Rapid Rural Appraisal Report of Northern Uganda

A rapid rural appraisal (RRA) was carried out by the CIAT-IITA team in northern Uganda between 18th February and 1st March 2014. The RRA aimed to assess within and between district variations in farming systems and agricultural management practices in order to guide strategic agricultural investments and projects. The RRA used key-informant interviews, participatory workshops, transect walks, village and farm visits, as well as gender-disaggregated methods to gather information on important agriculture- related features and constraints faced by farmers

Institutional challenges to climate change adaptation: a case study on policy action gaps in Uganda

Article purchasedDespite the considerable progress made in the last decade towards building governance systems for climate change adaptation in Africa, implementation still limits positive responses. This study applies an iterative process of field assessments and literature reviews across multiple governance levels and spatial scales to identify constraints to effective formulation and implementation of climate change related policies and strategies in Uganda. Data was collected through sex-segregated participatory vulnerability assessments with farming communities in Rakai district, policy document reviews, and interviews with policy actors at national and district levels. Findings reveal that the key challenges to effective policy implementation are diverse and cut across the policy development and implementation cycle. Policies are mainly developed by central government agencies; other actors are insufficiently involved while local communities are excluded. There is also a communication disconnect between national, district, and community levels. Coupled with limited technical capacity and finances, political interference, and absence of functional implementation structures across these levels, climate change adaptation becomes constrained. We propose strategies that enhance linkages between levels and actors, which will improve policy formulation, implementation and ultimately adaptation by smallholders

Using climate analogue tools to explore and build smallholder farmer capacity for climate smart agriculture

Background: The phenomenon of climate change (CC) and its attendant challenges in agriculture have been widely document. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) focuses on sustainable agriculture intensification for food sovereignty through the adoption of mitigation and adaptation practices. Agriculture provides the livelihood for 70% of rural poor in the developing world, so building farmer capacity in CSA is imperative for food security. Studies show that transformative change must be bottom-up – integrating scientific and ethical dimensions, using participatory research approaches that employ simple comprehensive tools for building participants’ capacity to adapt. Methods: The study uses the “Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security” (CCAFS) climate analogue and weather forecasting tools. These participatory learning tools allow participants to interrogate and explore their own geographical and climatic histories and to draw conclusions on climate variability. This study examined smallholder farmers’ understanding of CC and their resilience to it. The study consisted of 5 stages – selection of tools, planning and training of teams, meetings with community leaders and community members to select participants, focus group discussions, modelling sessions and community dissemination meetings. Results: Participants showed awareness of CC, explained in terms of rainfall variability, decreasing rainforest, increasing temperature and excessively long hot days. Farmers illustrated gendered perception of past and present landscapes, time use, past seasonal trends, vulnerabilities and access to key resources. They also observed that natural resources were declining, while population and social infrastructure increased. Participants modelled the shift in seasons and projected possible future scenarios. Finally, participants were willing to adopt climate smart agronomic practices. Conclusions: After establishing that farmers are aware of CC, follow-on-studies addressing the impediments to adaptation and provision of necessary tools and resources to facilitate adaptation must be carried out. This study can also be replicated among a larger smallholder population for increased capacity to practice CSA

Climate Smart Agriculture Rapid Appraisal (CSA-RA): a prioritization tool for outscaling. Step-by-step guidelines.

Climate Smart Agriculture Rapid Appraisal (CSA-RA) is a prioritization tool for outscaling Climate Smart Agriculture. This manual provides step-by-step guidelines in implementing the CSA-RA. This process provides an assessment of key barriers and opportunities to CSA adoption across landscapes by collecting gender-disaggregated data, perceptions of climate variability, resource and labour allocation, as well as economic assessments at the household level. The approach combines participatory workshops, expert interviews, household/farmer interviews, and farm transect walks to gather and capture the realities and challenges facing diverse farming communities

A Review of the Participation of Smallholder Farmers in Land-based Carbon Payment Schemes

There is renewed interest in the engagement of smallholder farmers in carbon markets. This follows in the wake of commitments by governments and companies to reduce or avoid the release of greenhouse gases. It is well known that soil can store large amounts of carbon, and soil stewardship offers a means to harness this potential. However, issues around permanence and scaling in smallholder farmer systems must be addressed if progress is to be made in this area. In this review, we examine the engagement of smallholder farmers in carbon sequestration payment schemes that promote sustainable land management (SLM). Drawing on a review of documents from carbon payment projects, interviews with key informants, and scientific literature, we highlight approaches for smallholder engagement along the project cycle, identify key barriers to participation, and outline options to enhance farmers’ agency. In assessing a total of ten projects, we observe considerable variation in participation across the projects. Project design tools classified as co-decision tools were common, with 60 % of projects reporting the use of individualised land management plans, 30 % the use of participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) and 10 % participatory mapping. However, few projects featured detailed frameworks for the incorporation of community feedback. The key informant interviews and literature review revealed that low carbon revenues, insecure land tenure, and high transaction costs are the primary barriers to participation, placing disproportionate pressure on marginalised households. Further, designing and implementing rigorous, participatory, and cost-effective monitoring reporting and verification (MRV) methodologies remains a challenge for many project proponents. We also find that flexible contracts can foster broad participation by including details that are attractive to mallholders such as longer terms, local contract providers and low-cost SLM measures. Projects that strengthen community institutions and social capital can stimulate participation among the marginalised, reduce transaction costs, and promote equity as well as smallholder agency. Engagement with communitybased organisations or other civil society actors can facilitate communication between project proponents and farmers, bolster farmers’ bargaining power, and reduce transaction costs during implementation

Evidence-based opportunities for out-scaling climate-smart agriculture in East Africa

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is being widely promoted as a solution for food insecurity and climate change adaptation in food systems of sub-Saharan Africa, while simultaneously reducing the rate of greenhouse gas emissions. Governments throughout Africa are writing policies and programs to promote CSA practices despite uncertainty about the ability for practices to meet the triple CSA objectives of CSA. We conducted a systematic review of 175 peer-reviewed and grey literature studies, to gauge the impact of over seventy potential CSA practices on CSA outcomes in Tanzania and Uganda. Using a total of 6,342 observations, we found that practice impacts were highly context (i.e. farming system and location) specific. Nevertheless, practice effect across CSA outcomes generally agreed in direction. While our results suggest that CSA is indeed possible, lack of mitigation data precludes a more conclusive statement. Furthermore, the inclusion of potential adoption rates changes the potential of CSA practices to achieve benefits at scale. Given the uncertainty and variable impacts of practices across regions and outcomes, it is critical for decision makers to prioritize practices based on their desired outcomes and local context

Strategies and policies to reach a land-degradation neutral world

Despite the difficulties in quantifying the extent and degree of land degradation or restoration, evidence shows that continued land degradation will be an impediment to meeting several SDGs. The United Nations states that it aims for land degradation neutrality (LDN) which in 2015 became firmly established as an agreed-upon objective in the realm of international environmental politics. First, as part of the SDGs whose Target 15.3 calls to “combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradationneutral world” by 2030 (UNGA, 2015). The Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) took the decision to align the implementation of the Convention with SDG 15.3 and invited its Parties to set voluntary LDN targets (UNCCD, 2015). From that point onwards, the key question is how to implement these global aspirations at the national level and what is needed to operationalize the LDN concept and translate it into concrete strategies to meet LDN at scale..

Restoring Rangelands for Nutrition and Health for Humans and Livestock

Drylands cover 40% of the global land area and host 2 billion people, of which 90% live in low- or middleincome countries. Drylands often face severe land degradation, low agricultural productivity, rapid population growth, widespread poverty, and poor health. Governance structures and institutions are often eroded. Livestock-based livelihoods, largely depending on seasonal migration are common. Pastoralist communities and their land are highly vulnerable to climate shocks, while there are also changes in land tenure, insecurity/conflicts and rapid infrastructure development. Drylands Transform is an interdisciplinary research project revolving around the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project aim is to contribute new knowledge to a transformative change and sustainable development of drylands in East Africa to help escape the ongoing negative spiral of land, livestock and livelihood degradation. We investigate the links between land health, livelihoods, human well-being, and land management and governance with several study sites along the Kenya-Uganda border. Through strong stakeholder engagement we will explore challenges and pathways towards a social-ecological transformation in these drylands. The entry point is the urgent need to identify and enhance synergies between food and nutrition security (SDG2), land and ecosystem health (SDG15) and governance and justice (SDG16) for sustainable dryland development, aiming to improve health and equity (SDGs 3 and 5), while minimizing trade-offs between agricultural productivity, natural resources management and climate change. We are using innovative field research approaches focusing on livelihood improvement through rangeland (grazing areas) restoration and governance interventions. We will present results from the initial work to assess land health using the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework and explore the links with human health and well-being through household survey data. We will also show how we will co-develop sustainable dryland management options (e.g., field experiments with fodder grasses and shrubs) with local communities and set-up knowledge sharing hubs

Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub-Saharan Africa

Given the importance of soil for the global carbon cycle, it is essential to understand not only how much carbon soil stores but also how long this carbon persists. Previous studies have shown that the amount and age of soil carbon are strongly affected by the interaction of climate, vegetation, and mineralogy. However, these findings are primarily based on studies from temperate regions and from fine-scale studies, leaving large knowledge gaps for soils from understudied regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, there is a lack of data to validate modeled soil C dynamics at broad scales. Here, we present insights into organic carbon cycling, based on a new broad-scale radiocarbon and mineral dataset for sub-Saharan Africa. We found that in moderately weathered soils in seasonal climate zones with poorly crystalline and reactive clay minerals, organic carbon persists longer on average (topsoil: 201 ± 130 years; subsoil: 645 ± 385 years) than in highly weathered soils in humid regions (topsoil: 140 ± 46 years; subsoil: 454 ± 247 years) with less reactive minerals. Soils in arid climate zones (topsoil: 396 ± 339 years; subsoil: 963 ± 669 years) store organic carbon for periods more similar to those in seasonal climate zones, likely reflecting climatic constraints on weathering, carbon inputs and microbial decomposition. These insights into the timescales of organic carbon persistence in soils of sub-Saharan Africa suggest that a process-oriented grouping of soils based on pedo-climatic conditions may be useful to improve predictions of soil responses to climate change at broader scales