National Farmers Organisations

As women provide, on avergage, more than 40% of the agricultural labor force worldwide, this monography stresses women as key for rural development. This sample of factsheets talks about the following topics:

Brochure 1: Gender and Rural Development;

Brochure 2: Gender and Agricultural Extension;

Brochure 3: Gender and Access to Land;

Brochure 4: Gender and Food & Nutrition Security;

Brochure 5: Gender and Fischeries & Aquaculture;

Brochure 6: Gender and Livestock Production;

Brochure 7: Gender and Value Chains

Review of research findings, options for mitigation and recommendations for development cooperation

The reality of climate change is now a well-accepted reality and there is emerging evidence that climate changeposes a massive threat for development especially in poor countries. An understanding of the emerging trends of climate change and its effects in local ecologies is an important starting point in addressing the negative effects of climate change. This study sought to understand the impact of climate change on the livelihoods of local communities, focusing on Matobo District in Zimbabwe. The objective of the study was to understand how communities have been affected by climate change and how they are adapting to it as well as their perceptions about the gravity of the climate change phenomenon. The findings of the study were that the effects of climate change on livelihoods in the study area are alarming. Climate change has altered the physical geography of the area leading to a disappearance of flora and fauna and other natural habitat that constituted the livelihoods of the local people. Declining precipitation and rising temperatures are making farming increasingly more difficult,and thus aggravating food insecurity in the area. Urgent climate change programming steps must be taken to prevent a livelihoods catastrophe in semi arid regions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Small holder farmers in the semi-arid areas have not been able to utilize seasonal climate forecasts in making crop management decisions due to limited exposure as well as failure to interpret it. Three participatory meetings were held with farmers in Lower Gweru and Lupane Districts of Zimbabwe soon after the release of the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasonal climate forecast in September of each season. This was done to solicit for farmers’ prediction of the coming rainy season and come up with field test crop management practices. Farmers have their sets of indicators that they rely on to forecast seasonal rainfall which are based on generations of past experience that include environmental, biological, and traditional beliefs. There is however, need to investigate how their indicators compare with the scientific forecast in making farming decisions. Farmers claimed that the rains were starting later and finishing earlier whilst analysis of the rainfall record showed that starting rains have been later by 5 to 10 days in the last five years. There was an increase in the number of dry spells in the rainy season in the last five years compared to the period 1980 to 2008. Adding recommended amounts of fertilizers resulted in yield increases of 40% compared to adding half the recommended amounts. Growing long season varieties resulted in higher yields (22%) than growing short season varieties in the 2009/2010 wetter season while growing of shorter season variety had yield advantage (36%) over the long season variety in the 2009/2010 which was relatively dry. Frequent weeding resulted in about 8% increase in maize yields compared to weeding once in a season. The study demonstrates that knowledge of the coming season assists smallholder farmers in coming up with adaptive strategies for climate variability and change.

The purpose of the RLAT is to provide a sufficiently accurate pre-screening tool for identifying intervention points along agribusiness Value Chains (VCs), working out incentives for VC operators and proposing measures to reduce pre- and post-harvest losses. The tool supports the design of concrete interventions that have the primary aim of improving food security at the subsistence level, either on farms or in communities, and the secondary aim of upgrading specific VCs.

An easily manageable methodology that provides hands-on strategic orientation to those developing realistic and realisable measures for sustainable food loss reduction. The methodology is designed to serve as a pre-screening for further in-depth-studies and to identify leverage points for reducing losses at the various value chain stages — from farming, through handling and processing, to retail trade.

Ce dossier souhaite apporter un éclairage plus approfondi sur la thématique des pertes alimentaires et présenter les champs d’action actuels, l’expérience acquise et les défis à surmonter dans ce domaine.

This user manual is designed for use by Parties and national experts responsible for the preparation of the various sections of national communications, and also by national climate change teams or committees that facilitate the coordination, organization and management of various tasks and activities. It might also be useful for multilateral and bilateral programmes that support the preparation of national communications from non-Annex I Parties.

Conservation agriculture (CA), with its main tenets of 1) minimizing soil disturbance, 2) maintaining residue on soil surface and 3) mixing/rotating crops has been promoted and adopted, to varying degrees, across the globe. It is estimated that eight percent of all arable land is under CA management . While commercially applicable (e.g., Australia, Brazil and the United States), CA has also received attention as a ‘pro-poor’ strategy for ameliorating smallholder agricultural production and a means of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Thus far, research on CA in southern Africa has primarily focused on the factors associated with adoption and agronomic outcomes based on field research in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In contrast, Lesotho - a small, landlocked country surrounded by the Republic of South Africa - has received relatively little attention despite its decades-long struggle with severe soil erosion. The extremely high rate of erosion has not only resulted in the proliferation of gullies and the degradation of soil fertility but has also contributed significantly to food security concerns and long term decline in staple crop production. As a result, nearly a quarter of the population is currently in need of food assistance to survive. The average maize yield in Lesotho is stagnant at approximately 400 kg per hectare per year or 95 % less than the typical maize yield in the United States. This research uses household survey data from over 430 households in Botha Bothe district in northern Lesotho to determine the effects of adoption on households in terms of socio-economics and food security and to briefly highlight the potential drivers of and ways to counteract disadoption. This district is of particular interest because different methods of CA (mechanized and manual labor) and technology dissemination (through government-led Extension service and non-governmental organizations) are being deployed concurrently. Results suggest that household demographics, input availability and familiarity with CA all influence its adoption in the short and medium term.

In many parts of southern Africa, agricultural production is stagnant or even in decline, particularly in subsistence and smallholder agriculture. The reasons are many and debatable, but include lack of suitable inputs for production, environmental constraints and degradation, inadequate agricultural infrastructure, external shocks including volatile markets, and social stresses such as the impacts of HIV/AIDS and growing poverty. As an additional stressor, increasing climate variability and climate change are impacting on agricultural livelihoods since resource-poor farmers are unable to cope with multiple stressors or adapt to climate-related risks. The Kingdom of Lesotho is a typical example of a country considered highly vulnerable to climate-related challenges: as one of the least developed countries (LDCs), it is over-reliant on rainfed agriculture for food production and has a large poor rural population engaged in subsistence farming, which is relatively undiversified.