Widespread
adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices in Africa south of the
Sahara (SSA) has a positive effect on crop production leading to price
reduction and a decrease in the number of those at risk of hunger and
malnutrition.
According to the 2016 Annual Trends and Outlook Report,
rising temperatures, changes in rainfall patterns, and increased frequency of
extreme weather events are expected to slow progress toward boosting the
productivity of crop and livestock systems and improving food security in
Africa south of the Sahara.
Mounting evidence shows climate
change is likely to be a major threat not only to African agriculture, but also
to meeting the poverty, zero hunger and several other Malabo Declaration goals.
The latest report outlines how CSA
can help address the interlinked challenges of livelihoods, food security and
climate change.
“Over the years, the world has been
experiencing increased frequency of extreme weather events that are threatening
to slow progress toward increased agricultural productivity and hunger and
malnutrition reduction, especially among African smallholder farmers,” said
Shenggen Fan, director-general of the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI). “This calls urgently for an integrated framework
to address this multifaceted threat. I am convinced Climate-Smart Agriculture
(CSA), with its multidisciplinary approach, offers an integrated tool to
address the challenges of meeting future food and nutrition security demands
under a changing climate.”
Evidence
from the report – released by the Regional
Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) – suggests
that the widespread adoption of CSA practices can have a positive effect on
food production and total agricultural output, leading to a reduction in prices
and decrease in the number of people at risk of hunger and children under five
at risk of malnutrition.
Although cereal production is projected to double in
Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) by mid-century, it will still be nearly 5
percent less due to negative impact of climate change. And because of climate
change, 38 million more people, most of them in eastern Africa, are projected
to be at risk of hunger in SSA in 2050.
The latest report examines the contribution of CSA to
meeting Malabo Declaration goals by taking stock of current knowledge on the
effects of climate change, reviewing existing evidence of the effectiveness of
various CSA strategies, and discussing examples of CSA-based practices and
tools for developing evidence-based policies and programs. Agriculture leaders
in several African countries have expressed their support for the adoption of
CSA strategies and practices.
According to the report, adoption of
CSA significantly increases both agricultural yields and net exports,
highlighting the potential role of CSA in mitigating climate-induced risks in
agricultural production and food security.
To ensure CSA is effective, the
report recommends a slew of policy actions for its widespread adoption and
implementation. These include CSA-related training programs for extension
agents; policies and strategies that enhance the capacities of smallholder
farmers as entrepreneurs; building storage facilities and creating the
conditions for responsive markets for local value-chains; introducing payments
for ecosystem services; expanding agriculture risk management programs,
including formal insurance mechanisms like weather index insurance; and
leveraging public-private partnerships to facilitate needed investments
in CSA practices and technologies.
Overall, the report’s findings
suggest CSA practices can contribute to increasing resilience to climate change
but more research is needed to develop reliable and inexpensive methods to
verify emission reductions and monitor land use change as well as the
trade-offs and synergies across different development outcomes.
The report was released today at the
2017 ReSAKSS Annual Conference in Maputo,
Mozambique. The conference is organized by IFPRI in partnership with the
African Union Commission.
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