To Specialize or Diversify: Agricultural Diversity and Poverty Dynamics in Ethiopia

Michler, Jeffrey D.; Josephson, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.08.011

Cited by 127 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Attention has been largely focused on agricultural intensification as a mechanism for producing more, even though food insecurity in many places is largely an income and distribution problem (Hazell & Wood, ). Also, there has been much less research focusing on the contribution of farming diversity toward achieving food security, despite evidence that more diverse agroecosystems are likely to perform better today and under changing environmental conditions because a broader range of functions and responses to change will stabilize the system (Altieri, ; Lin, ; Michler & Josephson, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Agricultural diversification as an important strategy for achieving food security in Africa

Waha

Wijk

Fritz

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

187

108

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Farmers in Africa have long adapted to climatic and other risks by diversifying their farming activities. Using a multi‐scale approach, we explore the relationship between farming diversity and food security and the diversification potential of African agriculture and its limits on the household and continental scale. On the household scale, we use agricultural surveys from more than 28,000 households located in 18 African countries. In a next step, we use the relationship between rainfall, rainfall variability, and farming diversity to determine the available diversification options for farmers on the continental scale. On the household scale, we show that households with greater farming diversity are more successful in meeting their consumption needs, but only up to a certain level of diversity per ha cropland and more often if food can be purchased from off‐farm income or income from farm sales. More diverse farming systems can contribute to household food security; however, the relationship is influenced by other factors, for example, the market orientation of a household, livestock ownership, nonagricultural employment opportunities, and available land resources. On the continental scale, the greatest opportunities for diversification of food crops, cash crops, and livestock are located in areas with 500–1,000 mm annual rainfall and 17%–22% rainfall variability. Forty‐three percent of the African cropland lacks these opportunities at present which may hamper the ability of agricultural systems to respond to climate change. While sustainable intensification practices that increase yields have received most attention to date, our study suggests that a shift in the research and policy paradigm toward agricultural diversification options may be necessary.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…agroecosystems are likely to perform better today and under changing environmental conditions because a broader range of functions and responses to change will stabilize the system (Altieri, 1999;Lin, 2011;Michler & Josephson, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural diversification as an important strategy for achieving food security in Africa

Waha

Wijk

Fritz

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

187

108

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“…Such farms introduce the risk of a single disease destroying an entire harvest, especially when only one genetic variety is present [30,31]. In addition, farm diversification has benefits which include poverty alleviation [32,33], increased profitability [34], improved food security [35], and decreased yield variability [36].…”

Section: Farm Diversification Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of Risk-Dependent Agricultural Field Behaviours in Bhutan

Gensits¹

2019

IJAE

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This article investigates the power of individual risk preference in combination with socio-economic and demographic characteristics to predict ten agricultural field behaviours in a developing country. A sample of 163 farmers from western-central Bhutan was interviewed regarding their farm management practices. Their risk preference was then experimentally elicited using a modified Multiple Price List. The results show farm size as being a primary determinant of income diversification, nitrogenous fertiliser application, and pesticide use. Farm diversification is most dependent on the household head's level of education and the quantity of farm labour available. Finally, both income diversification and farm diversification are shown to have an inverse relationship with loss risk aversion. On the basis of the findings of this article, agricultural policy and programmes can increase their efficacy and efficiency by targeting agrarian Bhutanese households based on their characteristics.

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“…Studies have shown that crop diversity contributes to resilience through a type of “insurance” where a failure in one crop is mitigated by another crop/cultivar and also through more efficient resource partitioning at various scales [5, 19, 20]. As such, crop diversification has been shown to be beneficial to building climate resilience in many countries such as in China [21], Canada [22], Kenya [23], Ethiopia [24], Malawi [9, 18], Zimbabwe [25] and also Ghana, [26, 27]. Crop diversification is achieved through multiple cropping where farmers grow two or more crops in sequence (relay cropping) or together (intercropping and mixed cropping) within the same year.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of climate change on agro-climatic suitability of major food crops and crop diversification potential in Ghana

Chemura

Schauberger

Gornott

2020

Preprint

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11Crop diversification is a promising climate change adaptation strategy for food production stability. 12However, without quantitative assessments of where, with which crop mixes and to what extent 13 diversification is possible now and under future climatic conditions, efforts to expand crop diversification 14 under Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Action Plans (NAP) are unsystematic. 15In this study, we used extreme gradient boosting, a machine learning approach to model the current 16 climatic suitability for maize, sorghum, cassava and groundnut in Ghana using yield data and 17 agronomically important variables. We then used multi-model future climate projections for the 2050s and 18 two greenhouse gas emissions scenarios (RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5) to predict changes in the suitability range 30 31 32 2 35 Agricultural intensification, crop diversification, irrigation, improved crop varieties and other agronomic 36 management strategies are needed to stabilize or enhance food production now and under projected 37 climatic conditions. Of these options, crop diversification requires special attention because it can stabilize 38 national and local food production [3-6], improve dietary choices [7-10], increase on-farm ecosystem 39 services [11-14], avert micro-nutrient deficiencies and improve household health outcomes [7, 15] and 40 increase incomes of smallholder farmers [16-18]. 41 42 Studies have shown that crop diversity contributes to resilience through a type of "insurance" where a 43 failure in one crop is mitigated by another crop/cultivar and also through more efficient resource 44 partitioning at various scales [5, 19, 20]. As such, crop diversification has been shown to be beneficial to 45 building climate resilience in many countries such as in China [21], Canada [22], Kenya [23], Ethiopia 46 [24], Malawi [9, 18], Zimbabwe [25] and also Ghana, [26, 27]. Crop diversification is achieved through 47 multiple cropping where farmers grow two or more crops in sequence (relay cropping) or together 48 (intercropping and mixed cropping) within the same year. The ability of farmers to diversify is based on 49 the concurrent (for intercropping) or sequential (for relay cropping) biophysical suitability of the crops in 50 their area. 51 52 Crop suitability is a measure of the climatic and other biophysical characteristics of an area to sustain a 53 crop production cycle to meet current or expected targets [28, 29]. When combined with climate 54 projections, suitability assessments are used to gauge shifts in crop potential under climate change [30, 55 31]. Despite massive developments in agricultural production technology, weather and climate still play a 56 significant role in influencing agricultural production in Africa and elsewhere [32-34]. In particular, under 57 rain-fed conditions the production potential of a crop depends on the climatic conditions of an area. 58 Therefore, each crop will thrive within a specific climatic envelope that can be enhanced by management 59 -yet climate cha...

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To Specialize or Diversify: Agricultural Diversity and Poverty Dynamics in Ethiopia

Cited by 127 publications

References 47 publications

Agricultural diversification as an important strategy for achieving food security in Africa

Agricultural diversification as an important strategy for achieving food security in Africa

Determinants of Risk-Dependent Agricultural Field Behaviours in Bhutan

Impacts of climate change on agro-climatic suitability of major food crops and crop diversification potential in Ghana

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