Unlocking Barriers to Adoption and Scaling of Climate Smart Cocoa Practices in Ghana

Cocoa production in West Africa has been adversely affected by climate change at varying degrees. The cocoa farming areas in Ghana vary according to severity in impact of climate change and has been delineated into three climatic impact zones namely; Transform, cope and adjust zones. For years, cocoa industry technical experts have recommended Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) without considering the different farmer typologies across the climate impact zones. The Consultative Group for international Agricultural Research (CGIAR) through the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ghana recently documented and aligned climate smart cocoa (CSC) practices across the three impact zones to help farmers mitigate against the effect of Climate change. The aim of this study was to identify farmer typologies in the different climate impact zones and how this affect adoption of CSC recommendations. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire from 270 cocoa farming household on socio-economic characteristics and intensity of CSC implementation across. Preliminary findings from a principal component analysis using the R software statistical package showed three cluster of Cocoa farmers in the impact zones. The results also show varying intensity of implementation of CSC practices which determines the efficiency of the clusters. The first cluster of cocoa farmers is characterized as the least efficient in production in terms of Cocoa productivity (248.2793 kg/ha) and Cocoa income (USD 981.3244 per annuum) while the second cluster of farmers are the most efficient with the highest cocoa income (USD 3000.309 per annum) and Cocoa productivity (583.6498 kg/ha). The third Cluster represent farmers with the most resources in terms of land under cocoa (3.7 ha) and hired out labor (≃4 people from the household). In all clusters, access to hybrid seedlings, financial challenges and extension service delivery were identified as challenges hindering adoption of CSC recommendation. It is recommended that farmer typologies aligned with CSC recommendations in the climate impact zones should be taken into consideration for effective adoption

Local tree knowledge can fast-track agroforestry recommendations for coffee smallholders along a climate gradient in Mount Elgon, Uganda

Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) is economically important for many smallholder farmers in the Mount Elgon region of East Uganda, but its production is increasingly threatened by climate change. However, ecosystem services (ES) provided by companion trees in coffee agroforestry systems (AFS) can help farmers adapt to climate change. The objectives of this research were to develop agroforestry species recommendations and tailor these to the farmers' needs and local context, taking into consideration gender. Local knowledge of agroforestry species and ES preferences was collected through farmer interviews and rankings. Using the Bradley-Terry approach, analysis was done along an altitudinal gradient in order to study different climate change scenarios for coffee suitability. Farmers had different needs in terms of ES and tree species at different altitudes, e.g. at low altitude they need a relatively larger set of ES to sustain their coffee production and livelihood. Local knowledge is found to be gender blind as no differences were observed in the rankings of species and ES by men and women. Ranking species by ES and ranking ES by preference is a useful method to help scientists and extension agents to use local knowledge for the development of recommendations on companion trees in AFS for smallholder farmers. (Résumé d'auteur

Integrating local knowledge with tree diversity analyses to optimize on-farm tree species composition for ecosystem service delivery in coffee agroforestry systems of Uganda

Coffee agroforestry systems deliver ecosystem services (ES) critical for rural livelihoods like food but also disservices that constrain livelihoods like fostering coffee-pests. Since such ES are tree-based, maximizing ES and limiting constraints requires knowledge on optimizing on-farm tree composition especially trees adapted to local conditions. The study was in three sites along a rainfall gradient in Central Uganda where we: assessed tree diversity in coffee agroforestry; ranked tree suitability for providing ES according to farmers' knowledge; and then proposed an approach for optimizing on-farm tree composition for delivery of ES. We collected data on tree diversity and, farmers' knowledge of tree species and the ES they provide. Farmers ranked ES in order of importance to their livelihoods ('Needs rank') and ranked trees according to suitability for providing ES. Using Bradley Terry modeling, we grouped trees into 'ES groups' according to suitability for providing different ES and ranked 'ES groups' according to tree diversity ('Diversity rank'). Tree-suitability for providing ES and importance of ES to farmers varied with rainfall regime but tree diversity did not match farmers' needs for ES. We propose the FaD–FaN (matching farm tree diversity to farmers' needs) approach for optimizing tree species composition with respect to tree-suitability for farmers' priority ES. Farmers locally prioritize ES needed and identify trees that best serve such ES. The approach then focuses on modifying on-farm tree diversity to match/suit farmers' priority ES. The FaD–FaN approach caters for varying socio-ecological conditions; it's adaptable for other coffee and cocoa-growing areas worldwide

“We’re in this together”: Changing intra-household decision making for more cooperative smallholder farming

Conceptualising smallholder farming households as collective action institutions, that make interrelated decisions about investment, resource use and allocation in a common household farm, may contribute to understanding widely observed uncooperative outcomes, such as yield gaps, gender gaps in productivity, suboptimal or Pareto inefficient sustainable intensification and climate change adaptation. We examine the relation between participatory intra-household decision making – as a set of ‘rules of the game’ that reduces information and bargaining power asymmetries – and cooperative, i.e. more efficient, sustainable and equitable, outcomes in smallholder coffee farming households in Uganda. We find experimental evidence that participatory decision making is positively related to investments in the common household farm. Consumption behaviour however is not fairer nor more sustainable. Participatory decision making is associated with more cooperative actual outcomes such as greater investment in sustainable intensification, consideration of women’s interests, fairer reproductive intra-household labour division, more balanced control over cash crop income and improved livelihoods

Turning local knowledge on agroforestry into an online decision-support tool for tree selection in smallholders' farms

Article purchased; Published online: 31 May 2016This paper presents the main features of a unique decision-support tool developed for selecting tree species in coffee and cocoa agroforestry systems. This tool aims at assisting in the selection of appropriate shade trees taking into account local conditions as well as needs and preferences of smallholder farmers while maximizing ecosystem services from plot to landscape level. This user-friendly and practical tool provides site-specific recommendations on tree species selection via simple graphical displays and is targeted towards extension services and stakeholders directly involved in sustainable agroforestry and adaptation to climate change. The tool is based on a simple protocol to collect local agroforestry knowledge through farmers’ interviews and rankings of tree species with respect to locally perceived key ecosystem services. The data collected are first analysed using the BradleyTerry2 package in R, yielding the ranking scores that are used in the decision-support tool. Originally developed for coffee and cocoa systems of Uganda and Ghana, this tool can be extended to other producing regions of the world as well as to other cropping systems. The tool will be tested to see if repeated assessments show consistent ranking scores, and to see if the use of the tool by extension workers improves their shade tree advice to local farmers

Climate Change Adaptation in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management in Tanzania: A Gender Policy Review

More than twenty years have passed since the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, where gender mainstreaming was acknowledged as an indispensable global strategy for achieving gender equality. Since then, Tanzania has undoubtedly made efforts in mainstreaming gender in its national policies and strategies (MCDGC, 2012). However, to date some of its policies and strategies still remain gender blind or have not prioritized gender as an area for immediate action. This insufficient consideration to gender in some policy documents, coupled with limited enforcement of the policies that were drafted as gender sensitive, might hinder progress towards gender equality in the country. With climate change increasingly threatening rural livelihoods in Tanzania (Orindi and Murray 2005; Yanda et al. 2013), the need to incorporate gender considerations in the policies and programs dealing directly and indirectly with climate change issues becomes even more apparent. Indeed, if policies fail to acknowledge the different roles, opportunities, perspectives and challenges that women and men have in the face of climate change, the adaptation and mitigation measures proposed in the policies will likely fail or may even ultimately exacerbate gender inequalities (Ncube et al., 2011)

Soil fertility gradients and production constraints for coffee and banana on volcanic mountain slopes in the east African rift: a case study of Mt. Elgon

Volcanic mountains in the East African Rift (e.g. Mt. Kenya, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Elgon) are some of the most productive agricultural regions, often dominated by coffee and banana cultivation. Consequently, these regions suffer from a high and increasing population density with a declining soil fertility status imposing pressure on the available land, which in turn results in encroaching into the national forests. This study documents the soil fertility constraints along the slopes of Mt. Elgon and explores its corresponding gradients in plant nutritional status. This research links the topography of Mt. Elgon to the prevailing soil types and their current fertility status. It reveals important relations and gradients between soil fertility parameters and its corresponding environment along the slope. Soil pH, soil available P and exchangeable K, Ca and Mg are significantly decreasing with elevation. Thereby, gradients and constraints in macro- and micro-nutrient uptake by coffee and banana are revealed along the toposequence and different altitude-specific nutrient limitations are determined for both crops. K, Mn and Si uptake in both crops is decreasing with elevation along the slope, while the Mo and Ni uptake in both crops is increasing. With increasing elevation, B uptake is only decreasing in coffee and P uptake is only decreasing in banana. In addition, the antagonistic interaction between K and Mg limits the Mg uptake of both crops in the lower areas, while in the high region the Mg uptake is simply limited by low soil availability. It follows that a general fertilizer recommendation cannot be made in these regions and that the soil fertility problems along these slopes should be specifically addressed and appropriately managed according to the local requirements

Towards gender responsive policy formulation and budgeting in the agricultural sector: Opportunities and challenges in Uganda

Achieving economic growth while reducing poverty in an equitable manner demands that governments in Sub-Saharan Africa commit actions and resources to address gender inequalities, even more so under a changing climate which is expected to widen social inequalities (Dankelman, 2012). Internationally, the UN asserts that achieving gender equality, development and peace must be supported by explicit budgetary allocation to targeted activities to ensure gender equality at all scales (OSAGI, 2001). Over the past two decades, Uganda has advanced gender equality and empowerment of women. Uganda’s commitment to promote gender equality and equity was confirmed by enacting the National Gender Policy (1997, revised in 2007). Other components of the political and legal efforts to tackle gender inequality include (i) the 1995 Constitution of Uganda in articles 32 (3 & 4); (ii) the Equal Opportunities Act (2007); (iii) the Public Finance Management Act (2015); and (iv) the National Development Plan II (2015/16-2019/20). However, despite all these initiatives, effective gender mainstreaming as a strategy for addressing gender inequalities remains a big challenge, as manifested by Uganda’s Gender Inequality Index of 0.538, ranking 122 out of 155 countries in the 2014 index (UNDP, 2015)

Coffee-Banana Intercropping: Implementation guidance for policymakers and investors

Coffee-Banana Intercropping (VBI) addresses all 3 pillars of CSA in a multifaceted way. CBI in both Arabica nad Robusta generates 50% more revenue then either coffee or banana monocrop. Farmers' risk is reduced by practising CBI, making them more resilient to climate change impacts. Transformational changes are needed in the attitude towards CBI, to support scaling up of the practice