Africa Guardian

Smallholder farmers are the mainstay of food production across sub-Saharan Africa-” Ms. Jane Karuku, president of AGRA.

The small scale African farmers need all the tools and know how necessary to adapt agricultural practices to ensure resilience in the face of changing climatic conditions and to sustainably increase agricultural productivit, declared John Kufuor, former president of Ghana launching the reprt.

The report notes that climate change could increase the number of malnourished people in sub-Saharan Africa by nearly 40 percent over the next 35 years, from 223 million today to 355 million by 2050.

“Helping smallholder farmers adapt to climate challenges today will prepare them for even more serious challenges in the future,” said David Sarfo Ameyaw, managing editor of the report. “When farmers are able to employ climate-smart techniques, it makes a huge difference. Despite climate change, there is enormous potential for smallholder-led agricultural growth. But, there is an urgent need to increase investments to expand climate-smart agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Ameyaw, who is also AGRA’ s director for strategy monitoring and evaluation.

African countries should not only engage to reverse the current trend of low crop productivity and land degradation, but also forget blanket recommendations regarding fertilizer applications to their soil- Soil Scientist James Mutegi of the International Plant Nutrition Institute

By Anthony Muchoki

Communicating seasonal climate forecasts and supporting climate-informed management for smallholder farmers is one of the ways forward for increasing agricultural outputs.

This is already being done in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in Eastern and Southern Africa, and in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana and Niger in West Africa, according to the 2014 African Agriculture Status Report (AASR).

The report notes that small-scale family farmers across Africa— already struggling to adapt to rapidly rising temperatures and more erratic rains—risk being overwhelmed by the pace and severity of climate change,need to become climate smart.

Provision of climatic information to smallholder farmers on timely basis and in a language they can understand is a key for transforming agriculture, noted Ms. Jane Karuku, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

AGRA prepared the report with contributions from several African scholars, which provides a comprehensive review of how climate change will affect Africa’s smallholder farmers and highlights the most promising paths to producing more food, even in the midst of very challenging growing environments.

“Smallholder farmers are the mainstay of food production across sub-Saharan Africa. “As climate change turns up the heat, the continent’s food security and its ability to generate economic growth that benefits poor Africans—most of whom are farmers—depends on our ability to adapt to more stressful conditions,” she said.

The report was released at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), which had attracted nearly 1,000 scientists and representatives of businesses, governments, farmers’ organizations and civil society. The report details both the immediate ramifications and longer-term trends of Africa’s changing climate.

The report notes that farmers across all regions of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) already are contending with an increase in average temperatures. Further increases of between 1.5°C and 2.5°C are expected by 2050. Scientists predict severe drying across southern Africa, while other parts of SSA are likely to become wetter, but with farmers facing more violent storms and frequent flooding.

The report notes that climate change could increase the number of malnourished people in SSA by nearly 40 percent over the next 35 years—from 223 million today to 355 million by 2050. In addition, shifting climate conditions can lower the concentration of mineral nutrients like iron and zinc in the edible parts of plants, which could intensify the already acute problem of
micronutrient deficiency in SSA.

The report says that climate change will affect both the average length of the growing season and rainfall variability. Altered growing conditions can also lower yields and, in certain areas, they could make it very difficult to grow basic food crops as climate shifts exceed what the crop can tolerate.
“For example, in East and Central Africa, the area suitable for growing common beans, valued as a source of protein and now cultivated on 7 million hectares, could decline by 25 to 80 percent. Land suitable for cultivating banana could fall by 25 percent in the Sahel and 8 percent in West Africa,” notes a press release issued at the launch.

The research maps the regions at highest risk for more “failed seasons” as rains become more erratic. “At greatest risk are the countries of southern Africa. But also threatened are Southern Sudan and a belt of farmland running from southern Côte d’Ivoire, across Ghana to Nigeria.

The report calls on smallholder farmers to adopt a range of practices and crop varieties that scientists increasingly refer to as “climate-smart agriculture” or CSA, noting that CSA strategies seek to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes by helping farmers adapt to climate change—and thus increase the resilience of their rural communities. CSA also aims to reduce agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Offering hope, the report noted that some farmers across Africa are already utilizing innovations that help them cope with climate risks. They are planting drought-resistant seed varieties; participating in innovative crop and livestock insurance programs that pay out when weather conditions deteriorate; and adopting soil management techniques that help their fields retain water and mitigate runoff and erosion.

“Helping smallholders adapt to climate challenges today will prepare them for even more serious challenges in the future,” said Dr. David Sarfo Ameyaw, the managing editor of the report and AGRA’s director for strategy monitoring and evaluation. “When farmers are able to employ climate-smart techniques, it makes a huge difference. Despite climate change, there is enormous potential for smallholder-led agricultural growth. But there is an urgent need to increase investments to expand climate-smart agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Some highlights in the AASR

• Improved soil management: For example, three AGRA projects to improve soil fertility, including its ability to retain and use water, together benefitted 126,000 farmers in

Tanzania, Ghana and Malawi. Using Integrated Soil Fertility Management techniques,
the projects increased yield for maize, soybeans and pigeon pea. The return on each US dollar invested ranged from between US$5 to US$17.
• New crop varieties. Identifying and breeding seeds that are suit able for planting in a particular region or environment can lessen farmers’ reliance on manufactured fertilizer by making more efficient use of limited soil nutrients. There are also crop varieties that have a higher tolerance for drought or salty soils and varieties that can resist a rising tide of plant diseases and pests. In addition, plant breeders are working to boost the productivity and nutritional value of crops. Over the last ten years, almost 500 new crop varieties have been released to smallholder farmers that are adapted to particular conditions and challenges. (Click here to download AGRA’s recent report on its Program
f or A f ric a’s S eed Sy st ems .)

• Improved water management. Only 4 percent of African crop land is irrigated—the rest depends on increasingly erratic rainfall. But water management can mean much more than irrigation. For example, collecting rain in ponds or barrels, and other “rain harvesting” techniques, offer a simple but underused low-technology approach to climate change. The AASR notes that harvesting only 15 percent of the region’s rain would more than meet the water needs of the continent.

• Climate-smart mechanization. In sub-Saharan Africa, motorized equipment contributes only 10 percent of farm energy, compared to 50 percent in other regions. Mechanization can improve productivity and nutrient use efficiency, reduce waste and add value to food products. But progress in this area, scientists note, should be based on energy efficient innovations, including the use of alternative energy like solar powered irrigation pumps, and supported by better training and repair service and by strong farmers’ organizations.

In addition to climate change, the AASR calls attention to other major trends influencing food security and agriculture production, including rapid population growth, urbanization, unsustainable land use, and gender disparity. These forces are affecting household income, food costs, poverty levels, health, conflict over natural resources and growing social inequality.

“More productive, resilient and low-carbon agriculture requires a major shift in the way we manage land, water, nutrients and genetic resources,” said Dr. Ademola Braimoh of the W orld Bank. “This publication highlights changes in policies, institutions and financial mechanisms for an effective transition to climate-smart agriculture.”

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