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Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | Micro-level practices to adapt to climate change for African small-scale farmers |
| Subtitle | A review of selected literature |
| Author |
Below, Till Artner, Astrid Siebert, Rosemarie Sieber, Stefan |
| Year | 2010 |
| Abstract | This paper discusses micro-level practices for adapting to climate change that are available to small-scale farmers in Africa. The analysis is based on a review of 17 studies about practices that boost small-scale farmers’ resilience or reduce their vulnerability to observed or expected changes in climate; it includes data from more than 16 countries in Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The review shows that African smallholders are already using a wide variety of creative practices to deal with climate risks; these can be further adjusted to the challenge of climate change by planned adaptation programs. We found 104 different practices relevant to climate change adaptation and organized them in five categories: farm management and technology; farm financial management; diversification on and beyond the farm; government interventions in infrastructure, health, and risk reduction; and knowledge management, networks, and governance. We conclude that adaptation policies should complement farmers’ autonomous response to climate change through the development of new drought-resistant varieties and improved weather forecasts, the provision of financial services, improvement of rural transportation infrastructure, investments in public healthcare and public welfare programs, and policies that improve local governance and coordinate donor activities. |
| Series Name | IFPRI Discussion Paper |
| Series Number | 953 |
| Publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) |
| Place of publication | Washington, D.C. |
| Language | English |
| Record Type | Discussion paper |
| Peer Reviewed - PR or Non-PR | Non-PR |
| Subject - country location |
AFRICA AMERICAS ASIA EUROPE |
| Subject - keywords |
Climate change adaptation practices content analysis Small-scale farmers climate risks Farm management diversification risk reduction government interventions public welfare programs Agricultural growth Agricultural technology |
| IFPRI Descriptors |
IFPRI1 GRP38 |
| IFPRI Division | EPTD |
| Access Rights | Open Access |
| Display Notes | Effective January 2007, the Discussion Paper series within each division and the Director General’s Office of IFPRI were merged into one IFPRI–wide Discussion Paper series. The new series begins with number 00689, reflecting the prior publication of 688 discussion papers within the dispersed series. The earlier series are available on IFPRI’s website at http://www.ifpri.org/category/publication-type/discussion-papers. |
| LOC call number | IFPRIDP00953 |
| Physical description | 20 pages |
| IFPRI Web link | http://www.ifpri.org/publication/micro-level-practices-adapt-climate-change-african-small-scale-farmers |
| Times cited-- Google Scholar | http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=1943211758274397918&as_sdt=20005&sciodt=0,9&hl=en |
| RePEc Downloads | https://ideas.repec.org/p/fpr/ifprid/953.html |
| Requests | mailto:ifpri-library@cgiar.org |
| CONTENTdm file name | 185.cpd |
| Date cataloged | 2017-01-06 |
| Date modified | 2017-01-06 |
| OCLC number | 778453198 |
| CONTENTdm number | 184 |
Description
| Title | ifpridp00953 14 |
| Abstract | 8 be developed to support decisions in such problem areas as crop production and livestock breeding. These tailored forecasts may range from adding temperature to a rainfall prediction to identifying management options as a result of basic above-normal, near-normal, or below-normal precipitation forecasts. Finally, predictions of intraseasonal rainfall distribution should be made available to farmers (Archer et al. 2007). Adoption of New Technologies Although Boko et al. (2007) and several other authors highlight the critical importance of new technologies for adaptation to climate change, other authors express doubts about the extent to which farmers will adopt new technologies for this purpose. Because adoption is an often neglected, though fundamental, precondition for technological advancement, we will discuss some major adoption-related barriers in adaptation to climate change. McLeman et al. found from their retroactive analysis of adaptations to drought in rural eastern Oklahoma in the 1930s that farmers adopted no new technologies during the drought years. The study found that the main reasons for this were lack of money for investment in new technologies and high tenancy rates. Farmers in Oklahoma had already suffered economic difficulties before the drought and thus had no money to invest in new technologies. For historical reasons many farmers did’ not own the land they worked and thus had few incentives to improve its fertility by, for example, terracing sloping fields (McLeman et al. 2008). In contrast Kato et al. (2009) suggest that farmers’ desire to minimize production risks strongly influences their adoption of new technologies. In their analysis of soil- and water-conserving technologies in rural Ethiopia, Kato et al. (2009) found that farmers will reject even low-cost interventions if these do not minimize production risk. Another explanation for farmers’ limited adoption of technical options to adapt to climate change begins with their willingness and ability to accept new practices (Siebert, Toogood, and Knierim 2006). Farmers’ willingness depends on their economic interests, social and ecological values and norms, awareness of the problem, and self-perception. A farmer’s ability comprises all the objectively verifiable factors that influence his or her decision, including the type and organization of the farm, farm economics, tenure, and farm size, as well as the biogeographical conditions of the farmland and its surroundings. Furthermore, it includes specific characteristics of the farmer, that is, the farmer’s age, education, and experience (Siebert, Toogood, and Knierim 2006). In the next section we use the concepts of willingness and ability to illustrate the nonadoption of weather forecasts by small-scale farmers in Africa. Willingness to Accept Weather Forecasts Roncoli and colleagues (Roncoli, Ingram, and Kirshen 2002; Roncoli et al. 2004, 2005) studied farmers’ understanding of seasonal rainfall forecasts in Burkina Faso. They found that farmers think of rainfall as a process rather than in terms of a quantity, as scientists do. Thus, Roncoli and colleagues argue, farmers will not accept forecasts, unless they are adjusted to their understandings. Patt and Gwata (2002) confirm these findings. A study in Zimbabwe (Grothmann and Patt 2005) revealed that farmers’ acceptance of seasonal climate forecasts increased when they were provided as part of local indigenous climate forecasts. Farmers are more likely to adopt external climate forecasts when they can see them in the context of existing practices. A fundamental factor in farmers’ willingness to take up climate forecasts is their appraisal of risk (O’Brien and Vogel 2003). Grothmann and Patt (2005) saw risk appraisal as well as farmers’ self-perception as decisive factors in acceptance. On a conceptual level Grothmann and Patt developed the sociocognitive Model of Private Proactive Adaptation to Climate Change in order to address psychological factors that keep farmers from adapting to climate change. The Grothmann-Patt model is based on protection motivation theory, which Rogers (1983) developed in the context of health threats. Both models focus on two major perceptual processes. In appraising risk a person assesses the probability that the worst will come to pass and the damage potential to things the person values. In appraising |
| Access Rights | Open Access |
| Requests | mailto:ifpri-library@cgiar.org |
| CONTENTdm file name | 170.pdfpage |
| Date cataloged | 2015-03-06 |
| Date modified | 2015-03-06 |
| CONTENTdm number | 169 |
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