Climate-change and variability (CC&V) exerts multiple stresses on agriculture production. It negatively impacts gender-cadres especially in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands that occupy 89% (area), 36% (population), 70% (livestock), and 90% (wildlife). Smallholders with limited resources endowments have adopted climate-smart agriculture technologies, which are viewed as a panacea to CC&V in addressing interlinked food-security challenges. This paper reports baseline survey results on 149 randomly selected households in Kalii watershed. Primary and secondary data were collected in March 2015. Data-analyses encompassed regressions, descriptive statistics and gender-analysis. Local perceptions/results revealed precipitations downward-trend and an upward-trend of temperatures, and other elements, and outcomes of CC&V. Gender and innovations are statistically significant at (p<0.05). Decision-making on assets' and proceeds' control and use, was men's domain. Invariably, gender and climate-smart agriculture innovations are critical in food and nutrition security strategy under CC&V.

Producing more food for a growing population in the coming decades, while at the same time combating poverty and hunger, is a huge challenge facing African agriculture. The risks that come with climate change make this task more daunting. However, hundreds of thousands of rain fed smallholder farmers in Zambia, Malawi, Niger, and Burkina Faso have been shifting to farming systems that are restoring exhausted soils and are increasing food crop yields, household food security, and incomes. This article reviews these experiences, and their broader implications for African food security, as manifestations of Evergreen Agriculture, a fresh approach to achieving food security and environmental resilience. Evergreen Agriculture is defined as the integration of particular tree species into annual food crop systems. The intercropped trees sustain a green cover on the land throughout the year to maintain vegetative soil cover, bolster nutrient supply through nitrogen fixation and nutrient cycling, generate greater quantities of organic matter in soil surface residues, improve soil structure and water infiltration, increase greater direct production of food, fodder, fuel, fiber and income from products produced by the intercropped trees, enhance carbon storage both above-ground and belowground, and induce more effective conservation of aboveand below-ground biodiversity. Four national cases are reviewed where farmers are observed to be applying these principles on a major scale. The first case involves the experience of Zambia, where conservation farming programmes include the cultivation of food crops within an agroforest of the fertilizer tree Faidherbia albida. The second case is that of the Malawi Agroforestry Food Security Programme, which is integrating fertilizer, fodder, fruit, fuel wood, and timber tree production with food crops on small farms on a national scale. The third case is the dramatic expansion of Faidherbia albida agroforests in millet and sorghum production systems throughout Niger via assisted natural regeneration. The fourth case is the development of a unique type of planting pit technology (zai) along with farmer-managed natural regeneration of trees on a substantial scale in Burkina Faso. Lastly, we examine the current outlook for Evergreen Agriculture to be further adapted and scaled-up across the African continent.

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Twenty‐five upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars were evaluated in 2 yr of field experiments in the Philippines. The research was conducted with low and moderate levels of handweeding to determine the extent of cultivar differences in weed suppression ability. We sought the plant characters that may confer superior competitiveness, and determined their practical significance in contributing to weed management. A large significant variation was observed in the dry weight of weeds (0.84 to 3.89 Mg/ha) associated with the different cultivars. Several cultivars had consistently low weed weights in both weeding treatments across years. Weed weights for the five most competitive cultivars were 75% lower than for those of the five least competitive cultivars. Grain yields were negatively correlated with weed weights, in both weeding treatments in both years (r = −0.48** to −0.59**‐significant at P = 0.01). Plant height, which ranged from 0.73 to 1.35 m, was the character most strongly related to low weed weight, with negative correlations that varied from −0.76** to −0.88** among weeding levels and years. Leaf area index (determined at 60 d after seeding) was also negatively correlated with weed weight, but tiller number was not significantly related to weed weight. The minimum plant height necessary to adequately suppress weeds was approximately 1.00 to 1.15 m. Cultivars with superior yield potential were identified that had a minimum height of 1.0 m, with weed suppression ability similar to the tall traditional cultivars.

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To achieve global food security, we need to approximately double food production over the coming decades. Conventional agriculture is the mainstream approach to achieving this target but has also caused extensive environmental and social harms. The consensus is that we now need an agriculture that can ''multi-functionally'' increase food production while simultaneously enhancing social and environmental goals, as committed to in the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Farming also needs to become more resilient to multiple insecurities including climate change, soil degradation, and market unpredictability, all of which reduce sustainability and are likely to exacerbate hunger. Here, we illustrate how agroforestry systems can increase yield while also advancing multiple SDGs, especially for the small developing-world agriculturalists central to the SDG framework. Agroforestry also increases resilience of crops and farm livelihoods, especially among the most vulnerable food producers. However, conventional yield-enhancement strategies have naturally dominated the debate on food production, hindering implementation of more multifunctional alternatives. Governments and institutions now have the opportunity to rebalance agricultural policy and investment toward such multigoal approaches. In doing so, they could achieve important improvements on multiple international commitments around the interlinked themes of food security, climate change, biodiversity conservation, and social well-being.

We present examples of large-scale farmer-managed natural regeneration of woody species in Africa to create new agroforestry systems. We also analyze two cases in Ethiopia of large-scale natural regeneration. The available evidence shows that the average costs per hectare of promoting on-farm natural regeneration are low as soon as farmers are familiar with this practice and begin to spontaneously adopt it. Based on these cases, current ambitious forest restoration targets can be achieved, but this goal requires a shift from tree planting to assisted natural regeneration. We propose a scaling-up strategy for natural regeneration based on experience gained mainly in the West African Sahel.

The ability of rice plants to tolerate drought stresses is associated with root system characters. However, the genetics of root traits are not well understood. Hence, the inheritance of six root characters of rice (Oryza sativa L.) was studied using the parents, F1, F2, and F3 populations of the cross IR20✕MGL‐2. Plants were grown in a hydroponic culture solution in a phytotron glasshouse and in an upland drought screening nursery. A polygenic system of inheritance was indicated for the root characters. The F1 plants had root systems characterized by thick, deep roots with a higher lateral and vertical distribution than the low parent (IR20), and the heterosis was significant and positive. The additive and dominant genetic effects contributed equally to the expression of all root traits. Both progeny parent regression of F3 and F2, and the narrow sense heritability estimates in F3 were high for root thickness (0.61 and 0.80), root dry weight (0.56 and 0.92) and root length density (0.44 0.77). Selection of root types, based on individual plant performance, should be successful in early segregating generations if selection is practiced on these characters. Associations between root characters and plant height, tiller number, and shoot weight were positive and significant. Five root characters were significantly correlated with the visual field drought resistance scores and with leaf water potential, confirming the role of root characters in maintaining high leaf water potential under water stress.