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2. The Dynamics of Climate Change Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture among Small-Scale Farmers
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Abegunde, Victor (author), Sibanda, Melusi (author), and Obi, Aburuchukwu (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2019-03-01
- Published:
- United States of America: MDPI
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12470
- Journal Title:
- Climate
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 7 Issue 11
- Notes:
- Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as a credible alternative to tackle food insecurity under the changing climate is gaining wide acceptance. However, many developing countries have realized that concepts that have been recommended as solutions to existing problems are not suitable in their contexts. This paper synthesizes a subset of literature on CSA in the context of small-scale agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa as it relates to the need for CSA, factors influencing CSA adoption, and the challenges involved in understanding and scaling up CSA. Findings from the literature reveal that age, farm size, the nature of farming, and access to extension services influence CSA adoption. Many investments in climate adaptation projects have found little success because of the sole focus on the technology-oriented approach whereby innovations are transferred to farmers whose understanding of the local farming circumstances are limited. Climate-smart agriculture faces the additional challenge of a questionable conceptual understanding among policymakers as well as financing bottlenecks. This paper argues that the prospects of CSA in small-scale agriculture rest on a thorough socio-economic analysis that recognizes the heterogeneity of the small farmer environment and the identification and harnessing of the capacities of farming households for its adoption and implementation
3. Understanding Malawian farmers' slow adoption of composting: Stories about composting using a participatory video approach
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Cai, Tian (author), Steinfeld, Charles (author), Chiwasa, Hastings (author), and Ganunga, Tadala (author)
- Format:
- Journal article abstract
- Publication Date:
- 2019-04-09
- Published:
- United States: Wiley Online
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 204 Document Number: D12488
- Journal Title:
- Land Degredation & Development
- Journal Title Details:
- Vol. 30 (11)
- Notes:
- 18 pages, Soil and land degradation is a common issue in Sub-Saharan Africa leading to poor yield and threatening food security, yet soil conservation technologies remain underutilized. To build on prior work that primarily emphasizes demographic differences in adoption, this study contributes by identifying underlying social and cultural factors that influence farmers' perceptions about and willingness to adopt soil conservation management practices in a rural region of Malawi. Key informant interviews were first conducted to identify constraints slowing composting adoption, which were then used to structure the creation of participatory videos—videos created with the active participation of local farmers that demonstrated compost manure practices and benefits. Farmers from the same communities subsequently participated in focus group discussions before and after the moderated screening and discussion of these videos in order to obtain a more in-depth understanding of the constraints and possible ways to overcome them. Among the identified constraints to the use of composting were inefficient government programs such as the Farm Input Subsidy Program that contributed to a belief that only subsidized chemical fertilizers provided positive returns on investment, a lack of support from extension services that diminished compost use, social norms around gender that hindered women farmers from attempting to use composting, and livelihood strategy changes that led to labour shortages. Findings from the focus groups showed that the participatory video method encouraged adoption by helping farmers, and especially women, to reconsider composting, test it, and reflect upon social and cultural constraints impeding adoption. Over half of the farmers in the study tested composting for the first time after discussing the videos and changed their perception of both the value of composting and their own ability to use these types of soil conservation practices.