Developing agriculture resilience in sub‐Saharan Africa

Abstract

Sub‐Saharan Africa saw crucial growth in agriculture in the 21st century. However, the current rate of development, largely based on land expansion, appears to be reaching the limit of growth, calling for more productive and sustainable practices. To address productivity, underlying factors are discussed and a path towards agriculture resilience is suggested. This study linked unproductive agriculture with poor resilience, which tends to be the cause of low and unstable crop yields. Potential measures from technical and social perspectives are explored for developing resilience in agriculture in this region. Inexpensive and easily accessible technologies are in urgent need to improve land resilience, while policies stressing risk mitigation and inequality reduction are key to develop farmers' resilience. A development framework towards agriculture resilience is elaborated, which is hopeful of leading to a more productive, sustainable, stable and equally beneficial agricultural system in Sub‐Saharan African countries.

Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability by Farming Households in North-Central Nigeria

“…The concept of resilience amongst agricultural households is important because it describes the interplay of different demographic, societal, infrastructural, governance, economic, ecological, and agronomic factors that can reduce the vulnerability of households to climate change and variability [29,30]. Several studies have examined individual factors such as access to commercial markets or credit facilities for investment that can increase farmers' income and therefore their resilience [31,32].…”