Smallholder Farming Communities Research Articles

Linkage mapping and genomic prediction of grain quality traits in tropical maize (Zea mays L.).

The suboptimal productivity of maize systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a pressing issue, with far-reaching implications for food security, nutrition, and livelihood sustainability within the affected smallholder farming communities. Dissecting the genetic basis of grain protein, starch and oil content can increase our understanding of the governing genetic systems, improve the efficacy of future breeding schemes and optimize the end-use quality of tropical maize. Here, four bi-parental maize populations were evaluated in field trials in Kenya and genotyped with mid-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Genotypic (G), environmental (E) and G×E variations were found to be significant for all grain quality traits. Broad sense heritabilities exhibited substantial variation (0.18-0.68). Linkage mapping identified multiple quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for the studied grain quality traits: 13, 7, 33, 8 and 2 QTLs for oil content, protein content, starch content, grain texture and kernel weight, respectively. The co-localization of QTLs identified in our research suggests the presence of shared genetic factors or pleiotropic effects, implying that specific genomic regions influence the expression of multiple grain quality traits simultaneously. Genomic prediction accuracies were moderate to high for the studied traits. Our findings highlight the polygenic nature of grain quality traits and demonstrate the potential of genomic selection to enhance genetic gains in maize breeding. Furthermore, the identified genomic regions and single nucleotide polymorphism markers can serve as the groundwork for investigating candidate genes that regulate grain quality traits in tropical maize. This, in turn, can facilitate the implementation of marker-assisted selection (MAS) in breeding programs focused on improving grain nutrient levels.

Hub‐and‐spoke social networks among Indonesian cocoa farmers homogenise farming practices

Abstract Smallholder farms support the livelihoods of 2.5 billion people and their decisions on how to manage their land has profound consequences for the environment and the food security of billions of people. However, farmers' values, norms and resulting management practices are usually not formed in isolation. Triangulating multiple analytical, modelling and simulation methods, we investigated if and how social influence exerted through peer‐to‐peer information exchange affect soil nutrition management among 2734 Indonesian smallholder cocoa farmers across 30 different villages. The results show that the relational structures of these village‐based social networks strongly relate to farmers' use of fertiliser. In villages with highly centralised networks (i.e. hub‐and‐spoke networks where one or very few farmers holds disproportionately central position in the village network), a large majority of farmers report the same fertiliser use, and that practice is typically to avoid using fertilisers. By contrast, in less centralised networks, fertiliser use varies widely. The observed community‐level distributions of fertiliser use can be most closely reproduced through simulations by complex contagion mechanisms in which social influence is only exerted by opinion leaders that are much more socially connected than others. However, even such leaders' abilities to influence others to change fertiliser use may be limited in practice. The combination of our quantitative and qualitative findings provides significant policy implications for development programs targeting smallholder farming communities. An important practical lesson is that common interventions which primarily engage socially central farmers may not be effective in stimulating desired transitions in social‐ecological systems. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Botanical biopesticides have an influence on tomato quality through pest control and are cost-effective for farmers in developing countries.

Synthetic insecticides heavily applied to manage agricultural pests are highly hazardous to the environment and non-target organisms. Their overuse through repeated treatments in smallholder farming communities is frequent. Botanical biopesticides are ideal for sustainable pest management in agricultural environments by keeping synthetic insecticide use at a minimum. Here we evaluated a locally prepared neem seed extract (NSE) alongside emamectin benzoate against both lepidopteran pests Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) and Spodoptera exigua (Hübner) on tomato Lycopersicon esculentum Mill under natural field conditions in Pakistan. We compared pest severity, fruit injury, quality, marketability, and cost:benefit ratio (CBR) between treatments. The concentration of azadirachtin A in the NSE was 26.5 ppm. NSE at 2% (20 mL/L) and the emamectin benzoate at the recommended field rate in Pakistan were sprayed weekly throughout the fruiting stage. The pest larvae were significantly more abundant on fruits than on flowers and leaves. Fruit injury and losses were significantly more important in untreated control compared to NSE and emamectin benzoate treatments. NSE efficacy varied with respect to the cultivars used and the seasons. Cultivar Eden harboured more pests than Adventa, and emamectin benzoate suppressed more pest individuals than NSE. Both the insecticidal treatments were comparable in terms of marketable yield productions as well as unmarketable, uninjured, and recovered fruit yields. NSE generated a higher CBR (1: 9.26) than emamectin benzoate (1: 3.23). NSE suppressed pests by acting as an antifeedant, similar to its synthetic counterpart. Smallholder growers can thus use NSE as a cost-effective solution in tomato pest management in Pakistan.

Medicinal plants of the upper Aswa River catchment of northern Uganda - a cultural crossroads

BackgroundThis paper presents a comparative inventory of medicinal plant taxa and their uses by smallholder farming communities of four cultures in the Aswa River catchment of northern Uganda, situated in the eastern Sudanian savanna parkland ecotype of sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of the study was to document the ethnobotanical use of medicinal plants by the Lango, Acholi, Teso (Atesot) and Ethur (jo Abwor), in an historical moment before civil conflict and mass displacement of the respondent communities disrupted the inter-generational transmission of traditional technical knowledge within the study area.MethodsFollowing community consultations in four districts of northern Uganda during 1999–2000, interviews were conducted with holders of specialist knowledge on plants used as medicine on basis of a plant specimen allocated a voucher number and identified by the national herbarium. Use reports reflecting specific medicinal applications were compiled in aggregate to obtain a Relative Importance Index ranking. The commonality of medicinal taxa cited between each cultural interface was assessed by the Jaccard Index of Similarity, and the similarity of specific medicinal usage by taxon using Rahman’s Similarity Index.ResultsThe data collected from 112 respondents comprise 280 medicinal use reports describing 263 applications for 62 medical conditions, citing 108 taxa from 44 botanical families of which Fabaceae comprised 20% of all use reports. No earlier mention could be found to corroborate 72 use reports (27% of the total), representing medicinal indications as yet undocumented, and potentially worthy of investigation. The RI values ranged between 15 and 94%, with 13 taxa having RI values above 50%. The JI ratios indicate the highest degree of similarity in the plant taxa used as medicine (21%) between the Lango and Teso cultures who share a common origin; however, Rahman’s Similarity Index indicates the highest similarity of specific medicinal usage by taxon between the Lango and Acholi, who share a common language group through cultural assimilation over time. ConclusionsAs a comparative study, the results imply that cultural exchange and assimilation may be a greater driver of inter-cultural similarity of ethnopharmacological use of a given taxon, as compared to shared historical origins.

Design and Implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) Platform Targeted for Smallholder Farmers: From Nepal Perspective

Nepal, a lower-middle-income country in South Asia, predominantly features smallholder farming communities operating on modest land holdings. These smallholders often adhere to traditional farming methods, relying on familial labor, which has become increasingly inefficient in contemporary agricultural landscapes. To enhance their productivity and efficiency, smallholder farmers require affordable and accessible Internet of Things (IoT)-based systems. However, the prevailing IoT solutions in the market primarily cater to large-scale commercial enterprises, rendering them unsuitable for the specific needs and constraints faced by smallholder farmers. In response to this gap, we have introduced a cost-effective, customizable, scalable, and dependable IoT platform tailored expressly for smallholder farmers. This platform empowers them to visualize, monitor, and control real-time data pertaining to their crops, livestock, and other agricultural assets. To ascertain the efficacy and suitability of our proposed platform, we conducted a comparative analysis with existing counterparts such as Blynk IoT and ThingSpeak IoT, evaluating their respective features and application services against standard requirements. Additionally, we subjected our platform to rigorous server load testing, assessing crucial performance parameters including throughput, response time, user capacity, and data sampling rates. Over an observation period spanning an average of 339 days, our platform successfully processed and stored a substantial volume of data, encompassing 817,633 sensor messages, averaging 2412 messages per day, with a cumulative storage size of 14,238.28 KB. Extrapolating from these results, it is noteworthy that an A0 instance with 20 GB of cloud space can adequately accommodate 200 users at a rate of 100 MB per user, which is adequate for the smallholder needs. Furthermore, the purposed platform was deployed inside a polyhouse to perform off-season grafting of citrus plants. The achieved success rate of 84% closely approached the success rate of 90–95% observed during on-season grafting. These empirical findings, coupled with the extensive data gathered during our research, underscore the reliability and performance of our proposed IoT platform for smallholder farmers.

Text mining of veterinary forums for epidemiological surveillance supplementation

Web scraping and text mining are popular computer science methods deployed by public health researchers to augment traditional epidemiological surveillance. However, within veterinary disease surveillance, such techniques are still in the early stages of development and have not yet been fully utilised. This study presents an exploration into the utility of incorporating internet-based data to better understand smallholder farming communities within the UK, by using online text extraction and the subsequent mining of this data. Web scraping of the livestock fora was conducted, with text mining and topic modelling of data in search of common themes, words, and topics found within the text, in addition to temporal analysis through anomaly detection. Results revealed that some of the key areas in pig forum discussions included identification, age management, containment, and breeding and weaning practices. In discussions about poultry farming, a preference for free-range practices was expressed, along with a focus on feeding practices and addressing red mite infestations. Temporal topic modelling revealed an increase in conversations around pig containment and care, as well as poultry equipment maintenance. Moreover, anomaly detection was discovered to be particularly effective for tracking unusual spikes in forum activity, which may suggest new concerns or trends. Internet data can be a very effective tool in aiding traditional veterinary surveillance methods, but the requirement for human validation of said data is crucial. This opens avenues of research via the incorporation of other dynamic social media data, namely Twitter, in addition to location analysis to highlight spatial patterns.

Influence of the parent rock nature on the mineralogical and geochemical composition of ferralsols used for sedentary agriculture in the Paleoproterozoic Franceville sub-basin (Gabon)

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of parent rock nature on the mineralogical and geochemical properties of ferralsols used by sedentary subsistence farmers in the Proterozoic Franceville subbasin of Gabon. Thus, soils developed from cherts, black shales and sandstones were investigated for their mineralogical composition and their heavy metal contamination of topsoil using the X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results show that the dominant mineralogical assemblage is made of quartz, illite, kaolinite and smectite, and this is reflected in the major-element chemistry which include essentially SiO2 (46.4 - 89.2%), Al2O3 (4.3 - 19.8%) followed by Fe2O3 (0.7 - 15.3%), with highest amounts of SiO2 and lowest amounts of Al2O3 and Fe2O3 found in soils developed from sandstone. The geochemical data revealed some doleritic intrusions through the chert formations with highest values of Fe2O3 and TiO2 in the overlying soils. Results indicated serious health concern associated with a geogenic source of As, Ba, Cd, Cu, La, Pb, Rb, Th and U in soils developed from cherts and black shales. Consequently, only the uncontaminated soils developed from sandstone could be appropriate for smallholder farming communities.

Does climate information source matter in smallholder farmers' climate resilience? Comparative insights from Malawi and Ghana

Due to increasing climate variability and change, the need for more accessible, timely, and reliable climate information has risen, particularly in African rain-fed smallholder farming communities. Yet, studies on the role of information sources in climate resilience are limited. Given the plurality of climate information sources, it is uncertain which medium offers better chances to build resilience against the changing climate. To fill this gap, we employed quantitative survey data from smallholder agricultural households in the Mzimba District in Malawi (n = 1090) and the Upper West Region of Ghana (n = 1100). Our findings reveal that in Malawi, households whose primary source of climate information was the mass media (OR = 2.37; p ≤ 0.001) and external organizations (government, private sector, and nonprofit sector) (OR = 2.11; p ≤ 0.001) were over two times more likely to rate their resilience as good compared to those who relied primarily on self-experience. While in Ghana, interpersonal sources (other farmers, friends/relatives, special activities by the community) significantly increased a household's odds (OR = 3.46; p ≤ 0.001) of reporting good resilience, while external sources reduced farmers' likelihood of reporting climate resilience (OR = 0.06; p ≤ 0.001) compared to those who relied primarily on self-experience. Farmers in Malawi who practiced intercropping were also more likely to rate their resilience as good than those engaged in monocropping. The findings suggest that the relevance of information sources on climate change resilience is place-specific and that some sources may impede resilience-building if contextual factors are sidelined. This finding reaffirms the need for context-specific policies due to the heterogeneity of agrarian communities across Africa.

Unpacking the invisible complex realities: intersections of gender and marital status in determining the intrinsic vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change in Northwestern Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Studies in Ethiopia have shown how climate-induced impacts are experienced differently by male and female farmers, with women being generally more vulnerable. Yet, less is known about how vulnerability to climate-induced risks differs between men and women of different marital statuses Therefore, we applied an intersectionality framework to examine how the level of intrinsic vulnerability is mediated through gender and marital status. Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CAPCA) was used to construct a household heads’ intrinsic vulnerability index. Drawing on a systematic random sample of 1602 respondents and based on logistic regression analysis, the study shows that, while a man’s marital status is a less important factor in determining his level of vulnerability to climate change, it is a key factor in the case of women. Compared to other women, female divorcees and widows are highly likely to be vulnerable to climate change in northwestern parts of Ethiopia. Integrating information about marital relationships, especially the neglected widows and divorcees into the design of interventions may help to better target potential beneficiaries among smallholder farming communities. Our study makes a unique contribution to the intersectionality literature in understanding the diversified experiences of vulnerable rural communities which are susceptible to climate-induced shocks.

Soil suitability assessment for sustainable intensification of maize production in the humid Savannah of Ghana

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), food security is a significant challenge due to unreliable rainfall and depleting soil fertility. Most of the soil resource in the sub-region which constitutes majority of the fields of smallholder farmers is degraded. Hence, there is a need to identify suitable soils for sustainable intensification. The objectives of this study were to: (i) evaluate the suitability and fertility constraints of soils and (ii) discuss the influence of soil properties on maize production in the Nkoranza (north and south) district. A total of sixty (60) soil samples were sampled from smallholder farms under careful consideration of topography and the spatial pattern of land use systems. The evaluation of soil suitability was carried out using climate (temperature and rainfall) and physico-chemical characteristics of soils for maize (Zea mays) production. The results indicated that soil texture varied from sandy loam to sandy clay loam. Soil organic carbon concentration (SOC) ranged between 0.55 and 2.02%. Total nitrogen (TN) and SOC were low in all soil types except in the Bediesi series (Haplic Luvisol). Base cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+) were low and varied between soil types. Although climatic factors and physical properties were highly suitable (S1), more than half of the pedons were moderately suitable (S2). The soils functioned at a moderate capacity for maize production. The major limitations identified were sub-optimal and related to soil fertility (CEC). Pearson correlation revealed a relationship between parametric actual index (PAI) and parametric potential index (PPI; r = 0.940, p < 0.003) and between soil resilience index (SRI; r = 0.768, p < 0.037) and the relationship between these variables is a perfect correlation. Soil management is required to increase maize yield in the study area. Soil erosion prevention measures such as cover crops, mulching, organic manure (poultry), and mineral fertilizer application are recommended to improve soil fertility in the Nkoranza (north and south) district. This study can inform policies and interventions geared toward sustainable agricultural intensification. Land and soil are heterogeneous and any decision on intensification in this study accounted for the prevailing local conditions of the study area. Therefore, indexing soil suitability using climate (rainfall and temperature), physical land characteristics (topography, drainage) and chemical properties (pH, SOM, SOC, TN, Av. P, Av. K, etc.) of soil resources for sustainable intensification of maize is proposed for smallholder farming communities of Nkoranza (north and south) districts in the Forest-Savannah Transition Zone of Ghana.

Role of Indigenous and local knowledge in seasonal forecasts and climate adaptation: A case study of smallholder farmers in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe

Accessible, reliable and diverse sources of climate information are needed to inform climate change adaptation at all levels of society, particularly for vulnerable sectors such as smallholder farming. Globally, many smallholder farmers use Indigenous knowledge (IK) and local knowledge (LK) to forecast weather and climate; however, less is known about how the use of these forecasts connects to decisions and actions for reducing climate risks. We examined the role of IK and LK in seasonal forecasting and the broader climate adaptation decision-making of smallholder farmers in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe. The data were collected from a sample of 100 smallholder farmers. Seventy-three of the 100 interviewed farmers used IK and LK weather and climate forecasts, and 32% relied solely on IK and LK forecasts for climate adaptation decision-making. Observations of cuckoo birds, leaf-sprouting of Mopane trees, high summer temperatures, and Nimbus clouds are the main indicators used for IK and LK forecasts. The use of IK and LK climate forecasts was significantly positively associated with increasing farmer age and farmland size. Farmers using IK and LK forecasts implemented, on average, triple the number of adaptation measures compared with farmers not using IK and LK. These findings demonstrate the widespread reliance of farmers on IK and LK for seasonal forecasts, and the strong positive link between the use of IK and LK and the implementation of climate adaptation actions. This positive association between IK and LK usage and the implementation of adaptation actions may be widespread in smallholder farming communities throughout Africa and globally. Recognition and inclusion of IK and LK in climate services is important to ensure their continued potential for enhancing climate change adaptation.

Determinants of Performance in Smallholder Farmer Groups in Uganda

The performance of farmer groups is critical for the success of the farmer-led Agricultural Extension approach currently used in Uganda. This study examines factors affecting performance of farmer groups accessing agricultural extension and advisory services from the National Agricultural Advisory Services in Eastern Uganda. The study collected data 200 members of 19 farmer groups in Eastern Uganda. Performance of farmer groups was the dependent variable, which was perceived to be influenced by individual members’ objectives, participation culture, power distance, structure of task, perceived equity, reward allocation and participation in group activities. Farmer group performance had a statistically significant positive relationship with power distance and perceived equity. Group participation culture and structure of tasks had a statistically negative relationship with group performance. Members tended to deflect group losses to factors beyond the seasonality of group activities, quality of farm inputs, and poor training delivered by advisory service providers. The advisory service providers and farmer group members need to use the political and social capital possessed by the local leadership, groups and community members for enhancing support and collective participation of the community in farmer groups. Since farmer groups are a sub-set of wider community, this empirical study brings into perspective the role of community culture in influencing performance of farmer groups in smallholder farming communities.

Key Regional Problems of the Contract Farming in the Republic of Maldives

Abstract. Introduction. An agricultural sector in the Republic of Maldives mostly consists of smallholder farming communities which are highly restricted by low productivity and unavailability of natural resources. The AgroNAT contract farming was implemented to address this challenge but so far does not provide the expected results across the agricultural regions Purpose. This research study looked into assessing and explaining the resemblances and differences observed in the analyzed agricultural regions 1, 2, and 3 regarding categories of gender disparity and farming population age, access to land resources, markets, and finance. Results. Total of over 1200 farmers on 13 islands were interviewed to specify key influential factors of their farming activities. To check the study hypotheses, we utilized the Chi-square Test for Independence. It confirmed strong resemblances of regions 1 and 2 by gender disparity and farming population age in favor of male farm heads and farmers over 40 years old. In region 3 there are more females actively involved in the farming activities. The research findings also revealed that around 27% of the farming population in region 3 are the young aged below 40 who demonstrate essential interest in new agricultural technologies and are better educated in financial aspects. The research clarified that regions 1 and 2 are more affected by the indicators of `No arable land` and `Land tenure insecurity`. Whereas regions 2 and 3 appeared to be similar by the indicators of `Started farming` and `No arable land`. All the regions resemble by the access to finance and markets. However, the focus group discussion revealed that farmers in region 3 are more efficient in using financing opportunities provided by the government and private sectors. Whereas the logistic and transport options are more beneficial for regions 1 and 2 as their islands are closer to the capital city. Conclusions. The study identified the weak spots and advantages of each agricultural region and recommended ways on how to increase efficiency and effectiveness of their contract farming.

Strengthening climate adaptation in the northern region of Ghana: insights from a stakeholder analysis

ABSTRACT Climate change significantly impacts agriculture. Building an informed and collaborative process among stakeholders remains vital in minimizing climate risks and building climate-adaptive and resilient agricultural systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, stakeholders’ involvement and collaboration in agriculture decision-making are framed by institutional, power, and resource dynamics, often ignoring vulnerable stakeholders most susceptible to climate shocks. These collaborative dynamics are less studied in the climate adaptation literature, especially in the context of Ghana and SSA. This study promotes stakeholder engagement and collaboration in climate-adaptive and conservation agriculture (CA) by examining the influence of and relationship dynamics among key stakeholders in the northern region of Ghana (NRG). Drawing from the normative stakeholder theory and literature on climate adaptation intervention, we use multiple qualitative research methods (e.g. brainstorming, semi-structured interviews, and focus group sessions) to profile and explore stakeholders’ roles, interests, and collaboration in CA and adaptation interventions. Our findings suggest that collaborations in CA in these smallholder farming communities are often fragmented, providing few collaboration advantages to smallholder farmers. Where collaboration occurs, it is often characterized by redundancy or duplication of roles and functions performed by stakeholders, poor coordination among key government actors, or by conflictual relationships among non-governmental organizations (NGOs); relationships amongst stakeholders are often driven by conflicting interests and asymmetric power differentials. These findings suggest that measures to engage stakeholders must carefully consider aligning stakeholders’ interests and addressing power differentials, which are necessary to minimize conflicts in collaborative governance arrangements for adaptation and CA. Key policy insights Conservation agriculture (CA) creates resilient agricultural systems for enhanced food security and poverty alleviation. Stakeholder roles, interests, and collaborations should be identified to understand who should be included to establish a collaborative connection for adaptation planning. Policymakers should actively engage stakeholders, including smallholder farmers, in the design and implementation of climate adaptation planning and interventions. As the principal resource for adaptation planning and decision-making is the people themselves, engaging them will leverage their knowledge, experiences, and expertise for the design of effective adaptation policies and ensure effective implementation. Collaborative action involving stakeholders can promote effective action on climate change by fostering consensus and building local ability and expertise to collectively adopt adaptation measures.

COVID-19, climate shocks, and food security linkages: evidence and perceptions from smallholder farming communities in Tanzania

AbstractInsights on the indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are critical for designing and implementing policies to alleviate the food security burden it may have caused, and for bolstering rural communities against similar macroeconomic shocks in the future. Yet estimating the causal effects of the pandemic is difficult due to its ubiquitous nature and entanglement with other shocks. In this descriptive study, we combine high-resolution satellite imagery to control for plot-level rainfall with household socio-economic panel data from 2014, 2016, 2019 and 2020, to differentiate the effect of the pandemic from climatic shocks on food security in Morogoro, Tanzania. We find evidence of decreased incomes, increased prices of staple foods, and increased food insecurity in 2020 relative to previous years, and link these changes to the pandemic by asking households about their perceptions of COVID-19. Respondents overwhelmingly attribute economic hardships to the pandemic, with perceived impacts differing by asset level.

Greenhouse gas mitigation co-benefits across the global agricultural development programs

Global agricultural development programs aim to support smallholder farmers and farming communities by strengthening sustainable and resilient food production systems – which can also promote climate change mitigation as a co-benefit by reducing the emissions and enhancing removals of greenhouse gases (GHG). This study presents estimated GHG emissions reductions of almost 100 agricultural development projects over 51 low- and middle-income countries supported by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), USAID-Feed the Future (FTF) Initiative, and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO, previously DfID). Together, these projects promoted a net GHG emissions reduction of 6.5 MtCO2e per year. The forest management and promotion of improved agroforestry systems in the project areas contributed the most to the total mitigation co-benefits of the investment portfolios (∼3.9 MtCO2e/y). Improved crop management with minimum tillage practices, residue incorporation, water management in paddy rice, and the use of organic fertilizers also made a large contribution to the GHG emissions reduction (∼1.5 MtCO2e/y). Grass and pasture land management across the selected projects account for a net emission reduction of 0.2 MtCO2e/y. The implementation of improved agricultural practices in combination proves more effective for improving productivity and generating mitigation co-benefits than used in isolation. However, the aggregate impacts of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration should be interpreted carefully, which quickly can be lost quick. The interventions promoted by the global agricultural development programs have shown immense potential in reducing net GHG emissions or emission intensity in agriculture and allied sectors. For moving forward to achieve the net-zero and 1.5 °C goals including food security, the global agriculture development programs need to prioritize working on agriculture policy development and implementation so that agriculture expansion does not continue to drive land-use change. This needs to move from the traditional agriculture development programs to transformational changes.

Enhancing the Resilience and Adaptive Capacity of Smallholder Farmers to Drought in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

Climate change has caused substantial losses, especially to smallholder farmers whose main source of livelihood is derived from agriculture. Climate change impacts can be reduced by enhancing coping and adaptation strategies. This study explores the coping and adaptation strategies of smallholder farming communities in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. As part of the assessment and analysis of drought, multiple sources of data were consulted, including 200 households’ socio-economic information, focus group discussions, and interviews. Extreme drought events are increasing, impacting negatively on smallholder farmers’ livelihoods. Adaptations to changing weather patterns were observed in smallholder farmers through planting early-maturing plants and drought-tolerant crops, altering planting dates, crop diversification, and irrigating in addition to non-farming activities. There is a need to enhance these context-based adaptation strategies to reduce risks and vulnerability and increase household resilience. Several socioeconomic developments and significant ecological deterioration appear to limit opportunities for long-term adaptation to drought.

Identifying the Barriers and Opportunities in the Provision and Use of Weather and Climate Information for Flood Risk Preparedness: The Case of Katakwi District, Uganda

The provision of weather and climate information (WCI) can help the most at-risk communities cope and adapt to the impacts of extreme events. While significant progress has been made in ensuring improved availability of WCI, there remain obstacles that hinder the accessibility and use of this information for adaptation planning. Attention has now focused on the “usability gap” to ensure useful and usable WCI informs practise. Less attention has however been directed on barriers to the active production and use of WCI. In this study, we combine two frameworks through a bottom-up approach to present a more coordinated institutional response that would be required to ensure a better flow of information from information providers to users at community level and vice versa. The bottom-up approach was designed in form of Farmers Agri-Met Village Advisory Clinics (FAMVACs) and Listening Groups (LG) and was initiated by Uganda Meteorological Authority (UNMA) as a way of ensuring connections between the information providers, the disseminators, and the communities to specifically give voice to the communities to provide feedback on the use of WCI in coping with flood risks. This approach is used to identify the barriers and opportunities in the production/provision and use of WCI for flood risk preparedness for a case study in Eastern Uganda. First, a use-case is developed for Katakwi District where smallholder farming communities have recorded their coping practises and barriers to the use of WCI in practise. Second, online interviews with practitioners from disaster management institutions are used to identify barriers to the production and provision of WCI to local farming communities. Findings show that for providers, barriers such as accessibility and completeness of data hinder the production of useful WCI. In situations where useful information is available, technical language used in the format and timeliness in dissemination hinder usability by local farmers. Useful and usable WCI may not be acted on in practise due to factors such as costs or market availability e.g., lack of access to improved seeds. Further, the study highlights possible solutions to bridge the identified gaps and they include capacity building, fostering data collaborations across sectors, data translation to simple advisories, among others. The study also presents the FAMVACs approach which shows the importance of a more coordinated response with a shift of focus from the users of information only, to a more inclusive understanding of the data and information gaps across the wider provider-user landscapes. We argue that this would contribute to more effective disaster management at both the national and local levels.

The times are changing: understanding past, current and future resource use in rural Papua New Guinea using participatory photography

There is a need to include local people’s voices in research and planning processes to better understand what they see as opportunities and challenges for their future. This is necessary because of the intrinsic importance of public participation, and because it can help produce more useful and implementable adaptation plans. We apply participatory photography in a Papua New Guinean smallholder farming community to explore local perspectives on resource management, drivers of change and adaptive strategies. Twenty-four farmers of different clans, genders and ages took photos of items important to their livelihoods, focusing separately on the past, present and future. We discussed the photos and their meanings in individual and group interviews, encouraging farmers to lead the conversations. Results show that farmers are shifting from relying mainly on natural capitals to using financial, social and physical capitals, and that this causes changes in people’s well-being. Villagers see cash crop diseases, land shortages and lack of training as their main challenges. So far, people have adapted to changes by shifting to crop species that still yield well, and setting up small businesses and projects to have additional sources of income. Farmers see education as key to their future as it would allow for better land management and diversification of livelihoods. The participatory photography process provided triangulation of scientific studies, gave insights into farmers’ perceptions, and highlighted adaptive strategies and the complexities of realising them. Overall, the results can be used in future research and planning processes in Papua New Guinea.

Towards a United South African Agriculture: A Review of Social Networking Between Black Smallholder and White Commercial Farming Communities Through Farmer Organisations

This review study takes a first step towards understanding the extent of social cohesion in South Africa’s farming landscape to contribute to the scant literature in this area. A socially cohesive society is a society in which all forms of inequality, exclusion, and disparity based on ethnicity, race, gender, class, religion or any other divisive distinction that causes distrust and conflict are sustainably reduced with a view to eventual eradication. This ideal is examined through social networking among the different farming communities within South African agriculture. Farmer organisations are identified and reviewed through their websites and discussed together with other relevant literature, searched through traditional and snowball literature reviews. We found very little evidence to suggest that the social cohesion ideal has been achieved in South African agriculture. The implications of this are discussed in light of the transformation agenda of the agricultural sector through land reform.