There is increasing challenge to tackle hunger a nd poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The challenge is further worsened by climate change. 2. Few agricultural innovations have delivered a su stainable development in the continent. Conservation Agriculture (CA) and Fertilizer Trees innovations represent some of the potential.
Tag: agriculture
Using Forests to Enhance Resilience to Climate Change: The Case of smallholder agriculture in Savannakhet Province in Lao PDR
The 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report observes that the mean annual temperature increased over the past century in Southeast Asia. The projections are that average changes in mean annual temperature will exceed 3oC in Southeast Asia. The increased occurrence of floods, droughts, and changes in the seasonal rainfall pattern are expected to have negative impacts on crop yields, food security, and livelihoods in vulnerable areas. In parts of Southeast Asia, climate change could exacerbate existing levels of poverty because of the changes in rice crop production and increases in food prices and the cost of living. The consequence of climate change, however, will vary across countries in the region.
In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), climate change is expected to modify the frequency, intensity, and location of existing climate hazards, straining existing common coping mechanisms-especially for people living in rural and remote places. With regards to chronic changes, efforts to enhance resilience could result in rewards. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) measures can be suitable for enhancing resilience to climate change, especially for sectors that rely on natural systems. EBA uses biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of a general adaptation strategy to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. This concept is based on the idea that ecosystem services reduce the vulnerability of society to climate change across sectors and subsectors. These measures can complement other adaptation measures and often generate co-benefits for the implementing households.
Poor farmers are the most vulnerable group in Lao society. This report, one in a series of studies, explores how forests can reduce the vulnerability of this segment of the Lao PDR population.6 It looks at how forests, through the provision of ecosystem services, contribute to adaptation of other sectors to climate change and aid the adaptation of poor smallholder agriculture households in the southern part of Lao PDR. The objective is to bring evidence to discussions among decision makers in government and development partner organizations about the linkages between agriculture and forests in the context of climate change (that is, about the role of forests in enhancing the resilience of an agricultural subsector) and to examine the implications for development and enhancing resilience to climate change in Lao PDR.
Land degradation, investment, information and incentives in Kenya’s Lake Victoria basin
This paper is part of a strudy on ‘Improved land management in the Lake Victoria basin being implemented jointly by ICRAF and kenya ministry of agriculture and rural development within the national Agriculture and livestock extension programme (NALEP).
Women’s rights to land and communal forest tenure: A way forward for research and policy agenda in Latin America
In this synthesis paper, the authors of this Special Section contribute towards a collective research and policy agenda on rural and indigenous women’s forest and land rights in Latin America. Based on the key lessons from the empirical evidence, we map out a way forward for the research agenda and suggest a few key institutional and policy priorities for rural Latin America.
Assessing the relationships between property rights and technology adoption in smallholder agriculture: a review of issues and empirical methods
Studies of the relationships between property rights and technology adoption are complicated in several respects. First, there are challenges involved in defining and measuring property rights and tenure security. Second, there are several different valid purposes for undertaking such studies and each purpose may require a different approach. Third, there are a number of difficult theoretical and empirical issues involved in such studies, particularly in defining technology, identifying key dimensions of property rights, and accounting for the endogeneous determination of property rights.Through a synthesis and evaluation of previous studies, this paper identifies key issues and develops guidelines for conducting research on the relationships between property rights and technology adoption in smallholder agriculture. It seeks to benefit researchers and policy makers wishing to undertake or interpret empirical research. The topics addressed in the paper are: definition of scope and terms; key issues pertaining to the relationships between technology adoption and property rights variables; data collection and measurement issues; and analyses and interpretation of findings. The primary target groups for this paper are researchers and policy analysts.
How effective are on-farm conservation land management strategies for preserving ecosystem services in developing countries?: A systematic map protocol
Background
An extensive body of literature in the field of agro-ecology claims to show the positive effects that maintenance of ecosystem services can have on sustainably meeting future food demand, by making farms more productive and resilient, and contributing to better nutrition and livelihoods of farmers. In Africa alone, some research has estimated a two-fold yield increase if food producers capitalize on new and existing knowledge from science and technology. Site-specific strategies adopted with the aim of improving ecosystem services may incorporate principles of multifunctional agriculture, sustainable intensification and conservation agriculture. However, a coherent synthesis and review of the evidence of these claims is largely absent, and the quality of much of this literature is questionable. Moreover, inconsistent effects have commonly been reported, while empirical evidence to support assumed improvements is largely lacking.
Objectives
This systematic map is stimulated by an interest to (1) collate evidence on the effectiveness of on-farm conservation land management for preserving and enhancing ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, by drawing together the currently fragmented and multidisciplinary literature base, and (2) geographically map what indicators have been used to assess on-farm conservation land management. For both questions, we will focus on 74 low-income and developing countries, where much of the world’s agricultural expansion is occurring, yet 80% of arable land is already used and croplands are yielding well below their potential.
Methods/Design
To this end, reviewers will systematically search bibliographic databases for peer-reviewed research from Web of Science, SCOPUS, AGRICOLA, AGRIS databases and CAB abstracts, and grey literature from Google Scholar, and 22 subject-specific or institutional websites. Boolean search operators will be used to create search strings where applicable. Ecosystem services included in the study are pollination services; pest-, carbon-, soil-, and water-regulation; nutrient cycling; medicinal and aromatic plants; fuel wood and cultural services. Outputs of the systematic map will include a database, technical report and an online interactive map, searchable by topic. The results of this map are expected to provide clarity about synergistic outcomes of conservation land management, which will help support local decision-making.
Characterization of smallholder mixed crop–livestock systems in integration with spatial information: In case Ethiopia
The mixed crop–livestock systems are acknowledged as sustainable due to its complementarity and synergy, contribution to welfare, food security, income, and poverty alleviation. The lack of efforts in the long-term impact for increased and more efficient food production, however, threatens the livelihoods and food security of smallholder producers. This paper provides a description on smallholder crop–livestock systems in the dominant system unit of crop and livestock production discretely subdividing in different agroecological zones (AEZs) into land-use land-cover class for considering factors influencing socioeconomic and agricultural intensification. A linear mixed-effects model was carried out to fit the relationship between the land-cover measurement and the corresponding farm enterprise in land use. The repeated measurements of linear predictors that fit in full and reduced model analysis were conducted in the system framework. The landscape slope (%), elevation (m) and market distance (minute) analysis were used in spatial adjustment in the specific system. The overall area of land-use system of the peasant holdings was 599.86 ha. The area covered by annual crops was 56%, which was higher (p < 0.01) compared to the area covered by natural pasturelands (17%), perennial crops (15%), vegetable (1%) and the tree or grass cover (2%). Distinct six farming systems were characterized, each being significantly different from other. The difference within a similar AEZ could probably be a result of a minor level of farm systems manipulation. The major difference associated could essentially be with a difference in agroecology and spatial variability of the farm households.
Rural Resource Centre (RRC) business model: A new agri-based knowledge hub
Integrating livelihoods and multiple biodiversity values in landscape mosaics: from knowledge to action
There is widespread acknowledgement that integrated landscape management will be possible only if local priorities and kno wledge are incorporated in land use and conservation planning. This is especially tr ue in rural landscapes that are outside of protected areas but partially covered by trees and forests. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in collaboration with the Centre for Internatio nal Forest Research (CIFOR) is implementing a project titled “ Integrating Livelihoods and Multiple Biodiversity Values in Landscape Mosaics” in an effort to contribute to integration of improved livelihoods of ru ral communities and biodiversity conservation in a set of tropical landscape mosaics of high biodiversity conservation value. This novel project is implemented under a joint ICRAF-CIFOR Biodiv ersity Platform and is implemented in 5 landscapes in global biodiversity hotspot areas in Africa and Asia. The project is founded on a new paradigm for biodiversity management that integrates protected areas into broader landscapes of human use and biodiversity conservation. The landscape management approach is particularly important in mixed-use landscapes. The Landscape Mosaics project is a multi-site research initiative that aims to deliver approaches and lessons to better tackle the joint challenges of biodiversity conservation and livelihood improvement in the areas of high human use and high biodiversity value. In the end, the intent is to build standard approaches that can be applied to landscapes outside the project domain, as well as to gene rate valuable context- specific lessons and experiences through the application of those approaches. Tanzania’s East Usambara moun tain forests, which rank hi gh among the most valuable conservation areas in Africa, is one of the proj ect sites. Local partners in this site are the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group, WWF – Tanzania, and the Amani Nature Reserve, all of whom have related initiatives in the ar ea. This paper presents the project concepts and the way that those concepts are being adapted to conditions and opportunities in the East Usambara site, with the aim of prom pting discussion on the applicability of the tools and approaches for better integration of local livelihoods and biodiversity conservation in landscape management in the wider Tanzanian context
Foreword
Shifting cultivation, also known as swidden agriculture, encompasses various land use practices where the same parcel of land undergoes alternating cycles of perennial and annual crops. This approach aims to restore soil productivity and ecological balance, reinforcing its close connection to agroforestry. Although not a major contributor to marketed global food production and largely absent from formal agricultural statistics, shifting cultivation remains a vital source of subsistence for approximately 250 million people worldwide. In academic and policy discussions, the practice often sparks polarized perspectives—some view it as an invaluable system rooted in deep indigenous knowledge, while others criticize it as incompatible with modern agricultural methods. Detractors argue that shifting cultivation does not align with the trend toward agricultural homogenization, potentially overlooking the localized innovations and sustainability principles developed by shifting cultivators.