Presentation by Prof. Dr. Chinwe IFEJIKA SPERANZA. Presented during a pre - SBSTA meeting on CSA Alliance: Building Climate Change Resilience in Africa held on 30th May 2014 in Bonn, Germany http://ccafs.cgiar.org/csa-alliance-building-climate-change-resilience-africa#.U42GUihCCTs

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Ensuring Food Security and Building
Climate Resilience in Africa: the Role
of Climate-Smart Agriculture
Prof. Dr. Chinwe IFEJIKA SPERANZA
Department of Geography, University of Bonn /
United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security
CSA Alliance: Building Climate Change Resilience in Africa
Gunnewig Hotel Bristol, Bonn, Germany
Friday May 30, 2014

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Food Security and Africa
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/176894/icode/

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Key Messages on Food Security in Africa
 "Development efforts should support small holder
farmers and empower rural women“
Joint statements FAO, IFAD, WFP at the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on
African Development (TICAD V) in Yokohama;
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/176894/icode/
 Large-Scale Farming equally important

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Food insecurity—a recurring
challenge
 High prevalence of hunger & malnutrition - 28 of the 35
countries that need external food assistance are in Africa
 2012: Southern, East, Central and West Africa’s Global
Hunger Index (20.7) second only to Southern Asia’s
(22.5).
 Value of Africa’s food production ($174 per capita) below
the global average ($241 per capita)
 Value of Africa’s food production lowest worldwide.
http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/Millennium%20Developme
nt%20Goals%20(MDGs)%20Report%202013%20-%20Executive%20Summary.pdf p.8

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Africa’s Climatic Zones
Source: WMO/UNEP 2001

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Makindu
29-Aug
8-Sep
18-Sep
28-Sep
8-Okt
18-Okt
28-Okt
7-Nov
17-Nov
27-Nov
7-Dez
17-Dez
27-Dez
6-Jan
16-Jan
26-Jan
5-Feb
15-Feb
25-Feb
7-Mrz
17-Mrz
27-Mrz
6-Apr
16-Apr
26-Apr
6-Mai
16-Mai
26-Mai
5-Jun
15-Jun
25-Jun
5-Jul
15-Jul
25-Jul
4-Aug
14-Aug
24-Aug
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
SR-Onset, duration and cessation LR-Onset, duration and cessation
No onsets/failed onsets
Onset, duration and cessation of seasonal rains at Makindu (1961-2003)
Characteristic High Rainfall Variability
Short Rains Long Rains
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Climate change  additional spectrum of different climatic risks
Source: Rainfall data
Makindu 1961-2003,
Ifejika Speranza 2006

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Characteristic High Rainfall Variability
Water is a key issue

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8IPCC 2014 SPM: 8

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Adaptation and Mitigation in
Agriculture – a close Link
 Key issues:
 African agriculture exposed to climate change
impacts
 African agriculture holds potentials for mitigation
 Synergies: Many agricultural land management
strategies can simultaneously increase food
production and sequester carbon
 Trade-offs between mitigation and adaptation in
agriculture should be avoided

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Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA)
 Agriculture that sustainably increases
productivity, resilience (adaptation),
reduces/removes greenhouse gases (mitigation),
and enhances achievement of national food
security and development goals (FAO 2010).
 Agriculture has to address simultaneously three
intertwined challenges: ensuring food security
through increased productivity and income, adapting
to climate change and contributing to climate
change mitigation.

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Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA)
 Three main pillars:
1. sustainably increasing agricultural productivity
and incomes;
2. adapting and building resilience to climate
change;
3. reducing and/or removing greenhouse gases
emissions, where possible (FAO 2010)

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Climate-Smart
Agriculture
http://www.fao.org/climatechange/28968-0740493a283ed601591be6d925a3383bb.pdf

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CSA Example: Farmer Managed
Natural Regeneration in Niger
 Mid-1980s, development partners supported Niger’s
farmers in their long established practices of woodland
management.
 Innovation: to encourage expansion of the practice into
cropping areas, as well as protecting trees germinating
naturally, creating a whole-landscape management
approach (Haglund et al. 2011; CCAFS 2013).
Pictures by Ifejika Speranza 2012

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Pictures by Ifejika Speranza 2012
Pictures by Ifejika Speranza 2012
2008: ca. 200 million trees on 5 million hectares,
attributable to farming practices rather than to decadal
climatic trends (Hagelund et al 2011)

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CSA Example: Farmer Managed
Natural Regeneration in Niger
 Contributes to food security - improved fodder, reduce
loss of fertile topsoil & raises incomes.
 Aggregated value of farmer-managed natural
regeneration ca. US$56 ha-1 year-1, a net annual value:
US$280 million
 Benefits for about 2.5 million people
 Greenhouse gas mitigation benefits not yet measured
(Haglund et al. 2011; CCAFS 2013)

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Success factors & insights: Farmer
Managed Natural Regeneration in Niger
 Simplicity of the practices
 Adaptation to climatic variability - diversification of local
livelihoods – seasonal migration to Nigeria
 Government of Niger decision to transfer tenure rights
over trees from government to landholders
 Why is such innovation not occurring in Northern
Nigeria? What roles do tenure rights play in land
management in Northern Nigeria?
 What other factors are at play?

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Climate-Smart
Agriculture
http://www.fao.org/climatechange/28968-0740493a283ed601591be6d925a3383bb.pdf

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CSA Example: Participatory Forest
Management in Tanzania
 Late 1990s, Tanzanian government reformed forest
policies to promote community participation in forest
management as a way to protect natural forests against
degradation & enhance the benefits derived from
participatory forest management (PFM) for farming
communities near the forests.
 Forest Policy 1998 & Forest Act of 2002, provided a
legal basis for communities to own and manage
forest resources on village lands and within
government forest reserves. (Pfliegner 2010, CCAFS 2013)

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Conditions: Participatory Forest
Management in Tanzania
 PFM reduces deforestation & forest degradation since
agricultural expansion is the major driver of forest cover
loss.
 Enables livelihood diversification - building adaptive capacity
 2008: 1,800 villages with over 7,000 participating households
across 60 or more districts, - rehabilitation & preservation of
nearly 4.0 million hectares of forests.
 Agreements between the district councils & the local village
councils - co-management and a benefit sharing mechanisms
where the villages retain a portion of the monies from fees paid in
respect of the local bye-laws
 2011 - 2016, Tanzania plans to invest ca. 40 million dollars in
commercialization & enhancing the productivity of forests.
(Pfliegner 2010, CCAFS 2013)

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Lessons learnt from PFM
 Granting legal right a strong incentive to win
communities' commitment for sustainable forest
management.
 Context specific - PFM implementation has no blue
prints
 Livelihood diversification
 Key issues: - Inclusiveness of Forest Management
Institute & working with local institutions (Lemenih & Bekele
2008).

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Challenges to PFM in Tanzania &
Ethiopia
 Slow procedures, bureaucracy, & sometimes resistance for PFM by
government staff, particularly at the beginning
 Scepticism & shying away of locals from collaboration with outsiders
due to past bad experiences with government
 Lack of capacity in government for planning & implementing PFM
 Lack of commitment in institutionalization of PFM in the government
system
 Unclear legal status of local institutes
 High illiteracy & innumeracy among the locals delayed PFM
progress
 High staff turn over in some project areas
 Climatic anomalies in some areas
(Lemenih M. and Bekele M.
2008)

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Climate-Smart
Agriculture
http://www.fao.org/climatechange/28968-0740493a283ed601591be6d925a3383bb.pdf

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Biogas: A sustainable source of
energy and manure
 The Africa Biogas Partnership Programme (ABPP) - a
public-private partnership
 Biogas digesters convert animal dung & human waste to
combustible gas & bio-slurry.
 ABPP started in 2009 in six African countries – Senegal,
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia
 Aims - to improve the living conditions of rural
households – to introduce more than 70,000 domestic
biogas digesters by the end of 2013.
(Farmworth 2013)

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Biogas: A sustainable source of
energy and manure
 Energy used for cooking & lightning in rural households
 Biogas digesters can help to curb deforestation & reduce charcoal
production
 Saves time and reduces women’s workload
 More time for other activities & for income generating activities
(Farmworth 2013)http://africabiogas.org/

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Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project
 2010, the Kenya Agricultural Carbon (KAC) project became the first
soil carbon project in African to sign an Emissions Reduction
Purchase Agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank’s BioCarbon
Fund.
 Kisumu and Kitale districts of Western Kenya (Woelcke 2012).
 Implemented by Vi Agroforestry, a Swedish NGO
 Piloting the ‘Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Land Management’
(SALM) methodology under the Voluntary Carbon Standard
(Shames et al. 2012): improved crop, soil, and water management
practices as well as agroforestry innovations, restoration and
rehabilitation of degraded land, and improved livestock management
(Lager 2011).

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Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project
 Project donors: the Swedish foundation - Vi Planterar Träd, the
Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), & the World
Bank BioCarbon Fund as credit buyer (Shames et al. 2012).
 5,000 farmers in 800 farmer groups adopted the SALM methodology
(Lager 2011).

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Lessons: Kenya Agricultural Carbon
Project
 “Get the priorities right” – focus project design on smallholder
farmers’ interests; first come increased crop yields and food
security, then carbon sequestration.
 “Monitor transaction costs” – cost-effective and user-friendly
measurement, reporting, & verification.
 “Carefully select project developer” – strong extension systems,
innovativeness, interest to learn, & technical & financial capacity.
 “Technical assistance & capacity building are key to project
success” – providing smallholder farmers access to carbon
revenues requires special technical expertise.
 “Focus on areas with high agricultural potential” – carbon
sequestration potential is higher in areas with high biomass growth.
(Woelcke 2012)

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 “Because of the high level of uncertainty associated
with this method and the impermanence of greenhouse
gas (GHG) reductions [through soil carbon
sequestration], the project will discount 60% of the
carbon claimed to be sequestered …indeed, according
to our analysis of project cost and benefit estimates, the
carbon payments are negligible in the Kenya Project:
at most a little over $1 per farmer per year for 20 years.”
(Suppan & Sharma 2011)
 Though carbon payments are small, SALM
contributes to food security & increases resilience to
climatic risks.
Challenges: Kenya Agricultural Carbon
Project

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Climate-Smart
Agriculture
http://www.fao.org/climatechange/28968-0740493a283ed601591be6d925a3383bb.pdf

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Farmer Conservation Agriculture Practices
- Contributions to economic buffer capacity
3
Ifejika Speranza 2012
N=41

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Farmer Conservation Agriculture
Practices
- Contributions to social buffer capacity
3
Ifejika Speranza 2012
N=41

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Farmer Conservation Agriculture Practices
- Contributions to ecological buffer capacity
3
Ifejika Speranza 2012
N=41

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Kaczan et al 2013: 46

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Conclusions and Outlook
 Land-users already implement CSA practices
that build resilience & increase food security
 Adoption rates of many practices lower than
expected given the potential benefits and
resources spent on promotion – why?
 Need to measure greenhouse mitigation benefits
 Potentials for technology transfer
 Enabling institutional arrangements critical

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Thank you for your attention!
ifejika.speranza@uni-bonn.de

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References I
MDG Report 2013: Assessing progress in Africa toward the Millenium Development Goals. Food
Security in Africa.: Issues, challenges and lessons.
http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/MDG/english/MDG%20Regional%20Reports/Africa/MD
G%20report%202013%20summary_EN.pdf
Somma, A. 2008. The 10 percent that could change Africa. IFPRI. Forum, October. Washington, D.C.:
International Food Policy Research Institute. http://www.nepad-
caadp.net/pdf/CAADP_Forum_Reprint1.pdf
Benin, S., and Yu, B. 2013. Complying the Maputo Declaration Target: Trends in public agricultural
expenditures and implications for pursuit of optimal allocation of public agricultural spending.
ReSAKSS Annual Trends and Outlook Report 2012. International Food Policy Research Institute
(IFPRI). http://www.resakss.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/ReSAKSS_AW_ATOR_2012_FINAL.pdf
Haglund E., Ndjeunga J., Snook L., Pasternak D. 2011. Dry land tree management for improved
household livelihoods: Farmer managed natural regeneration in Niger. Journal of Environmental
Management. Volume 92, Issue 7, July 2011, Pages 1696–1705.
CCAFS (2013) Working Paper no. 50. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and
Food Security
Pfliegner, Kerstin (2010) The Impacts of Joint Forest Management on Forest Condition, Livelihoods
and Governance: Case studies from Morogoro Region in Tanzania. Doctoral thesis, University of East
Anglia.

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References II
Cooper, P. J.M., S. Cappiello, S. J. Vermeulen, B. M. Campbell, R. Zougmoré and J. Kinyangi. 2013. Large-scale implementation
of adaptation and mitigation actions in agriculture. CCAFS Working Paper no. 50. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change,
Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). Copenhagen, Denmark. Available online at: www.ccafs.cgiar.org
Lemenih M. and Bekele M. 2008. PARTICIPATORY FOREST MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICES, LESSON LEARNT AND
CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED. The Ethiopian and Tanzanian Experiences. FARM-Africa/SOS-Sahel.
http://theredddesk.org/sites/default/files/resources/pdf/PFM%20lessons%2C%20challenges%20and%20best%20practices.pdf
Farnworth C, Kristjanson P, Rijke E. 2013. ‘Climate smart’ agriculture and beyond. In: Farnworth C, Fones Sundell M, Nzioki A,
Shivutse V, Davis M. Transforming gender relations in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish
International Agricultural Network Initiative, Stockholm Environment Institute and SIDA.
Shames S., Wekesa A., Wachiye E. (2012): Case Study: Western Kenya Smallholder Agriculture Carbon Finance Project: Vi
Agroforestry. Institutional innovations in African smallholder carbon projects. CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change,
Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)
Woelcke (2012): More Than Just Hot Air: Carbon Market Access and Climate-Smart Agriculture for Smallholder Farmers.
SMARTLESSONS, JANUARY 2012. International Finance Corporation.
David Kaczan, Aslihan Arslan, Leslie Lipper (2013) Climate-Smart Agriculture? A review of current practice of agroforestry and
conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia
.