1. AGE 322
(Seminar in Agricultural Economics)
Tyenjana .A
201316966
Supervisor Professor M. Aliber
2. Climate change may refer to a change in average weather conditions, or in the time
variation of weather around longer-term average conditions.
Lama et.al, (2009) argue that, climate change is considered as the most serious
problem to sustainable development with adverse effect on food security, economic
activities and even physical infrastructure.
Lama (2009) also laments that, Africa is subjected to widespread poverty, recurrent
drought, hostile climates, unsustainable technologies, and over dependence on rain-
fed agriculture.
3. Agriculture is considered as one of the most important sectors in Sub-Saharan
Africa and is set to be hit hardest by the changing climate.
According to Fussel et.al, (2010), adaptation seems to be the most efficient and
friendly way for farmers to diminish the undesirable effect of climate change.
Nxumalo, (2012) indicated that, the changing climate and variability had already
harmfully influenced livelihoods of many families in Sub-Saharan Africa via lower
pace of agricultural production in subsistence farming.
4. Main objective
The main goal of the study is to contribute knowledge on adaptation to climate
change in Sub-Saharan agriculture.
Specific objectives
To identify the indigenous adaptation strategies to climate change that smallholder
farmers use in Sub-Saharan Africa.
To identify introduced adaptation practices that promote smallholder farmers to
adapt to climate change.
5. Indigenous adaptation strategies are all the technical knowledge, technologies and
practical practices that are originally from the farmers and farming households
themselves.
These strategies were either used by the previous generation and the current
generation follow up and employ some of these strategies.
These include:
> Soil organic matter enhancement
> Polyculture system
> Mulching
> Multiple cropping
6. Soil organic matter improves the soil capacity to hold the amount of water through a
number of mechanisms (FAO, 2012).
Plant residues play a major role in covering the soil surface and provide protection
from sealing and also from crusting.
Plant residues play a major role in enhancing the infiltration of rainwater and
reduce or minimising runoff.
The combination of high water infiltration to the soil and with the higher organic
matter content in the soil increase the ability of soil to store water.
7. Polycultures described as farm systems that include a number of diverse crops growing
together.
Polyculture unveil much higher yield stability and stable inclining production during
drought than the monocultures.
Natarajan and Willey, (1996) had examined the effects of drought on enhanced yield
with polycultures manipulating water stress on intercrops.
They found that, all the intercrops had over yielded at high amount of moisture
availability which ranges at about or between 297 and 584 mm of water applied to crops
during the cropping season.
The more diverse of plant communities the further the crops are resilient to disturbances
such as drought and environmental unfriendly conditions (Vandermeer, 2002).
8. Mulching is the practice of covering the soil surface in order to retain moisture in
the soil and suppress weed.
Smallholder farmers use mulching to protect the newly planted surface area from
radiation and heat levels.
Mulching plays a major role in protecting the newly planted surface areas by
inhibiting moisture loss and absorbing the energy of tumbling rain and hail.
9. In the context of agriculture, multiple cropping is known as the practice of growing
more than one crop in the same piece of land during a single growing season.
Farmers can manage their crops without relying on mechanisation, chemical
fertilizers and pesticides or any other technologies used in modern agricultural
science.
It allows smallholders and farming house households to attain high production and
conservation objectives.
11. Farmers cultivate crops in agroforestry design and shade tree spread to ensure that
crops are protected from extremes in the microclimate and soil moisture
fluctuations.
Farming households influence the microclimate by growing and planting trees,
which decrease temperature, wind speed, evaporation and direct exposure to
sunlight and intercept hail and rain.
In a few frameworks, farmers used to plant cashew trees to give shelter to other
productive crops, for example, sorghum and groundnuts (Johnson and Nair 2009).
12. It is very important to control water supply and improve irrigation method such that
there is no waste of water.
The large amount of agriculture water management practices and technologies are
made available to minimise production risk (FAO, 2007).
13. Adaptation to climate change needs a high flexibility of soil against the excess of
water because of high rainfall and scarcity of water because of long drought
periods.
The most suitable strategy to overcome the problem of excess of water and drought
is to apply soil organic matters.
by applying organic matters to the soil, there will improvement and stability of soil
structure as a result soil will be able to absorb the high amount of water and prevent
surface runoff (FAO, 2006).
14. Many of these agricultural systems and agricultural practices used by smallholder
farmers around the world play a huge role to smallholder farmers to cope with the
continually changing climate.
They help as a model of sustainability that gives strategic ways and measures that
can help the number of smallholder farmers and rural farming households around
the world to minimise the effect and negative impact of the continually changing
climate.
They help to maintain suitable way of living as well as ensuring food security
through the income from agricultural productivity.
15. The world is currently confronting the issue of climate change and the effects of the
changing climate are as of now being felt all over the world, especially in the
developing countries and small islands.
The local information, farming practices and procedures adopted by farming
individuals remain the predominant type of dealing with stress of or reactions to
environmental change.
Current poverty and the yearning and different tragedies need a quick consideration
as the climate change contribute to the increase in poverty rate and food insecurity
in the region.
Farming has a major role in the economic growth and development of the country.
It is our essential way of generating food in order to close the poverty cycle.
16. The adaptation strategies that are recognized must be empowered and be
strengthened by government and non-government associations.
Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa are to be flexible and enhance adaptive ability to
environmental change impact by using the adaptation strategies.
Expanding the interaction between farmers and extension workers by sufficiently
giving transport to guarantee that they conduct satisfactory field visits to farming
households.
