Courting the rain: Rethinking seasonality and adaptation to recurrent drought in semi-arid southern Africa

Milgroom, Jessica; Giller, Ken E.

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2013.03.002

Cited by 67 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, anticipated shifts towards small grains (millet, sorghum) at the expense of the more climate-sensitive maize are not yet witnessed. On the contrary, maize continues to expand into dry areas (Milgroom and Giller 2013;Traoré et al 2014). Biome shifts associated with climate change (Gonzalez et al 2010) are likely to affect grasslands and rangelands across Africa.…”

Section: Effects On Mixed Farming Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in smallholder crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a call for integrated impact assessments

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

African mixed crop-livestock systems are vulnerable to climate change and need to adapt in order to improve productivity and sustain people's livelihoods. These smallholder systems are characterized by high greenhouse gas emission rates, but could play a role in their mitigation. Although the impact of climate change is projected to be large, many uncertainties persist, in particular with respect to impacts on livestock and grazing components, whole-farm dynamics and heterogeneous farm populations. We summarize the current understanding on impacts and vulnerability and highlight key knowledge gaps for the separate system components and the mixed farming systems as a whole. Numerous adaptation and mitigation options exist for crop-livestock systems. We provide an overview by distinguishing risk management, diversification and sustainable intensification strategies, and by focusing on the contribution to the three pillars of climate-smart agriculture. Despite the potential solutions, smallholders face major constraints at various scales, including small farm sizes, the lack of response to the proposed measures and the multi-functionality of the livestock herd. Major institutional barriers include poor access to markets and relevant knowledge, land tenure insecurity and the common property status of most grazing resources. These limit the adoption potential and hence the potential impact on resilience and mitigation. In order to effectively inform decision-making, we therefore call for integrated, system-oriented impact assessments and a realistic consideration of the adoption constraints in smallholder systems. Building on agricultural system model development, integrated impact assessments and scenario analyses can inform the co-design and implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies.F

show abstract

Section: Effects On Mixed Farming Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in smallholder crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a call for integrated impact assessments

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The focus of household-level food security research is to study the strategies used by people to achieve food security, whether it be migration (Karamba et al 2011), income diversification (Babatunde and Qaim 2010), or the use of technology (Burney and Naylor 2012), for example. Food security can be seen as one dimension of a broader livelihood strategy (Maxwell and Smith 1992).…”

Section: Food Security and Livelihoodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change, food security, and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Multiple biophysical, political, and socioeconomic stresses interact to increase the region's susceptibility and constrain its adaptive capacity. Climate change is commonly recognized as a major issue likely to have negative consequences on food security and livelihoods in the region. This paper reviews three bodies of scholarship that have evolved somewhat separately, yet are inherently interconnected: climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, food security, and sustainable livelihoods. The paper develops a conceptualization of the relationships among the three themes and shows how food security's vulnerabilities are related to multiple stresses and adaptive capacities, reflecting access to assets. Food security represents one of several livelihood outcomes. The framework shows how several research paradigms relate to the issue of food security and climate change and provides a guide for empirical investigations. Recognizing these interconnections can help in the development of more effective policies and programs. The framework is applied here to synthesize findings from an array of studies in subSaharan Africa dealing with vulnerability to climate change, food security, and livelihoods.

show abstract

“…In addition to the immediate compromised wellbeing that results from experiencing hunger, short-term coping mechanisms can reasonably be imagined to have negative longer-term health, labour productivity and financial consequences that compound and perpetuate seasonal hunger. Many authors find that seasonal hunger is associated with limiting caloric intake and worsening nutritional outcomes (Christian & Dillon, 2016; Devereux, 2009; Devereux et al, 2008; Hillbruner & Egan, 2008; Longhurst & Payne, 1979; Messer, 1989; Milgroom & Giller, 2013; Sassi, 2015; Vaitla et al, 2009) – with impacts on health and labour productivity (Chambers et al, 1981; Hadley & Patil, 2008). There is evidence of households coping with hunger by eroding assets and incurring debt, increasing financial vulnerability (Ellis & Manda, 2012; Harrigan, 2008; Maxwell, 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relating Seasonal Hunger and Prevention and Coping Strategies: A Panel Analysis of Malawian Farm Households

Anderson

Reynolds

Merfeld

et al. 2017

The Journal of Development Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Relative to chronic hunger, seasonal hunger in rural and urban areas of Africa is poorly understood. This paper examines the extent and potential correlates of seasonal hunger in Malawi using panel data from 2011–2013. We find that both urban and rural households report seasonal hunger in the pre-harvest months. Certain strategies to smooth consumption, including crop storage and livestock ownership, are associated with fewer months of hunger. In addition, we find that Malawian households that experience seasonal hunger harvest their crops earlier than average – a short-term coping mechanism that can reduce the crop’s yield and nutritional value, possibly perpetuating hunger.

show abstract

Courting the rain: Rethinking seasonality and adaptation to recurrent drought in semi-arid southern Africa

Cited by 67 publications

References 55 publications

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in smallholder crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a call for integrated impact assessments

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in smallholder crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a call for integrated impact assessments

Climate change, food security, and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

Relating Seasonal Hunger and Prevention and Coping Strategies: A Panel Analysis of Malawian Farm Households

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About