The study focuses on economic and food security implications of projected climate change on Malian agriculture sector. Climate change projections made by two global circulation models are considered. The analysis focuses on the effects on crops, forages, and livestock and the resultant effects on sectoral economics and risk of hunger in Mali. Results show that under climate change, crop yield changes are in the range of minus 17% to plus 6% at national level. Simultaneously, forage yields fall by 5 to 36% and livestock animal weights are reduced by 14 to 16%. The resultant economic losses range between 70 to $142 million, with producers gaining, but consumers losing. The percentage of population found to be at risk of hunger rises from a current estimate of 34% to an after climate change level of 64% to 72%. A number of policy and land management strategies can be employed to mitigate the effects of climate change. In particular, we investigate the development of heat resistant cultivars, the adoption of existing improved cultivars, migration of cropping pattern, and expansion of cropland finding that they effectively reduce climate change impacts lowering the risk of hunger to as low as 28%.

The productivity of ecosystems and their capacity to support life depends on access to reactive nitrogen (N). Over the past century, humans have more than doubled the global supply of reactive N through industrial and agricultural activities. However, long-term records demonstrate that N availability is declining in many regions of the world. Reactive N inputs are not evenly distributed, and global changes—including elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels and rising temperatures—are affecting ecosystem N supply relative to demand. Declining N availability is constraining primary productivity, contributing to lower leaf N concentrations, and reducing the quality of herbivore diets in many ecosystems. We outline the current state of knowledge about declining N availability and propose actions aimed at characterizing and responding to this emerging challenge.

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Grazing strategies, consisting of grazing systems and stocking rate adjustments, have evolved from the need to sustain efficient use of the forage resources by livestock, increase animal performance and sustain forage production. A 3-year study was conducted with Tibetan sheep on the Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China to compare: (1) two grazing systems [season-long continuous (SLC; July to December) versus short duration with seasonal rotation (SDSR; July to September in growing-season pasture and October to December in cold-season pasture) with a stocking rate of 24 sheep months ha–1(SM ha–1)]; (2) SDSR system with 24, 36 and 48 SM ha–1; and (3) seasonal aspects of stocking rate under the SDSR system by comparing strategies of heavy stocking rate in the growing season and light stocking rate in the cold season (SDSR-HL) versus light stocking rate in the growing season and heavy stocking rate in the cold season (SDSR-LH). No differences were found between grazing systems in liveweight gain per head or per ha and in residual herbage mass. Liveweight gain per head for treatment SDSR24 was greater than for treatments SDSR36 and SDRS48, whereas liveweight gain per ha showed the opposite tendency. No differences were found between the SDSR-HL and SDSR-LH treatments in liveweight gain per head or per ha, whereas the ratio of residual herbage mass at the end of grazing the growing-season pasture to the cold pasture of treatment SDSR-LH was more than twice that of treatment SDSR-HL. Daily liveweight gain of Tibetan sheep decreased linearly with increasing grazing pressure in both growing and cold seasons. It was estimated that, at a grazing pressure index of 310 sheep days t–1 DM peak herbage mass, liveweight gain per head and ha appears to be optimised over the whole grazing period. Liveweight loss by Tibetan sheep during the cold season was apparent regardless of grazing pressure indicating that temperature had a stronger influence on sheep performance in the cold season than herbage availability.