Worldwide emphasis has been placed on designing approaches with regard to the needs of sustainable development. Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is one key agricultural development approach aimed at sustainably increasing productivity and resilience, while also reducing/removing emissions of greenhouse gases. Although many countries will be expected to adopt this approach, its applicability in an African context is not very clear, well studied nor has its sustainability been assessed. We used the Sustainability Assessment of Energy Technologies Framework to assess the applicability of CSA in combating climate change, desertification and improving rural livelihood in an African context. We also assessed the opportunities and constraints to the adoption of this approach in Northern Nigeria. Data was collected using key informant interviews and field observation to assess the current status of agriculture in Northern Nigeria. The results showed that CSA is strong in aspects such as participation and sustainable use of resources but weak in aspects of compensation and equal distribution of benefits and costs. Many small-holder farmers have inadvertently practiced CSA as part of the traditional farming system. While the existence of CSA in current practice is a major element in its favour, the lack of a coherent climate mitigation approach and poor institutional structures are both detrimental. Sustainable agriculture will require a wider societal change towards appreciating the balance between agriculture and environmental change. We suggest four main areas in need of urgent change: political commitment, human and financial investment, incentives and information.
Rice is one of the most important food crops in sub-Saharan Africa. Climate change, variability, and economic globalization threatens to disrupt rice value chains across the subcontinent, undermining their important role in economic development, food security, and poverty reduction. This paper maps existing research on the vulnerability of rice value chains, synthesizes the evidence and the risks posed by climate change and economic globalization, and discusses agriculture and rural development policies and their relevance for the vulnerability of rice value chains in sub-Saharan Africa. Important avenues for future research are identified. These include the impacts of multiple, simultaneous pressures on rice value chains, the effects of climate change and variability on parts of the value chain other than production, and the forms and extent to which different development policies hinder or enhance the resilience of rice value chains in the face of climatic and other pressures.
Rice is one of the most important food crops in sub-Saharan Africa. Climate change, variability, and economic globalization threaten to disrupt rice value chains across the subcontinent, undermining their important role in economic development, food security, and poverty reduction. This paper maps existing research on the vulnerability of rice value chains, synthesizes the evidence and the risks posed by climate change and economic globalization, and discusses agriculture and rural development policies and their relevance for the vulnerability of rice value chains in sub-Saharan Africa. Important avenues for future research are identified. These include the impacts of multiple, simultaneous pressures on rice value chains, the effects of climate change and variability on parts of the value chain other than production, and the forms and extent to which different development policies hinder or enhance the resilience of rice value chains in the face of climatic and other pressures.
This paper assesses the relationship between annual cropped area expansion and crop output and discusses the implication of such a relationship for environmental management in
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