Farms-of-the-Future: an innovative approach to strengthening adaptive capacity

Abdoulaye Saley Moussa1, Maren Radeny2 and Osana Bonilla-Findji3 1ICRISAT/CCAFS West Africa Regional Program

2ILRI/CCAFS East Africa Regional Program

3CIAT/CCAFS

Outline  o  Farming  systems  in  East  and  West  

Africa  o  Farms  of  the  future  approach  

o  Analogue  tool  o  Exchange  visits  

o  Lessons  learned  

Farming  systems  in  EA  and  WA  o  Small-­‐scale  subsistence  agriculture  o  Limited  use  of  inputs  /  fer?lizer  o  Highly  vulnerability  to  climate  

variability  and  change    o  reduced  crop  yields,    o  food  insecurity  

o  Coping  strategies    o  Challenges  of  adapta?on:  

o  Access  to  informa4on,  knowledge,  technologies  

o  Planning  for  an  unknown  future  

Farming  systems  in  East  and  West  Africa  

Past  experiences,  impacts  to  define  adapta?on  strategies  

What  if  tomorrow?  How  to  plan  knowing  tomorrow  (climate  

area/region/technologies/

informa?on,  etc.)  

Farms  of  the  Future  Past    

Future    

• 70% of expected future climates already exist somewhere else

• Facilitates exchange of knowledge, technology, and practices between analogue sites

The 2030 climate of a maize-growing area near Durban will correspond to the current climate of a major maize-growing area in Argentina. Growers in Durban can learn from these analogous climates how to adapt as their climate shifts.

http://gismap.ciat.cgiar.org/analogues/

Climate  Analogues:  finding  future  climates  for  poten;al  adapta;on

to  connect  farmers  to  their  possible  climate  futures  via  farm  visits  which  would  enable  them  to  build  a  mental  picture  of  what  their  climate  and  farming  systems  might  look  like  in  the  future  

Farms  of  the  Future  

             Farms  of  the  Future    o  Devise,  test  and  validate  the  "Farms  of  the  Future"  

approach  built  on  farmer-­‐  to-­‐farmer  exchanges  to  analogue  sites  as  a  valuable  op?on  to  improve  adap?ve  capacity  and  support  knowledge  transfer  

o  Improve  understanding  of  local  prac?ces  and  available  tools  for  enabling  change,  as  well  as  cultural,  economic,  or  ins?tu?onal  obstacles  to  such  adap?ve  change    

•  15 farmers and 5 policy-makers from Lushoto in the northern highlands, travelled to Mbinga in the southern highlands.

•  Climatic analogues –locations where the current climate is very similar to Lushoto’s projected future climate (20 – 30 years )

•  Ongoing adaptation strategies and management practices

hPp://ccafs.cgiar.org/blog/one-­‐mans-­‐future-­‐another-­‐mans-­‐present-­‐farms-­‐future-­‐hits-­‐tanzania  

Farms  of  the  Future:  Farmer  to  farmer  exchange  visits  to  enhance  adapta6on  learning  using  the  Analogues  tool  in  Lushoto

Other  Strategies:  •  Tree  nurseries  in  Mwi?kilwa  •  Improved  stoves  in  Sepukila  •  Beekeeping  enterprise  in  Mtama    •  Avocado,  banana,  and  maize  trials  in  Nyombo  village  

Weather  sta6on  in  Mwi6kilwa    Women  preparing  “matengo”  pits  in  Sepukila    

Ø  Par;cipatory  video  recording  by  the  farmers  for  the  farmers    

Other  learning  experiences  from  the  Farmer-­‐to-­‐Farmer  exchange  visit  

in  Tanzania

Farms-­‐of-­‐The-­‐Future  :  A  Journey  to  plausible  futures  of  Doggoh  (Ghana)  

Learning  experiences  from  the  Farmer-­‐to-­‐Farmer  exchange  visit  

in  Burkina  Faso

•  20  farmers  (men  and  women)  and  AIS  •  Agricultural  diversifica?on  and  

intensifica?on  Agri-­‐business  •  Food  processing  (cassava)  •  Soil  and  water  conserva?on  •  Integrated  system  (agro-­‐forestry+SWC)  •  Farmers  organiza?on  •  Land  issues  

LESSONS  LEARNED  

1.   Give  priority  to  farmers'  voice,  foster  farmer-­‐to-­‐farmer  learning    •  Support  the  farmers  to  share  their  findings  from  their  study  tour  with  

their  own  communi?es  

•  Par?cipatory  video:  important  tool  for  suppor?ng  farmers  to  document  

their  own  learning    

2.  Communica?ng  climate  science  is  challenging:  need  to  find  

appropriate  ins?tu?onal  frameworks  

•  E.g.  The  GTP  

LESSONS  LEARNED  1.  Building  adap?ve  capacity  requires    ins?tu?onal,  structural  and  

policy  change    

2.  Strong  engagement  of  actors  across  the  agricultural  innova?on  

system  as  adap?ve  capacity  strengthening  cannot  be  achieved  

by  farmers  alone.    

 

⇒ Climate-­‐smart  villages  Model  

 

THANK  YOU  

   

I’m  very  glad  that  I’m  one  of  the  par?cipant.  In  fact,  we’re  joking  in  Ghana.    See  how  Burkinabe  are  figh?ng  the  nega?ve  impact  of  climate  change.    Growing  trees  using  the  technique  by  Mr  Aziz  with  OM  produc?on  using  crop  residue  and  household  waste  is  

what  I’ll  start  first.    Really,  the  tour  is  useful  to  me.  Many  thanks  to  

Burkinabe  farmers!!!      

I  ask  us  too  of  Yamba  village  we  should  conserve  

our  environment  by  plan?ng  trees.  “I  was  very  happy  with  this  trip  and  I  

have  learnt  a  lot…   www.ccafs.cgiar.org