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This presentation made during the tackling climate change in agriculture training in Zimbabwe, talks about climate change elements and  interventions in the RAP.

Maize is currently grown on 35 million hectares of land in Africa and is easily the most important staple food crop in the continent, feeding more than 200-300 million people and providing income security to millions of smallholder farmers. Nonetheless, African maize growers face many challenges, including lower than average yields, crop susceptibility to pests and diseases, and abiotic stresses such as droughts. They generally lack access to high yielding improved seed and other farming innovations that could help them overcome those challenges.

The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project, launched in 2010, supports farmers and partner organizations to achieve increased food production while minimizing pressure on the environment by using smallholder farmers’ resources more efficiently.

SIMLESA is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). It is implemented by national agricultural research systems, agribusinesses and farmers in partner countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

A new video highlights the outcomes and achievements of the SIMLESA project and it features interviews with farmers and scientists.

This  report  analyses  the  status  of  incorporation  of  climate  change  adaptation  and  climate-smart agriculture (CSA) measures in the SADC Member States’ agriculture and food security frameworks and policies. It  details the current situation in the SADC member states  with respect to  the existence of policies, strategies and programmes that were primarily designed to build resilience to climate change among famers.

Adapting to the negative impacts of climate change is a pressing challenge for  anyone engaged in the agricultural sector. Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to these changes such as erratic weather patterns, increased water shortages, shorter growing seasons, and changes in plant and animals diseases and agricultural pests. As a result of these challenges, water availability and soil quality decline. The knowledge and skills that help farmers protect themselves against these changes are imperative. The Clinton Development Initiative(CDI) works with 25,000 smallholder farmers in Malawi to apply Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) adaptation and mitigation techniques on their farms. We sat down with Austin Ngwira, CDI’s Director of Agriculture, to learn more about how CSA is helping improve farmers’ food security with techniques that are more resilient to climate change. Read our Q&A with Austin below.

Dans un article publié par Le Monde, Laetitia Van Eeckhout affirme que le ricin, plante herbacée originaire d’Afrique tropicale, peut être une arme de lutte contre la faim à Madagascar:

Situé à l’ouest de l’Océan Indien, Madagascar n’est pas juste l’île de beauté version africaine aux paysages aussi variés que splendides. Madagascar c’est aussi une autre réalité : un pays dans lequel plus de 80% de la population vit sous le seuil d’extrême pauvreté établi à moins de 1,25$ par jour par la Banque Mondiale. Phénomène complexe et aux multiples facettes, la pauvreté est notamment définie par la faiblesse du pouvoir d’achat. Le pouvoir d’achat a un impact direct sur la consommation d’un individu, il définit la potentialité de se nourrir correctement aussi bien en quantité qu’en qualité. Faute de pouvoir d’achat suffisant, les habitants de Madagascar les plus pauvres troquent parfois leur consommation de riz, base de l’alimentation malgache, contre celle de racine de manioc.

More than half of the 2.1 million people of Namibia live in the northern regions of the country. Furthermore, more than two thirds of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for their livelihood. Because Namibia's climate is already variable, and droughts are common, climate change is set to increase the already vulnerable community, of which most are women-led households.

This booklet provides examples of climate-smart systems by showcasing some FAO success stories in various countries. The cases have been selected from the FAO Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Sourcebook launched in 2013 to show the diversity of potential options across
different regions and agricultural systems also covering subjects such as biodiversity and gender.

Le figuier de barbarie est une espèce de plante de la famille des Cactaceae, originaire du Mexique qui s’est rependu dans d’autres régions du monde, dont le pourtour méditerranéen, le sud de l’Afrique et Madagascar. Ce cactus arbustif pouvant atteindre 4 à 5 mètres nécessite un climat chaud et une exposition bien ensoleillée. Le figuier de barbarie est une plante grasse, caractérisée par des tiges en forme de raquettes épaisses, elliptiques, surmontées de fleurs jaune vif auxquelles succèdent des fruits ovoïdes vert jaunâtre, parfois teintés de rouge.

Le Programme de productivité agricole de l'Afrique australe (APPSA) est une initiative conçue sur six ans (2013 à 2018) pour améliorer la production et la diffusion des technologies entre les pays participants en Afrique australe. Le programme est financé par le mécanisme de prêt de la Banque mondiale à hauteur de 30 millions de dollars US pour chaque pays participant. L'APPSA a été lancé avec la participation des trois pays suivants: Malawi, Mozambique et Zambie. D'autres pays de larégion de la SADC devraient s’y joindre au fur et à mesure de l'évolution du projet.

Agricultural productivity in the region is far below potential. Although productivity has increased in recent years within Southern Africa, most of the growth has come from bringing previously unculti- vated land into production, rather than from inten- sification made possible by technical change. Southern Africa offers attractive opportunities for regional research. Groups of countries within Southern Africa share similar agro-ecological zones and farming systems, suggesting that there is potential for finding shared solutions to common problems. Although technology spillover is already occurring within the sub-region, significant poten- tial remains for expanding spillovers.