TITLE:
Climate Smart Agriculture: Achievements and Prospects in Africa
AUTHORS:
Adornis D. Nciizah, Isaiah I. C. Wakindiki
KEYWORDS:
Adaptation, Mitigation, Recovery, Soil Health, Soil Management
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.3 No.6,
August
25,
2015
ABSTRACT: Smallholder agriculture is facing a myriad
of challenges in the wake of a changing climate. To counter this, several
measures have been suggested in attempts to reduce the vulnerability of
smallholder farmers who are the worst affected by changes in climate. However,
despite these interventions not much improvement in agricultural production has
been realized by the smallholder farmers. This suggests the need for more
alternative options for these resource poor farmers. One such intervention is
climate smart agriculture (CSA), which is probably one of the most viable and
sustainable options. It offers both mitigation and adaptation measures to
climate changes. However, problems of its viability and sustainability have
been raised by several authors who argue that there are barriers, limits and
costs, which may hinder its adoption by farmers. This review discusses the
achievements attained so far in improving the productivity of smallholder
agricultural soils under changing climatic conditions. The review also looks at
the prospect of CSA with regards to South African smallholder agriculture.