Nature-based agricultural solutions: Scaling perennial grains across Africa

Abstract

Modern plant breeding tends to focus on maximizing yield, with one of the most ubiquitous implementations being shorter-duration crop varieties. It is indisputable that these breeding efforts have resulted in greater yields in ideal circumstances; however, many farmed locations across Africa suffer from one or more conditions that limit the efficacy of modern short-duration hybrids. In view of global change and increased necessity for intensification, perennial grains and long-duration varieties offer a nature-based solution for improving farm productivity and smallholder livelihoods in suboptimal agricultural areas. Specific conditions where perennial grains should be considered include locations where biophysical and social constraints reduce agricultural system efficiency, and where conditions are optimal for crop growth. Using a time-series of remotely-sensed data, we locate the marginal agricultural lands of Africa, identifying suboptimal temperature and precipitation conditions for the dominant crop, i.e., maize, as well as optimal climate conditions for two perennial grains, pigeonpea and sorghum. We propose that perennial grains offer a lower impact, sustainable nature-based solution to this subset of climatic drivers of marginality. Using spatial analytic methods and satellite-derived climate information, we demonstrate the scalability of perennial pigeonpea and sorghum across Africa. As a nature-based solution, we argue that perennial grains offer smallholder farmers of marginal lands a sustainable solution for enhancing resilience and minimizing risk in confronting global change, while mitigating social and edaphic drivers of low and variable production.

Multifunctional Land Uses in Africa

“…Moreover, many farmers are women who have less direct access to land, resources, and information updates than men, which often leads to misinformed management decisions. Some studies found that women-headed households had lower yields than those headed by men (a pattern also found in Onoja Chapter 4), likely associated with poorer households needing to work extra for wealthier farmers for cash, usually right when they need to work the most on their own farms (Peter et al 2017).…”

“…According to one study, maize production under the current situation is optimal on 28 per cent of African agricultural land, suitable on 59 per cent, and unsuitable on 13 per cent (Peter et al 2017). The same study concluded that intercropping to utilize biological nitrogen fixation can benefit areas that are suboptimal for maize.…”

“…Moreover, the policy targets fertilizer quality control, the use of organic fertilizer, and an aligned strategy on fertilizer supply and demand in regions that require the most support. The strategies could include crop rotations and intercrops with suitable annual or perennial legumes where biological nitrogen fixation has positive benefits on subsequent crops, which would benefit poor farmers in particular (Peter et al 2017). Interventions towards sustainable production can provide a new entry point for raising the visibility of the multiple benefits that smallholder farmers with multifunctional land uses bring to the national agenda and rural livelihoods through improved productivity.…”

New perennial grains in African smallholder agriculture from a farming systems perspective. A review

“…Perennial grains have considerable potential to help address this problem; their positive impacts on soils have been widely documented, yet they are not necessarily associated with high costs or labor requirements, as shown in the case or rice (Huang et al 2018). Peter et al (2017) emphasize the potential of perennial grains (specifically sorghum and pigeon pea) to contribute to sustainable agricultural intensification in Africa, especially where topography and/or farming practices have resulted in erosion or depletion of soil organic matter. Where the productive capacity of land is low, qualities like soil improvement, stabilization, and water-stress tolerance may well compensate for lower maximum theoretical yields and boost production potential over time.…”

Potential for smart food products in rural Myanmar: use of millets and pigeonpea to fill the nutrition gap

“…Furthermore, these crops are also dryland crops, suitable for semi‐arid areas with water scarcity, and it should be highlighted that pigeonpea can add 70–100 kg of nitrogen per hectare annually to the soil . These are thus climate smart crops that are instrumental for adapting to climate change in dry zones.…”