National governments across Sub-Saharan Africa include climate-smart agriculture (CSA)—context-specific interventions that support resilience, productivity, and climate mitigation—in plans, policies, and strategies to jointly address climate change, agricultural production, and rural livelihood goals. This paper synthesizes the evidence on field-based CSA management practices generated through ten years of research led by the CGIAR in Tanzania. Results show consistent positive impacts of CSA on productivity, mixed impacts on resilience, short-term negative impacts on emissions intensity, and highly variable impacts on socioeconomic characteristics. Tanzania provides an example of how an agriculturally diverse country can use evidence of impacts, synergies, and tradeoffs to prioritize CSA activities for sustainable development.
Tag: agriculture
Towards a low-emission agrifood sector in the People’s Republic of China: A country profile
The global food system is responsible for 23 – 42% of total net anthropogenic emissions. The food systems of all countries need to be transformed to lower their emissions while producing sufficient, nutritious and healthy food. The Low-Emissions Food Systems (Mitigate+) Initiative aims to offer a comprehensive, evidence-based and holistic approach to reducing agrifood systems emissions. It explores possible pathways that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while enhancing food security and nutrition and livelihoods and preserving the environment. In this context, a set of country profiles are being developed opening avenues towards low-emission food systems. The present document focuses on China’s agrifood system.
Net greenhouse gas emissions from China’s agrifood system reached 1.9 GtCO2eq in 2020, accounting for 14.2% of nationwide total greenhouse gas emissions. China pledged to cut its CO2 emissions by 65% between 2005 and 2030, to reach an emission peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. To feed its large population while reducing its carbon footprint, China must transition to a low-emission agricultural model. This report illustrates the progress made by China towards this goal and it discusses the remaining challenges. Three main categories of measures have been identified that are advancing low-emission agriculture in China: (i) adopt protective cultivation practices; (ii) enhance carbon sequestration in forest, rangeland and wetland ecosystems; and (iii) develop innovative low-emission technologies and practices. This document formulates seven specific policy recommendations to address current challenges and accelerate the needed transition towards low-emission agriculture in China.
Towards a low-emission agrifood sector in the People’s Republic of China
Key messages
- The agrifood sector in China accounts for 14.2% of national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (1.9 GtCO2 eq in 2020). This relative share is decreasing due to the rapid development of other economic sectors and related emissions.
- Rice and beef production are the primary sources of China’s farmgate GHG emissions (i.e., emissions directly produced by farms). Together, enteric fermentation (livestock digestive process which releases methane as a by-product), rice cultivation, synthetic fertilizers and on-farm energy use account for more than 76% of farmgate emissions.
- China has committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2060. This requires a drastic cut in GHG emissions from all sectors, including agriculture and the agrifood system as a whole. China has made significant progress in the research and implementation of low-emission agriculture nationwide.
- Effective practices already exist, but their implementation and scaling-up raise numerous challenges. Such challenges can be overcome by effective policies, financial incentives, education and capacity building, technical and organizational innovations, and strong governance mechanisms involving multiple actors, sectors and scales.
Emissions beyond direct “farmgate” GHG emissions (e.g., emissions associated with processing, distribution, household consumption and waste management) now dominate (accounting for about 60% of total agrifood system emissions) and are increasing. This highlights the need to adopt an integrated perspective that spans the whole food value chain, to effectively reduce agrifood system emissions.
A complex web of interactions: Personality traits and aspirations in the context of smallholder agriculture
Some recent research began to shift the focus of development efforts away from income and yield to more diverse concepts that consider people’s intrinsic drivers and values, such as aspirations and personality traits. We aim to contribute to the literature by exploring the connections between intrinsic drivers. Hence, we analyze if and how the formation of aspirations relates to personality traits against the background of different socio-economic household characteristics. This research will help us provide practical insights for the successful design of development projects specifically tailored to the unique needs and aspirations of individuals and households. Our analyses are based on a primary data set of 272 smallholder farming households in rural and peri-urban Kenya. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) results show a significant positive correlation of personality traits with aspirations (openness; extraversion; conscientiousness), indicating that personality structures indeed correlate with the formation of aspirations in a rural, agricultural context. Furthermore, we show that household and respondent characteristics are associated with differences in education, income, and social aspirations. Considering intrinsic factors for the prediction of human behavior has the potential to increase the efficiency of agricultural development projects and policies. We conclude that a contextualized understanding of aspirations can provide useful insights for development practice aiming to support smallholder farmers’ livelihoods.
Factors affecting the adoption of climate-smart agriculture technologies in rice farming systems in Mali, West Africa
Rice is a major staple crop in Mali, yet it is very vulnerable to climate change. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) has been proposed as a solution to simultaneously address the challenges of climate change adaptation, mitigation, and food security. However, there is limited understanding of the factors that influence farmers’ decisions to adopt CSA practices in Malian rice farming systems. This study aimed to identify CSA practices in rice farming systems and determine the factors that drive farmers’ adoption. We conducted interviews with 440 rice producers, 70% of which were women, and organized 16 focus group discussions (FGDs), including nine exclusively for women, in the Sikasso region of Mali. Data was collected through interviews, surveys, and FGDs. We conducted surveys using a questionnaire and the FGDs and interviews followed a standardized guide. Descriptive statistics were used to explore the data, and we analyzed the factors influencing the adoption of CSA technologies using a logistic regression model. The findings showed that crop diversification, improved rice varieties, crop rotation, tree planting, micro-doses of organic manure, and micro-doses of mineral fertilizer were highly adopted CSA practices in the study area. Key barriers to the successful adoption of CSA practices included limited input availability, lack of control over technologies, insufficient labor availability, insufficient availability and high cost of seedlings for reforestation, lack of information on developed technologies, and limited land access for women and youth. The adoption of CSA technologies was significantly influenced by social factors such as respondents’ age, education level, experience in rice production systems, gender, marital status, and membership in a rice producer cooperative. The results of this study are valuable for guiding extension services’ approach and implementation to scaling up the adoption of CSA technologies. These findings also underscore the benefit of policies and programs focused on disseminating rice farming system CSA practices.
Rural Resource Centre (RRC)
In the northern region of Cameroon, livestock farming, agriculture and protected areas share the same territory of around 65,000 km2. The three (03) national parks and the twenty-eight (28) areas of hunting interest occupy around 45% of the total surface area. In this context, the major challenge facing the agro-pastoral sector is to ensure resilient and sustainable production, while preserving the natural resources vital to the balance of the ecosystem. This requires innovative extension approaches and methods to facilitate the learning of new practices and techniques by producers and breeders. The main aim of these approaches will be to encourage co-creation, experimentation, and adaptation of new techniques to local conditions and to the needs and capabilities of producers. The “Strengthening Innovation Systems in Northern Cameroon” (ReSI-Noc) project is using the Rural Resource Centres (RRC) approach.
Methodologies for Researching Feminization of Agriculture: What Do They Tell Us?
An increasing body of literature suggests that agriculture is ‘feminizing’ in many low- and middle-income countries. Definitions of the feminization of agriculture vary, as do interpretations of what drives the expansion of women’s roles in agriculture over time. Understanding whether, how, and why the feminization of agriculture is occurring requires effective research methodologies capable of producing nuanced data. This article builds on six research projects that set out to deepen narratives of feminization of agriculture by empirically exploring the dynamics and impacts of diverse processes of feminization of agriculture. The researchers working on these projects reflect on how their methodological innovations enabled them to obtain new, or more nuanced, insights into the processes of feminization of agriculture. A first insight is that the way ‘feminization of agriculture’ is defined and operationalized plays a decisive role in the evidence we produce on the process. Second, bias in data on feminization can arise unless researchers examine well-recognized gender norms that mediate whether women are acknowledged by wider society as legitimate farmers. Third, the feminization of agriculture should be understood as a non-linear continuum. Research methodologies need to be capable of capturing dynamics, complexity, as well as multiple and diverse context- and time-specific drivers. Researchers need to exercise critical awareness of such biases when they are constructing data to measure or proxy aspects of feminization to avoid significantly underestimating women’s roles in agriculture.
Learning pathway: Course flows & blueprint
This course is a pivotal contribution to FAO’s vision of fostering a Better Environment, particularly focusing on Biodiversity for food and agriculture. Aligned with FAO’s strategic initiatives, the course is fortified by the approval of the FAO Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Agricultural Sectors and the 2021-23 Action Plan, emphasizing the importance of targeted policies and practices for sustainable use, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems.
Measuring agroecology and its performance: An overview and critical discussion of existing tools and approaches
Agricultural and food systems (AFSs) are inherently multifunctional, representing a major driver for global crises but at the same time representing a huge potential for addressing multiple challenges simultaneously and contributing systemically to the achievement of sustainable development goals. Current performance metrics for AFS often fail to take this multifunctionality into account, focusing disproportionately on productivity and profitability, thereby excluding “externalities,” that is, key environmental and social values created by AFS. Agroecology is increasingly being recognized as a promising approach for AFS sustainability, due to its holistic and transformative nature. This growing interest in and commitment to agroecology by diverse actors implies a need for harmonized approaches to determine when a practice, project, investment, or policy can be considered agroecological, as well as approaches that ensure the multiple economic, environmental, and social values created by AFS are appropriately captured, hence creating a level playing field for comparing agroecology to alternatives. In this contribution to the special issue on agroecology, we present an overview of existing tools and frameworks for defining and measuring agroecology and its performance and critically discuss their limitations. We identify several deficiencies, including a shortage of approaches that allow for measuring agroecology and its performance on landscape and food system scale, and the use of standardized indicators for measuring agroecology integration, despite its context-specificity. These insights highlight the need for assessments focused on these overlooked scales and research on how best to reconcile the need for globally comparable approaches with assessing agroecology in a locally relevant manner. Lastly, we outline ongoing initiatives on behalf of the Agroecology Transformative Partnership that aim to overcome these shortcomings and offer a promising avenue for working toward harmonization of approaches. All readers are invited to contribute to these collaborative efforts in line with the agroecology principle of participation and co-creation of knowledge.
Learning pathway: Course flows & blueprint
This course is a pivotal contribution to FAO’s vision of fostering a Better Environment, particularly focusing on Biodiversity for food and agriculture. Aligned with FAO’s strategic initiatives, the course is fortified by the approval of the FAO Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Agricultural Sectors and the 2021-23 Action Plan, emphasizing the importance of targeted policies and practices for sustainable use, conservation, and restoration of ecosystems.