Australia is a vast, dry continent that faces huge challenges in reversing its land degradation processes to achieve a sustainable future. Many of these challenges are similar to those in much of the developing world. Australia is forthrightly tackling them with innovative solutions, and has become a global leader in the science and practice of agroforestry: the integration of trees into farming landscapes to enhance farm productivity, protect the environment and revitalise farming communities. Many of the greatest environmental problems (soil erosion, salinisation, declining soil productivity, fire, biodiversity loss) turn out to be a commercial opportunity when a farmer considers agroforestry in addressing them. Australia is fortunate in having developed a dynamic economy that can afford to invest in land regeneration. Unfortunately, most developing countries are too poor to do the same. Australia’s advances in agroforestry enable it to contribute to achieving the end of desperate poverty and regenerating the natural resource base in the developing world. Already it has contributed many productive tree species, such as the eucalypts and grevillia, to smallholder agroforestry around the world. These have made remarkable contributions in countries such as Ethiopia and Rwanda, among many others. Likewise, Australia’s renowned model for community action to address land degradation — Landcare — is taking root in the developing world and spreading rapidly. Already, the Philippines, South Africa and Uganda have evolved vibrant Landcare movements; and many other countries are enthusiastically exploring it. These successes have spawned Landcare International, a new global association that supports worldwide efforts to advance the Landcare agenda. Australia has great comparative advantages in extending its scientific and institutional experience in advancing agroforestry and Landcare in the developing world. It would do well to focus more of its international aid investment in this area in order to capitalise on these natural advantages.
Tag: agriculture
Constraints and Opportunities in Using Multi-stakeholder Processes to Implement Integrated Agricultural Systems Research
This chapter presents an analysis of using multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs) in Humidtropics and the lessons learned from experiences of facilitating multi-stakeholder processes to generate innovative and sustainable solutions to complex agricultural challenges. The six research for development (R4D) Platforms and 12 Innovation Platforms (IPs) in the East and Central Africa are operational and carry out integrated R4D with varying degrees of success. Agricultural integrated systems improvement in the West Africa Action Area started with the Situation Analysis followed by the identification of entry points using rapid appraisal of agricultural system with the R4D Platform members, and the results were validated with the IPs. In order to strengthen the capacity of facilitators and others who support the five MSPs in the Central Mekong Action Area, the Action Area Coordinator organized two 3-day capacity development workshops. IPs are facilitated by local consultants familiar with their respective territories and scientists from the Central America and the Caribbean Humidtropics team.
Systems Science at the Scale of Impact
This chapter discusses agricultural systems research at the scale needed to address the aspirations of the first two Sustainable Development Goals to end world poverty and hunger. Despite the effectiveness of systems research in agricultural development, particularly relating to smallholders, the vast majority of agricultural research for development does not explicitly follow a systems approach, although some techniques such as systems modelling, are widespread. For many smallholder farmers, the ‘cropping system’ concept is not a useful starting point for agricultural improvement because the crop field is not a system in its own right but one component of a more complex livelihood system. The contextual factors that condition the suitability of agricultural innovations vary with location and with the type of innovation. It is clear that to make impact at scale, research needs to be conducted at scale, so that understanding can be developed about which options are relevant to what contexts.
Biochar carbon stability and effect on greenhouse gas emissions
When organic matter is added to soils, it is used as a source of energy and nutrients by microorganisms. The carbon is thereby unlocked from chain-like molecules from which plants are composed. Microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria get energy by breaking down these often long molecules into smaller units such as sugars, which are in turn broken down to provide a source of energy and carbon. While some of the carbon is used by microorganisms as a building block in multiplication and reproduction, another part of the carbon is oxidised by reaction with oxygen in the soil to create the greenhouse gas (GHG) carbon dioxide (CO2). As microorganisms reproduce and die rapidly, CO2 is also produced as a result of microbial decomposition soon after organic matter is added to soil. This process by which carbon locked in organic molecules is converted into the gas CO2 is called ‘mineralisation’. The speed of mineralisation varies greatly depending upon soil temperature – a higher temperature (say, between 15 and 30°C) is more conducive to microbial growth than the lower temperatures in temperate climates (between 20 and 15°C). This is the main reason why soil organic carbon (SOC) levels are generally higher in cooler climates than in the (sub)tropics, though other factors such as water logging (creating very low-oxygen conditions) are very important.
Looking back to look ahead: insight into the effectiveness and efficiency of selected advisory approaches in the dissemination of agricultural technologies indicative of Conservation Agriculture with Trees in Machakos County, Kenya
Sub-Saharan Africa is facing a challenge of low agricultural productivity, which threatens the ability to achieve food security for the continent’s growing population. The low productivity has been attributed to a number of factors including climate variability and low soil fertility. Agricultural practices such as Evergreen Agriculture show promise in improving soil fertility and production in a sustainable way. One form of Evergreen Agriculture is Conservation Agriculture with Trees (CAWT), which combines the principles of Conservation Agriculture with tree-crop intercropping. The promotion of complex agricultural practices such as CAWT requires agricultural advisory approaches that are both effective and efficient. Effective in their ability to increase diversity of crop enterprises, productivity of staple crops and adoption of promoted relevant practices. Advisory approaches are also considered effective if they provide useful information and build social networks in the community. The approaches also need to be efficient, that is, be able to mobilize the community and provide training in a costand- time appropriate fashion.
Scaling up climate-smart agriculture: lessons learned from South Asia and pathways for success
The world is changing rapidly. A burgeoning global population, with direct impacts on foodinsecurity, poverty, climate change and environmental degradation, is constantly changingthe stakes. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can help overcome hunger while supporting ruralpopulations adapt to climate change, managing natural resources sustainably and curbingrising temperatures. But as the challenges build and intensify, climate-smart solutions willneed to be implemented on a much greater scale.This paper aims to aid policy makers and rural development practitioners in strategicallyplanning scaling up of successful CSA practices. We provide the context for scaling up CSA,identify practical elements to guide thinking and planning around scaling up and mappathways for taking CSA to scale. Building on a series of workshops and eight case studiesfrom South Asia, we identify widely applicable ingredients for scaling up CSA and how theymust be connected to achieve impact.
Agricultural economics and marketing in the tropics
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Annual Report 2014: climate-smart agriculture – acting locally, informing globally
CCAFS research was widely cited by the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report, which is used by decision makers worldwide to prioritize and design agricultural sector interventions aimed at mitigating and adapting to climate change. Researchers from CCAFS made important contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Fifth Assessment Report,which was published in 2014. In this way, CCAFS has helped decision makers worldwide to prioritize and design agricultural sector interventions aimed at Impact through policies and partnerships mitigating and adapting to climate change.Citations of papers by CGIAR and CCAFS scientists in the Fifth Assessment reports were far higher than in previous reports. CCAFS researcher Professor Andy Challinor, who is based at the University of Leeds in the UK, was a lead author of the chapter on ‘Food security and food production systems’ in the report on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. The chapter shows that on average, climate change will have an increasingly negative impact on crop yields from the 2030s onwards. The impact will be greatest in the second half of the century, which will see yields fall by more than 25% in some cases, relative to late-20th-century levels. At the same time, harvests will become more variable because of an increase in extreme weather events. Tropical regions will be affected most severely; projections indicated that crop yields in the tropics are very likely to fall from the 2080s onwards, regardless of any adaptations that might be implemented. In general, climate change effects on productivity will alter land use patterns, both in terms of the total area sown to crops and the geographic distribution of crops.
Seasonal evapotranspiration signatures under a changing landscape and ecosystem management in Nigeria: implications for agriculture and food security
Low crop productivity is a general problem facing most farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These low yields are pronounced in grain legumes and are often associated with declining soil fertility and reduced N2-fixation due to biological and environmental factors. Unfortunately, the majority of African small farmers are now unable to afford the high mineral fertilizer prices. More than 75% of the fertilizers used in Africa are imported, putting pressure on foreign exchange. Low cost and sustainable technical solutions compatible with the socioeconomic conditions of small farmers are needed to solve soil fertility problems. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), a key source of N for farmers using little or no fertilizer, constitutes one of the potential solutions and plays a key role in sustainable grain legumes (e.g., soybean) production. Given the high cost of fertilizer in Africa and the limited market infrastructure for farm inputs, current research and extension efforts have been directed to integrated nutrient management, in which legumes play a crucial role. Inoculation with compatible and appropriate rhizobia may be necessary where a low population of native rhizobial strains predominates and is one of the solutions which grain legume farmers can use to optimize yields. It is critical for sustained yield in farmlands deficient in native rhizobia and where N supply limits production. Research on use of Rhizobium inoculants for production of grain legumes showed it is a cheaper and usually more effective agronomic practice for ensuring adequate N nutrition of legumes, compared with the application of N fertilizer. Here, we review past and ongoing interventions in Rhizobium inoculation (with special reference to soybean) in the farming systems of SSA with a view to understanding the best way to effectively advise on future investments to enhance production and adoption of BNF and inoculant technologies in SSA. The major findings are: (1) complete absence of or very weak institutions, policy and budgetary support for biotechnology research and lack of its integration into wider agricultural and overall development objectives in SSA, (2) limited knowledge of inoculation responses of both promiscuous and specifically nodulating soybean varieties as well as the other factors that inhibit BNF, hence a weak basis for decisionmaking on biotechnology issues in SSA, (3) limited capacity and lack of sustainable investment, (4) poorly developed marketing channels and infrastructure, and limited involvement of the private sector in the distribution of inoculants, and (5) limited farmer awareness about and access to (much more than price) inoculants. The lessons learned include the need: (1) to increase investment in Rhizobium inoculation technology development, and strengthen policy and institutional support, (2) for public private partnership in the development, deployment and dissemination of BNF technologies, (3) to develop effective BNF dissemination strategies (including participatory approach) to reach farmers, (4) for greater emphasis on capacity building along the BNF value chain, and (5) for partnership between universities in SSA and those in the North on BNF research.
Control of invasive Liriomyza leafminer species and compliance with food safety standards by small scale snow pea farmers in Kenya
The Kenyan horticultural industry faces a new challenge following invasion by the quarantine Liriomyza leafminer species Liriomyza huidobrensis, Liriomyza sativae and Liriomyza trifolii which have recently become pests of economic importance. Controlling Liriomyza leafminers poses serious difficulties due to their biology and quarantine status. This paper examines farmers’ awareness of the pests and difficulties faced in controlling them. (1) A questionnaire survey showed that snow pea farmers in Kenya rely mainly on pesticides for control of invasive Liriomyza leafminers; (2) Sixty five percent of respondents perceived pesticides to be ineffective; (3) As a result, 74% of respondents increased the frequency of pesticide applications, 61% increased dose rates and 58% used broad-spectrum insecticides to avert damage by the pests; (4) Snow pea farmers who signed contracts with exporters and whose production practices were monitored for compliance with Good Agricultural Practices (GlobalGAP) used fewer control strategies; (5) These findings imply that the pest status of Liriomyza leafminers is likely to increase and snow pea production will significantly decrease in Central areas of Kenya unless an integrated leafminer management strategy is developed and farmers educated on methods of identifying them in their early stages of attack and use