Contribution of Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies to Food Self-Sufficiency of Smallholder Households in Mali

Abstract

Climate change has resulted in food insecurity for the majority of farming communities in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Mali. In this paper, we present a methodology for scaling climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies such as Contour Bunding (CB), Microdosing (MD), Intercropping (IC), Zaï pits, and Adapted crop Variety (AV) treatments, and evaluated their contribution to smallholder households’ food self-sufficiency. We used the participatory technology selection method and on-farm demonstration in order to tackle farm-related constraints. The study found that there has been a major shift in the spatial distribution of land use/land cover (LULC) classes between 2016 and 2020. About 25% of the areas changed from other land use/land cover to cropland. Crop yields obtained from CSA-treated fields were significantly higher than yields from farmers’ practice (FP). The application of CSA technologies resulted in millet yield increases by 51%, 35%, and 23% with contour bunding (CB), microdosing (MD) and intercropping (IC), respectively. With Zaï pits and adapted variety (AV) treatments, the yield increases were 69% and 27%, respectively. Further, the use of IC and MD technologies reduced the food-insecure household status to 13%, which corresponds to a food insecurity reduction of 60%. The application of Zaï technology reversed the negative status of food-insecurity to +4%, corresponding to a reduction in food insecurity of more than 100%. In the case of food-secure households, the application of CSA technologies led to increased food production. However, notwithstanding this, prospects for CSA in the Sahel hinge on the capacities of farming households and local extension agents to understand the environmental, economic and social challenges in the context of climate change, and consequently to self-mobilize in order to select and implement responsive technologies.

Humanitarian Assistance in G5 Sahel: Social Sustainability Context of Macrologistics Potential

“…It should result in livelihood improvement through the development of agroforestry in the context of its climate-smart context to face environmental challenges [58]. The application of the above-mentioned context in technologies led to increased food production, especially in places where food insecurity is one of the main categories of disasters [59]. Nonetheless, climate change has an impact on Sahelian agriculture.…”

Prospects and Challenges of the Chololo Pits Technology In Enhancing Crop Production in Semi-Arid Areas Of Central Tanzania

“…The sustainability of indigenous practices, including chololo pits, in crop production has remained a challenge in many parts of arid and semi-arid parts of the world (Mswima & Kaswamila, 2022;Mswima, 2020;Qin et al, 2022;Traore et al, 2021).The moisture limitations due to climate change have brought challenges such as environmental stress, deterioration of vegetation cover, losses in agricultural production, loss of arable land, soil erosion, and increased stress on the economy, amongst others (Nyakudya et al, 2014). Studies have shown that these impacts have reduced overall crop productivity by 30% in Asia, and 13% in Africa (Saylor et al, 2017).…”

Use of Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies in dry-season peri-urban agriculture in West Africa Sahel: A case study from Saga, Niger

“…These technologies improve soil fertility and curtain drought effects. Using the zaï technique in the Sahelian countries conserves water, enhances soil nutrients and increases yields(Traore et al, 2021); it requires many resources, such as time and labour.However, half-moon, stone buds, mulching and Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) are least practised due to the nature of the farmlands. The topography of the land, water retention ability, soil structure, and Tassa (zaï pits), Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) and stone buds are preferred CSAT adopted by farmers in rural Niger.…”