Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
-
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheetBrochureCropping systems diversification to enhance productivity and adaptation to climate change in Zambia
BRINGING TOGETHER EVIDENCE AND POLICY INSIGHTS
2019Also available in:
No results found.Spatial disconnect between cropping system diversification and climate risk. In Zambia, farmers residing in areas with low and medium rainfall risk are more likely to adopt diversified systems than farmers in areas with lower rainfall and greater rainfall variability. Lack of diversification in high risk regions poses a significant threat to livelihood resilience in those regions. Diverse cropping systems improve productivity and resilience. Increased level of diversification is associated to more stable crop income, when compared to maize monocropping. However, farmers facing land fragmentation, weakness of private input and output markets and uncertainty from the public policies are less likely to adopt these systems. Strengthen investment in the private input and output markets. Competitive input and output markets is an important driver of diversification in Zambia. Identifying policy options to improve private market conditions, such as improved predictability of agricultural trade policy and promoting stable macro-economic conditions, can help support Zambia’s diversification objectives. Secure land tenure and land access. Farmers adopting cropping systems of three or more crops hold, on average, 2 hectares of land more than farmers adopting two-crop or monocropping systems in the same areas. Land policies that support farmers’ access to land, now and in the future, is a critical element of crop diversification. -
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheetBrochureCropping systems diversification to enhance productivity and adaptation to climate change in Mozambique 2019
Also available in:
Farmers in Mozambique are diversified, but subsistence-oriented. Thirty-seven percent of farmers in Mozambique grow a three-crop system based on maize, a legume, and an alternative staple, such as cassava or sorghum. This system is an effective adaption strategy, as it reduces crop income volatility compared to less diverse systems, but it is also associated with low levels of productivity, input use, and incomes. Adoption of cash cropping system improves farmers’ welfare. Farmers who adopt cash crops have higher average incomes and higher productivity levels. However, only 19 percent of farmers grow cash crops. Limited household resources and isolation from markets constrains the adoption of cash crop systems. Enhance commercialization by incentivizing value chain investments and improving market competition. Supporting investments in the trading and processing for widely grown crops, combined with improved pricing policies for cash crops can facilitate the adoption of more commercialized cropping systems. Expand and strengthen the improved seed sector. Increasing the availability of improved seeds is critical to promote commercialization and diversification. To this end, there is urgent need to develop and implement a National Seed Policy to regulate activities in both the formal and informal seed value chains. -
Book (series)Working paperCropping system diversification in Eastern and Southern Africa: Identifying policy options to enhance productivity and build resilience 2018
Also available in:
No results found.Crop diversification is an important policy objective to promote climate change adaptation, yet the drivers and impacts of crop diversification vary considerably depending on the specific combinations of crops a farmer grows. This paper examines adoption determinants of seven different cropping systems in Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique, and the impact of their adoption on maize productivity and income volatility – using a multinomial endogenous treatment effect model. These cropping systems consist in different combinations of four categories of crops: dominate staple (maize), alternative staples, legumes, and cash-crops. The study finds that relative to maize mono-cropping systems, the vast majority of systems have either neutral or positive effects on maize productivity, and either reduce or have neutral effects on crop income volatility. In particular, cropping systems that include legumes produce better outcome in most cases than those that feature cash crops. From a policy perspective, three recurrent determinants of diversification are found. First, private sector output market access is an important driver of diversification out of maize mono-cropping. Policies crowding in private output market actors can help to promote a wide range of more diverse cropping systems. Second, proximity to public marketing board buying depots discourages the adoption of more diverse cropping systems. Therefore, reforms to these institutions must be part of any diversification strategy. Finally, in all countries and for all systems, land size is a key determinant of adopting more diverse systems. Thus, land policy is an integral element of any boarder diversification strategy.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
-
BookletHigh-profileFAO Strategy on Climate Change 2022–2031 2022The FAO Strategy on Climate Change 2022–2031 was endorsed by FAO Council in June 2022. This new strategy replaces the previous strategy from 2017 to better FAO's climate action with the Strategic Framework 2022-2031, and other FAO strategies that have been developed since then. The Strategy was elaborated following an inclusive process of consultation with FAO Members, FAO staff from headquarters and decentralized offices, as well as external partners. It articulates FAO's vision for agrifood systems by 2050, around three main pillars of action: at global and regional level, at country level, and at local level. The Strategy also encourages key guiding principles for action, such as science and innovation, inclusiveness, partnerships, and access to finance.
-
BookletCorporate general interestEmissions due to agriculture
Global, regional and country trends 2000–2018
2021Also available in:
No results found.The FAOSTAT emissions database is composed of several data domains covering the categories of the IPCC Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector of the national GHG inventory. Energy use in agriculture is additionally included as relevant to emissions from agriculture as an economic production sector under the ISIC A statistical classification, though recognizing that, in terms of IPCC, they are instead part of the Energy sector of the national GHG inventory. FAO emissions estimates are available over the period 1961–2018 for agriculture production processes from crop and livestock activities. Land use emissions and removals are generally available only for the period 1990–2019. This analytical brief focuses on overall trends over the period 2000–2018. -
Book (stand-alone)Technical reportLivestock sector report
A review of the livestock sector in Malawi in 2021
2022Also available in:
No results found.The livestock sector in Malawi contributes at least 22.4 percent to the GDP (6.6 percent). Despite such a significant contribution to the economy, the livestock sector received only 0.8 percent of the government funding allocated to agriculture annually from 2012 and 2020. However, the livestock sector has a lot of potential to grow and contribute more to the economy. Currently, the sector is not able to produce enough to satisfy local demand and there are many opportunities for the sector to supply livestock and livestock products to external markets. This report captures findings from a review of the livestock sector in Malawi, which was conducted in 2021. Major recommendations from the review are: to increase public and private sector investment in the livestock sector; to increase the number of livestock and livestock inputs supported in the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP), to create specialist officer positions such as livestock officer (dairy), livestock officer (poultry) in the livestock sections; to increase the number of livestock extension workers by increasing the number of assistant veterinary officers (AVOs) and recruiting at least one assistant livestock development officer (ALDO) per agricultural extension planning area (EPA); and to make livestock sections in district agriculture offices more autonomous for them to have more say and control over budgeting issues so that the livestock sections can be more appropriately funded.