Climate smart
agriculture (CSA) is one of the ways to support smallholder farmers to cope
with the negative effects of climate change. However, for it to work it must be
region and context specific, be supported by appropriate policies, and apply
approaches that bring together all the different actors in a coordinated
manner. The policies must also be informed by research.
This is the key message
of a presentation delivered by Dr Edidah Ampaire of the International Institute
of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) at the 3rd Africa Food Security
Conference and Agric-Exhibition in Nairobi on 23 September.
Dr Ampaire said climate change adaptation, including the
adoption of climate smart agriculture must take into consideration various
factors across different implementation levels―from the plant and farm level,
such as crops that male and female farmers prefer to grow―to community and
institutional levels, including coordination of all the different actors in the
relevant sectors.
Unfortunately, evidence shows that at the moment the
policies are not only fragmented and poorly implemented, but the various actors
are also insufficiently coordinated and their roles are not clear, she added.
She gave examples of case studies on how climate smart agriculture interfaces
with policy and planning.
Researchers at IITA and
their partners have generated evidence that coffee was one of the crops that
would be negatively affected by climate change. As the climate becomes warmer
there will be a reduction in the area suitable for growing Arabica coffee,
therefore farmers would need support on alternative sources of livelihoods when
they can no longer grow the crop.
“There is also the fear
that to continue to grow the crop could lead to destruction of the already
greatly diminished forests. This will therefore call for systematic,
incremental, and transformative adaptation of the farming systems to reduce the
negative impact on farmers’ livelihoods and on the environment. This will only
be achieved by better planning”, Dr Ampaire said.
Fortunately, research
provides a number of CSA options that can be applied across the different
adaptation scenarios. For example, growing coffee under shade creates microclimates
that would support the crop to cope with a warmer climate. One of the effective
shade crops was banana which would also supply extra food and nutrition and
biomass for the soil, and capture carbon. Policies should therefore encourage
farmers to intercrop coffee with shade plants, especially banana and other
fruit trees.
Climate change and
agri-food policies also need to be gender responsive, Dr Ampaire said as she
shared the findings of a study that had looked at the gaps in national policies
and strategic plans in Uganda. The study provides recommendations for improving
gender inclusiveness in CSA adoption and adaptation planning.
“CSA must be all
inclusive and not benefit one group at the expense of the other. It must
especially address the needs of marginalized groups such as women and youth”,
Dr Ampaire said.
From the study, many of
the national policies such as the National Climate Change Policy of 2013, the
National Agriculture Policy (2013) and the National Development Plan, among
others, did not articulate gender issues well. The Uganda Gender Policy of
1997, on the other hand, did not address climate change adaptation and disaster
risk reduction issues.
Dr Ampaire said gender
issues should also be addressed systematically starting from the plant and farm
level to community and institutional levels including markets, extension, and
policy.
In conclusion, Dr
Ampaire reiterated that climate change adaptation requires a multi-scale and
multi-actor approach while climate smart agriculture adoption requires
appropriate institutional and policy arrangements that are region and
context-specific.
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