological systems; (3) gathering of quality integrated data, information, knowledge and analytical tools for improved models and scenarios in time frames and at scales relevant for decision-making; and (4) establishment of legitimate and empowered science policy dialogues on local to international scales to facilitate decision making informed by metrics and indicators of safe operating spaces.
Diagnosis of seeds supply of leafy vegetables in Yaoundé, Cameroon
The traditional leafy vegetables play a major role in the Cameroonian diet. In the metropolitan zone of Yaound_, these vegetables are produced year round in family and commercial exploitations. The quality of the seeds, their mode of production and their system of distribution are little known. With the aim to better understand the seed system of traditional vegetables, a study on the supply, the production and the quality of these seeds was carried out. The data were collected using questionnaires on a sample of 133 traditional leafy vegetable producers of the urban and peri-urban zone of Yaound_. The data were analyzed using SNAP 9 software. The study showed that the most produced species are amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus), nightshade (Solanum scabrum) and jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius). The market-gardeners are influenced in their choice of vegetable to cultivate by the preference of the customers (85.7% of the respondents) and the productivity of the cultivars (66.2% of the respondents). More than 40% of the respondents buy seeds in the markets while 7.5% buy seed from other producers and 10.5% in the agricultural inputs stores. About half (47.4%) of the respondents produce seeds by leaving plants in the field after the first or the second harvest while 36.8% of the market-gardeners select the most vigorous plants for seed production. On average, 58.7% of respondents preserve the seeds in hermetically closed bottles and plastic bag. Storage on field is practiced by a significant part of market-gardeners (41.4%). A total of 79.7% of the producers reported constraints with the produced seeds. Poor seed germination (81.1% of respondents) and the non uniformity of the seed (48.1% of the producers) were reported as the major constraints. The principal source of seed supply in the metropolitan zone of Yaound_ is the self production with rudimentary production and storage techniques subject to many qualitative constraints.
Climate-smart agriculture global research agenda: scientific basis for action
Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) addresses the challenge of meeting the growing demand for food, fibre and fuel, despite the changing climate and fewer opportunities for agricultural expansion on additional lands. CSA focuses on contributing to economic development, poverty reduction and food security; maintaining and enhancing the productivity and resilience of natural and agricultural ecosystem functions, thus building natural capital; and reducing trade-offs involved in meeting these goals. Current gaps in knowledge, work within CSA, and agendas for interdisciplinary research and science-based actions identified at the 2013 Global Science Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture (Davis, CA, USA) are described here within three themes: (1) farm and food systems, (2) landscape and regional issues and (3) institutional and policy aspects. The first two themes comprise crop physiology and genetics, mitigation and adaptation for livestock and agriculture, barriers to adoption of CSA practices, climate risk management and energy and biofuels (theme 1); and modelling adaptation and uncertainty, achieving multifunctionality, food and fishery systems, forest biodiversity and ecosystem services, rural migration from climate change and metrics (theme 2). Theme 3 comprises designing research that bridges disciplines, integrating stakeholder input to directly link science, action and governance.
Sustainable potato production and the impact of climate change
The potato is a significant food around the globe in the grand scheme of consumption. However, changes in the Earth’s climate are threatening to negatively impact the growth and production of agriculture, namely potatoes, which in turn will greatly alter the dimensions of food. Sustainable Potato Production and the Impact of Climate Change is an authoritative publication that provides the latest research on potato production in the future climate change scenario. Featuring exhaustive coverage on a variety of topics associated with food fundamentals such as, availability, stability, utilization, and accessibility, this reference work is an essential source for professionals, researchers and students seeking current research on the importance of potato cultivation. © 2017 by IGI Global. All rights reserved.
Using Local Knowledge to Understand Challenges and Opportunities for Enhancing Agricultural Productivity in Western Kenya
This chapter explores farmers’ local knowledge of the challenges they face in intensifying their farming systems, the livelihood strategies they employ to sustain their households, and the opportunities within these systems for enhancing agricultural productivity. It aims to combine local and scientific knowledge in order to design innovative interventions that are customized to local context and circumstances. The research was designed to inform activities being undertaken and planned by the CGIAR research program Humidtropics and its partners in Western Kenya. The main challenges discussed by farmers specific to some of the villages included: crop raids by wildlife; water scarcity; overexploitation of natural forests; firewood scarcity and small-scale gold mining taking labour away from farming activities. The chapter also provides a discussion around potential opportunities for positive change. It reveals the trade-offs between on- and off-farm activities, emphasizing the need for assessing the wider livelihood context and aspirations when agricultural innovations and interventions are negotiated with local communities.