Smallholder farmers in eastern Africa and climate change: a review of risks and adaptation options with implications for future adaptation programmes

Gbegbelegbe, Sika; Serem, Jared; Kyazze, Florence Birungi; Radeny, Maren A.O.; Misiko, Michael; Tongruksawattana, Songporne; Nafula, Lydia; Gakii, Mercy; Sonder, Kai

doi:10.1080/17565529.2017.1374236

Cited by 31 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…An increasing number of production risks confront smallholder agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, and agroecosystem Fig. 2 Cluster plot showing the four clusters (outcome of the hierarchical cluster analysis) in the FAMD component 1 and 2 plane diversification has been identified as a main buffer strategy (Altieri et al 2015;Hänke and Barkmann 2017;Gbegbelegbe et al 2018). In our study, farm size, market prices, and climate change were drivers for diversifying production systemswhich is in agreement with earlier research in the region showing that farmers who own larger plots diversify into profitable cash crops (Ouédraogo et al 2010;Audouin 2014).…”

Section: Crop Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From farmers to livestock keepers: a typology of cattle production systems in south-western Burkina Faso

Zoma‐Traoré

Soudré

Ouédraogo‐Koné

et al. 2020

Trop Anim Health Prod

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Cattle production is an essential livelihood strategy in southwestern Burkina Faso. Although having a distinct cultural role and known to be resistant against African animal trypanosomosis, the Lobi taurine cattle breed is endangered due to its low market value. As the first step in preservation efforts, our study aimed to develop a typology of production systems at the farm level. We used a structured questionnaire and focus group discussions for collecting data on household characteristics, socioeconomic activities, livestock, and access to services. The sample comprised 169 households in three communities. The analytical strategy included factor analysis of mixed data and hierarchical clustering. We identified four distinct types of cattle production systems: (1) sedentary Lobi farms, (2) sedentary crossbreed farms, (3) semi-transhumant Fulani zebu farms, and (4) transhumant Fulani zebu farms. Significant factors in developing this typology were the farmers' ethnic group, crop diversity, cattle herd size, cattle herd composition, number of small ruminants, and livestock management strategies. Across all production systems, men were considered being primary decision-makers in cattle production, with women, herders, and children being responsible for specific tasks. All identified production systems are increasingly confronting disease pressure and scarcity of water and land. Future efforts in preservation and breeding will need to respond to these trends in the agroecosystem, integrate risk management measures, and resonate with the specific needs of the different household members involved in cattle rearing.

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Section: Crop Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From farmers to livestock keepers: a typology of cattle production systems in south-western Burkina Faso

Zoma‐Traoré

Soudré

Ouédraogo‐Koné

et al. 2020

Trop Anim Health Prod

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“…Such household level adaptation options can, for example, include generation of off-farm income, strengthening of the livestock asset base, or diversification of income sources. Since both off-farm income sources and livestock can also be sensitive to climate shocks (Descheemaeker et al 2016a;Gbegbelegbe et al 2018), non-crop adaptation options need to be assessed with a holistic vulnerability assessment framework taking into account climate effects on non-crop livelihood activities.…”

Section: Adaptation Options To Reduce Vulnerability To Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Farmers can be cushioned against the effects of price fluctuations through promoting farmer cooperatives, improving (community-level) storage facilities or providing post-harvest loans (Beekman and Meijerink, 2010;Burke et al, 2017). Households need better access to information on weather forecasts and how to use them, on better management practices and on market price developments, to input and output markets, and to (micro)credit systems (Below et al 2012;Cooper and Wheeler 2017;Gbegbelegbe et al 2018;Wossen et al 2018). Weather forecasts can be used by households to better plan farm operations and could reduce wrong perceptions on climate change (Gbegbelegbe et al 2018).…”

Section: Vulnerability and Intervention Optionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…selling livestock to compensate for a crop loss) (Cooper et al, 2008). Ex-ante strategies are applied to cope with variability in production and prices, although they depend on the farmers' perception of weather or price variability, which can be inconsistent and lead to poor adaptation (Gbegbelegbe et al, 2018). Farmers anticipate whether a season may be good or bad for their major crops based on seasonal weather forecasts and local environmental indicators such as the onset of rain or spiritual indicators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, many studies in the past have mainly focused on the types of strategies in general, rather than taking the diversity of households into account explicitly (e.g. Alemayehu and Bewket, 2017;Below et al, 2010;Gbegbelegbe et al, 2018). Furthermore, studies that have linked coping strategies to household wealth characteristics usually did not investigate the relation with the households' sensitivity to crop production variability (Antwi-Agyei et al 2014;Below et al, 2010;Berman et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Food security in a changing world : disentangling the diversity of rural livelihood strategies across Uganda

Wichern¹

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Climate change increasingly challenges smallholder farming and our ability to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) in sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural interventions are needed that aim at improving the food insecurity of the most vulnerable rural households. Interventions must fit the local context of a diverse population of rural households, and a key challenge is to identify which kinds of interventions work in which regions and for which households. Micro-level information can account for this diversity, but is an underused source of information for planning of interventions at national and sub-national levels. In this thesis, I explored how micro-level information from crosscountry household survey data can be used for effective planning of interventions. A further research aim was to understand within-country patterns of livelihood strategies in relation to food security and vulnerability to climate change of rural households in Uganda. Crosscountry household data from the World Bank Living Standard Measurement Survey-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) were used to 1) aggregate household level information to higher levels (e.g. districts, regions, livelihood zones), 2) spatially interpolate household level information and 3) identify hotspot areas of household vulnerability. I used data that I collected from two sites in Uganda for an in-depth analysis on current coping strategies of households for climate and price variability. Household food security was approximated using a food availability indicator that quantified the contribution of livelihood activities to household food availability. Livelihood strategies of rural households across Uganda varied with household food availability. They changed from subsistence-oriented on-farm activities to market-oriented onfarm and off-farm activities as household food availability increased. Aggregation revealed spatial differences in food availability and livelihood activities. However, a geostatistical interpolation approach showed that local variability in food availability and livelihood activities was often larger than variability across larger areas. These findings stress that the large diversity in livelihood activities within any given area must be recognised in decision making at higher levels. Climate change scenarios were linked to the household livelihood activities to identify hotspot areas of vulnerable households in a country-wide assessment of climate change impacts on crop suitability. Groups of crop-related adaptation options were determined per hotspot area. Adaptation options related to temperature were suitable in the north, while drought-related adaptation options were more suitable in the southwest of Uganda. An in-depth analysis ii indicated that few ex-ante coping strategies were applied under current climate and price variability. Such coping strategies mostly required little financial investment such as switching crops, which was common for households with more land available. Households tended to react to shocks...

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India, Africa and Global Climate Diplomacy

Modi

Venkatachalam

2021

India–Africa Partnerships for Food Security and Capacity Building

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Smallholder farmers in eastern Africa and climate change: a review of risks and adaptation options with implications for future adaptation programmes

Cited by 31 publications

References 30 publications

From farmers to livestock keepers: a typology of cattle production systems in south-western Burkina Faso

From farmers to livestock keepers: a typology of cattle production systems in south-western Burkina Faso

Food security in a changing world : disentangling the diversity of rural livelihood strategies across Uganda

India, Africa and Global Climate Diplomacy

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