Uptake of Climate-Smart Agricultural Technologies and Practices: Actual and Potential Adoption Rates in the Climate-Smart Village Site of Mali

Understanding the level of adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices and its drivers is needed to spur large-scale uptake of CSA in West Africa. This paper used the Average Treatment Effect framework to derive consistent parametric estimators of the potential adoption rates of eight CSA technologies and practices in the Climate-Smart Village (CSV) site of Mali. A total of 300 household heads were randomly selected within the CSV site for data collection. Results showed significant differences in the observed and potential adoption rates of the CSA technologies and practices (drought tolerant crop varieties, micro-dosing, organic manure, intercropping, contour farming, farmer managed natural regeneration, agroforestry and climate information service). The most adopted technology was the organic manure (89%) while the least adopted was the intercropping (21%). The observed adoption rate varied from 39% to 77% according to the CSA options while the potential adoption rates of the technologies and practices ranged from 55% to 81%. This implies an adoption gap of 2% to 16% due to the incomplete diffusion (lack of awareness) of CSA technologies and practices which must be addressed by carrying out more actions to disseminate these technologies in the CSV. Results showed that education, number of workers in the household, access to subsidies, and training have a positive effect on the adoption of most of the CSA technologies and practices. The adoption of drought tolerant varieties and micro-dosing are positively correlated with access to subsidies and training. The study suggests that efforts should be focused concomitantly on the diffusion of CSA options as well as the lifting of their adoption barriers

Effect of Duration of Reclamation on Soil Quality Indicators of a Surface – Mined Acid Forest Oxisol in South – Western Ghana

The quality of degraded mined soils can be restored through effective reclamation practices. In this study, we evaluated the impact of varying duration of land reclamation on soil quality at AngloGold Ashanti, Iduapriem mine Ltd., Tarkwa, Ghana. Soil samples were taken from mined sites of the Company at various stages of phytoremediation: 2, 5, 9 and 11 year old reclaimed sites. The soils were analyzed for soil quality indicators. A nearby forest reserve representative of the pre-degraded condition was used as the control. Prior to phytoremediation with multipurpose agroforestry trees, the mined soils were subjected by the Company to earthworks/slope battering followed by spreading of oxide materials over the surface, construction of crest drains and cover cropping. Having determined the impact of the varying duration of reclamation on soil quality indicators, separate pot experiments involving maize and cowpea were set up using soils from the sites to assess heavy metals accumulation in the cultivated crops. Soil nutrient levels in the sites under reclamation were significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the nearby forest reserve. Soil pH though generally low, was relatively higher (P < 0.05) in sites under reclamation than in the control. Soil total nitrogen, available phosphorus and exchangeable potassium levels were highest (P < 0.05) in the 11 year old site. Zinc contents of all sites were below the maximum permissible levels. There was somewhat antagonistic interaction between zinc and phosphorus contents of maize in the unclaimed site. Though heavy metal concentrations in maize were lower than that of cowpea, the concentrations in both plants were generally beyond the permissible levels suggesting a possible transfer onto the food chain if the crops are included as part of rotation programmes from the agronomic perspective. Our results indicate that phytoremediation of mined lands using agroforestry multipurpose trees could be marginal even after a decade of reclamation

Setting partnership for climate change adaptation in the CCAFS Yatenga site, Burkina Faso: analysis of gaps and opportunities

This paper analyzes patterns of social interaction within the organizations working in the Yatenga province of Burkina Faso, and develops purposive partnership framework that can facilitate the scaling up of the action research outputs and outcomes. A diagnostic tool for evaluating group functioning was used to elucidate the current situation of partnership development in this province. Further, partnership and networking was analyzed using the network density which describes the portion of the potential connections in a network of organizations that are actual connections. The results suggest that the desired partnership as requested/expected by stakeholders is far from working as it could be. The stakeholders therefore agreed that network density need to be increased for future partnership, with clearly defined vision, shared responsibilities in generating knowledge and results, and capacities to monitor, evaluate and communicate on the program impacts. For this purpose, future partnership need to combine scale-based and competency-based frameworks to be beneficial at scale and pulling together organizations’ competencies. Implementing both frameworks would lead to an effective partnership on climate change adaptation in agriculture and food security. However, the successful development of this purposive partnership will require capacity development for the group of partnering organizations

Performance of Three Sorghum Cultivars under Excessive Rainfall and Waterlogged Conditions in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone of West Africa: A Case Study at the Climate-Smart Village of Cinzana in Mali

Recent climate analyses show trends for increasing precipitation variability with increasing precipitation sums in Mali. The increasing occurrence of temporary intra-seasonal droughts and waterlogging longer than a week demands climate-smart solutions. Research has focused on water deficits since the 1980s. However, besides droughts, waterlogging can restrict productivity of sensitive cash and staple crops as cotton and corn. The year 2019 offered the historically unique opportunity to monitor waterlogging effects with 1088 mm precipitation in the rural commune Cinzanawith an isohyet of 681 mm. Impacts of two extreme downpours on three sorghum cultivars were monitored in a farmers-field experiment with three replications. All sorghum cultivars performed well in 2019 with significantly higher grain and above ground biomass yields than in the reference year 2007, with well distributed rainfall in Cinzana. “Jakumbè” (CSM63E) produced significantly higher grain yields than the hybrid cultivar “PR3009B” bred for high harvest index. The local cultivar “Gnofing” selected by local farmers produced significantly higher above ground biomass. All cultivars tolerated without severe stress symptoms 20 days waterlogging and 72 h inundation. Further waterlogging resilience research of other crops and other sorghum cultivars is needed to strengthen food security in Mali with expected increasing precipitation variation in the future

Towards bamboo agroforestry development in Ghana: evaluation of crop performance, soil properties and economic benefit

In the quest to promote bamboo agroforestry in the dry semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana, we evaluated changes in soil properties, crop productivity and the economic potential of a bamboobased intercropping system. The intercropping system was established from 3-months old sympodial bamboo (Bambusa balcooa) seedlings planted at a 5 m95 m spacing and intercropped with maize, cassava or cowpea. Separate monocropping fields for maize, cassava, cowpea and bamboo were set up adjacent to the intercropped field. In both the intercropping and monocropping fields, plots were with fertilizer treatments and without. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with four replicates and studied over three years. Economic analysis was conducted using the financial benefit-cost ratio method. The results showed that regardless of fertilizer treatments, bamboo agroforestry and monocropped fields had comparable effects on soil properties and crop productivity within two years of establishment. In the third year, however, bamboo agroforestry had significantly (p\0.05) higher soil moisture, pH and crop productivity levels. An intercropping advantage over monocropping was evident for all crops with respective partial land equivalent ratios for fertilized and non-fertilized intercropped systems as follows: cowpea (1.37 and 1.54), maize (1.38 and 1.36), and cassava (1.12 and 1.19). The economic evaluation also indicated marginal profitability of bamboo intercropping over monocropping systems. From the results obtained, there are clear indications that where bamboo is a prioritized woody perennial, integrated systems with crops may be encouraged

Climate information use implications for climate risk mitigation in West Africa

With projections of a 70 percent increase in demand for staple cereals by 2050 in order to feed the growing human population (FAO, 2010), combined with the current declining per capita food production and a dwindling natural resource base, ‘feeding West Africa’ and increasing the resilience of livelihood systems may be well beyond reach. This has been attributed to multiple factors such as land tenure challenges, declining soil fertility, poor markets, climate hazards and variability, inadequate funding and poor infrastructural development (Ouedraogo et al, 2016; Partey et al, 2016). The current state of food insecurity and poor rural livelihoods are expected to be further exacerbated by climate change and variability which has emerged as one of the major threats to development in West Africa (Zougmoré et al, 2016)..

Candidate fodder trees and shrubs for sustainable ruminant production in northern Ghana

A survey was done to document preferred browse plants and farmers’ knowledge about them for sustainable ruminant production in northern Ghana. The study was done in Jirapa and Lawra Districts of Upper West Region of Ghana. A questionnaire was used to interview 50 farmers per district. Tables and graphs were drawn to summarize results. Ruminant production was a predominantly male occupation (p=0.032). It was also in the domain of the lowly educated (p=0.003). Ninety-seven percent (97%) of the respondents had goats with about half of them having sheep and 17% owning cattle. The overriding (99%) reason for rearing ruminants was to serve as a source of income. In the dry season, ruminants were kept on free range. In the wet season, small ruminants were tethered with or without feed supplementation. A total of 34 browse plants were identified and the most frequently browsed were Fadherbia albida, Ficus sycomorus gnaphalocarpa, Afzelia africana, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Combretum molle and Annona senegalensis. Paramount among the challenges faced by the owners were limited grazing land, feed scarcity and theft. Apart from being fodder sources, the identified browse species were soil improvers, medicinal and human food sources. All respondents grew crops and the most frequently cultivated crops were groundnut, maize, cowpea, bambara groundnuts, sorghum, millet, rice and yam in this decreasing order. Ninety percent (90%) of the respondents fed crop residue to their animals, with the commonest, groundnut haulm, fed by about 80% of the respondents. Twenty-eight different types of trees/shrubs were identified on respondents’ farms

Why Promote Improved Fallows as a Climate-Smart Agroforestry Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa?

In the literature, a lot is discussed about how agroforestry can achieve the mitigation, adaptation and productivity goals of climate-smart agriculture (CSA). However, this may be relatively too broad to assess the trade-offs and synergies of how specific agroforestry technologies or practices achieve the three pillars of CSA. Here, we provide an overview of how improved fallows (an agroforestry technology consisting of planting mainly legume tree/shrub species in rotation with cultivated crops) may achieve the goals of climate-smart agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Our review showed that improved fallow systems have real potential to contribute to food security and climate change mitigation and adaptation in SSA. Under proper management, improved fallows can increase maize yields to about 6 t ha−1, which is comparable to conventional maize yields under fertilization. This is attributed to improved soil fertility and nutrient use efficiency. Although data was generally limited, the growing literature showed that improved fallows increased soil carbon sequestration and reduced greenhouse emissions. Further, as a multiple output land use system, improved fallows may increase fodder availability during dry periods and provide substantial biomass for charcoal production. These livelihood options may become important financial safety nets during off seasons or in the event of crop failures. This notwithstanding, the adoption of improved fallows is mainly in Southern and Eastern Africa, where over 20,000 farmers are now using Sesbania sesban, Tephrosia vogelii, and Cajanus cajan in two-year fallows followed by maize rotations. Land tenure issues, lack of social capital, and improved germplasm and accessions of fallow species have been cited as constraints to scaling up. However, development of seed orchards, nursery development, and the willingness of policy makers to create a policy environment that addresses market failures and alleviates disincentives should improve adoption and future scaling up

CCAFS midline synthesis – Ghana. Assessment of changes at household, village and organization levels since the 2011 CCAFS baseline surveys

The objective of the CCAFS midline surveys was to assess what kinds of changes have occurred and whether these changes are helping the households and villages adapt to and mitigate climate change. It also provided information at the village level about some basic indicators of natural resource utilization, organizational landscapes, information networks for weather and agricultural information, as well as mitigation baseline information, which can be compared across sites and monitored over time. The same tools were used with a few improvements to ensure comparability with the data collected in 2011. This info note provides a synthesis of the changes at the household, village and organizational levels emphasizing major indicators that have changed