Risk and abandonment and the meta-narrative of climate change

The Drivers of Maize Area Expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa. How Policies to Boost Maize Production Overlook the Interests of Smallholder Farmers

“…Research has shown that farmers who diversify their crops are more resilient to climate change and better maintain soil fertility, for example in Ethiopia [35], where land use for maize more than doubled in the past decades [36]. Dan Taylor [37] studied the consequences of maize replacing resilient farming systems based on drought-resistant sorghum and millet in Southern Africa, which demonstrates the complex effects of maize substituting traditional crops. The author shows that a shift towards the cultivation of maize also means the abandonment of an agricultural and social system that was organized around the cultivation of sorghum, which must be protected from birds at key moments.…”

“…The author shows that a shift towards the cultivation of maize also means the abandonment of an agricultural and social system that was organized around the cultivation of sorghum, which must be protected from birds at key moments. Furthermore, cultivating maize and abandoning the traditional agricultural system may also mean 'de-agrarianization' and commodification [37] (p. 63). Second, cropland is often at the expense of forestland.…”

Toward Sustainable Agriculture: An Evaluation of Compost and Inorganic Fertilizer on Soil Nutrient Status and Productivity of Three Maize Varieties Across Multiple Sites in Malawi

“…Developing and using maize cultivars that are capable of performing under stress conditions, such as drought and low N, could be one Downloaded by [University of Chicago Library] at 06:26 20 November 2014 plausible way of increasing productivity and food security at the household level in Malawi. The need, however, is to focus plant breeding on resilience and system stability, thus, reducing risk, rather than yield has been suggested as one way forward (Jones and Thornton 2003;Ingram et al 2008) and to consider the introduction or reintroduction of other varieties (Taylor 2012).…”

“…This suggests a range of options based on empirical evidence rather than a narrow range of options based on short-term political objectives (Taylor 2012).…”

“…The need to diversify farming practices to incorporate other varieties of crops-grains, legumes, and tubers-and livestock is likely to form an essential part of this process, not only to reduce risk of crop failure but to make optimal use of different plant growth characteristics (Taylor 2012), as well as for compost production. Climate change predictions (Jones and Thornton 2003) make the current strategy tenuous and the need for an environmentally sustainable solution is increasingly important (International Assessment of Agriculture Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development 2009).…”