National Farmers Organisations

ThisDecision Tool aims to help field-level extension staff make climate smart decisions on which seed best suits their farmers’ context. This tool is not designed as a technical guide to implementation. It is designed to assist extension staff in making climate-smart decisions with their clients/farmers on improvements to their farming systems. Reference to technical guides relevant to the practices/technologies outlined are included at the end of the tool. The tool focuses on some of the Best Bet Climate Smart Seed Selection Options. The tool is applicable for rice maize and sorghum. 

This Decision Tool aims to help field level extension staff make climate smart decisions on which land preparation option best suits their farmers’ context. This tool is not designed as a technical guide to implementation. It is designed to assist extension staff in making climate smart decisions on improvements to their farming systems with their clients/farmers. Reference to technical guides relevant to the practices/technologies outlined are included at the end of the tool. The tool focuses on some of the best bet Climate Smart Land Preparation Options for Maize and Sorghum production in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)region. 

This Decision Tool aims to help field level extension staff make climate smart decisions on which planting system option best suits their farmers’ context. This tool is not designed as a technical guide to implementation. It is designed to assist extension staff in making climate-smart decisions on improvements to their farming systems with their clients/farmers. Reference to technical guides relevant to the practices/technologies outlined are included at the end of the tool. The tool focuses on some oftheBestBetClimateSmartPlantingSystemOptions forMaizeandSorghumproductionintheSouthernAfrican development community(SADC)region.
 

This report highlights key outputs of CCARDESA’s activities for the year 2018 which were crafted along with the five thematic areas of the Revised Medium-Term Operational Plan (20152018). The MTOP, in turn, derives its focus from key strategic regional documents such as the SADC Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP), the Regional Indicative and Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).  

This booklet presents a collection of previously unpublished or ongoing research and interventions related to climate-smart agriculture (CSA), with emphasis on experiences in Eastern and Southern Africa. The visual material contained herein offers researchers, development workers and policy-makers teaser insights into new tools, methodologies and data to support CSA scaling efforts. The 35 contributions in this booklet answer to five key questions that currently obstruct the efficient and effective implementation of CSA agendas.

APPSA Impact in onservation Farming

Impact story 

Malawi is a landlocked country with a population of 18 million people. About 90% of the population are smallholder subsistence farmers who own less than a hectare of land each in rural communities.Agriculture isthe most important sector of the Malawi economy. The sector includes crops, livestock and fisheries sub-sectors. It is dominated by the rain-fed smallholder farming system and is the major source of livelihoods for rural communities, contributing significantly to the household and national food security. It provides 64% of the total income of the rural population. Most farmers primarily rely on rain-fed agricultural systems, which are highly vulnerable to climate change. The negative impacts of climate change on agriculture have resulted in food insecurity at the local community level as well as at the national levels.

Many of the smallholder farmers in Malawi practice soil disturbing practices of ridging and burning of crop residues, which were advocatedby the agricultural extension system in the past (National Conservation Agriculture Task Force(NCATF), 2016). However, there is evidence that these practices over time result in reduced crop yields; lead to increased use of inorganic fertilisers to produce enough food; and ultimately are a major cause of current high levels of hunger and poverty in the rural resource-poor farming communities.

Climate change threatens agricultural productivity and poses challenges to the stability of agricultural sector in Malawi (Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development(MoAIWD), 2016). Therefore, it is important to invest in climate resilience in the farming systems and promote approaches such as climate smart agriculture(CSA)that are designed to reduce the impact of climate change on livelihoods of the resource-poor smallholder farmers.

In Zimbabwe, the frequency and length of dry spells during the rainy season have increased in recent years—the consequences of which include increased heat and water stress on natural ecosystems, agricultural crops and livestock, which ultimately affects agriculture communities that depend on agro-based livelihoods negatively. In addition, Zimbabwe continues to use an agro-ecological map from 1960 which divides the country into five agro-ecological regions, in spite of the fact that some of these natural regions may have changed over time. This poses a threat to agriculture, economic growth and development as the climate continues to change.

Deficiency in vitamin A is one of the most prevalent problems in Sub-Saharan African countries including Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. The consequences of deficiency of vitamin A is high fatality rate (60%) but even sub-clinical deficiency is associated with a 23% increase in preschooler mortality in areas with endemic Vitamin A deficiency”. An array of solutions have been proposed to combat Vitamin A deficiency. These have included Vitamin A capsule administration campaigns in pre-schools and primary schools unfortunately this has left behind others.