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Journal articleIFPRI3; CRP7; DCA; A Ensuring Sustainable food production; E Building ResilienceEPTDPRCGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS

The selection and use of appropriate plant materials to maintain a sufficiently high nutrient supply to meet crop needs remains a major challenge of nutrient management under low input systems. Therefore, research on plant biomass quality as it relates to decomposition and nutrient release has become imperative. This research was conducted at the Agroforestry Research Station of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana to determine the decomposition and nutrient release patterns of Tithonia diversifolia, a rarely used non-traditional species but of research interest in soil fertility improvement practices in Ghana. The decomposition and nutrient release patterns of T. diversifolia was compared with Senna spectabilis, Gliricidia sepium, Leucaena leucocephala and Acacia auriculiformis which are commonly used in biomass transfer systems.Results of the study confirmed significantly high N, P, K concentrations in T. diversifolia comparable to levels recorded for the four leguminous species. In addition, T. diversifolia recorded the highest percent decomposition and nutrient release rates which differed significantly (P \ 0.05) from rates of the four leguminous species. It was apparent from the study that decomposition and nutrient release rates of species are related to quality of leaf material. Phosphorus and Mg concentration in particular were most influential in decomposition and nutrient release based on significant results. For this reason, it would be imperative to consider the concentrations of P and Mg among other factors in selecting high quality plant materials for green manuring.

-In the literature, a lot of information is available about climate change perceptions and impacts in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is limited attention in the region to emerging initiatives, technologies and policies that are tailored to building the adaptive capacity of agricultural systems to climate change and variability. In this paper, we discuss the prospects for climate-smart agriculture technologies and enabling policies in dealing with climate change and variability at different sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa to sustain farm productivity and livelihoods of agrarian communities. The review provides substantial information suggesting that without appropriate interventions, climate change and variability will affect agricultural yields, food security and add to the presently unaceptable levels of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Although some of them were already existing, the past decades have seen the development and promotion of climate-smart agriculture innovations such as the use of high yielding drought tolerant crop varieties, climate information services, agricultural insurance, agroforestry, water harvesting techniques, integrated soil fertility management practices, etc. In the context of climate change, this appears as a stepping up approach to sustainably improving farm productivity, rural livelihoods and adaptive capacity of farmers and production systems while contributing to mitigation. The development of regional, sub-regional and national climate change policies and plans targeted at mitigating climate change and improving adaptive capacity of the African people have also been developed to enable mainstreaming of climate-smart agriculture into agricultural development plans. Financial commitments from governments and development agencies will be crucial for improving large scale adoption of climate-smart agriculture.Keywords: agriculture development / adaptation / climate change and variability / food security / risk management Résumé -Variabilité climatique en Afrique subsaharienne : analyse des opportunités d'agriculture climato-intelligente pour la gestion des risques. De nombreuses informations sont disponibles sur les perceptions et impacts du changement climatique en Afrique subsaharienne. Cependant, il est porté peu d'attention aux initiatives, technologies et politiques émergentes qui renforceraient la capacité d'adaptation des systèmes agricoles aux changement et variabilités climatiques. Dans cet article, nous analysons les perspectives en matière de technologies et de politiques d'agriculture climato-intelligente, qui permettraient de faire face au changement et à la variabilité climatiques dans différentes sous-régions d'Afrique subsaharienne, afin de soutenir la productivité agricole et les moyens de subsistance des communautés rurales. Les résultats de cette analyse suggèrent que les changements et variabilités climatiques affecteront les rendements agricoles, la sécurité alimentaire et aggraveront les niveaux actuels inacceptables de pauvreté en Afriq...