Giacomo Branca

Food security, climate change, and sustainable land management. A review

Agriculture production in developing countries must be increased to meet food demand for a growing population. Earlier literature suggests that sustainable land management could increase food production without degrading soil and water resources. Improved agronomic practices include organic fertilization, minimum soil disturbance, and incorporation of residues, terraces, water harvesting and conservation, and agroforestry. These practices can also deliver co-benefits in the form of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and enhanced carbon storage in soils and biomass. Here, we review 160 studies reporting original field data on the yield effects of sustainable land management practices sequestering soil carbon. The major points are: (1) sustainable land management generally leads to increased yields, although the magnitude and variability of results varies by specific practice and agro-climatic conditions. For instance, yield effects are in some cases negative for improved fallows, terraces, minimum tillage, and live fences. Whereas, positive yield effects are observed consistently for cover crops, organic fertilizer, mulching, and water harvesting. Yields are also generally higher in areas of low and variable rainfall. (2) Isolating the yield effects of individual practices is complicated by the adoption of combinations or “packages” of sustainable land management options. (3) Sustainable land management generally increases soil carbon sequestration. Agroforestry increases aboveground C sequestration and organic fertilization reduces CO2 emissions. (4) Rainfall distribution is a key determinant of the mitigation effects of adopting specific sustainable land management practices. Mitigation effects of adopting sustainable land management are higher in higher rainfall areas, with the exception of water management.

Payments for Watershed Services Supporting Sustainable Agricultural Development in Tanzania

Agriculture affects both quantity and quality of water available for other uses and under current production systems, the impact is often negative. Adopting sustainable land management (SLM) practices can foster more efficient water use and increase agricultural productivity, while reducing environmental risks from water pollution and regulating flows serving downstream communities. However, farmers face barriers to adoption of such practices, especially lack of technical capacity and high upfront costs associated with SLM implementation, which is particularly important where land managers are poor. Drawing on a case study from Tanzania, this article discusses how an emerging policy tool—Payments for Environmental Services (PES)—can bridge this gap by providing technical assistance and financial support, thereby lowering the SLM adoption barriers and investing in an appropriate legal and institutional framework for long-term financing and expansion of SLM to improve watershed management.

Identifying Strategies to Enhance the Resilience of Smallholder Farming Systems: Evidence from Zambia

To support countries implementing CSA solutions, the Economics and Policy Innovations for Climate Smart Agriculture (EPIC) group at FAO uses a methodology based on building a solid evidence base. The knowledge gained from datasets that combine household, geographical and climate data helps design policies that enhance food security and climate resilience while also taking advantage of mitigation opportunities to obtain financing. Appropriate application of CSA principles depends on specific conditions that vary between and within countries. Demographic, environmental, economic and institutional factors are all important determinants of the effectiveness of any particular policy. This chapter builds upon econometric results obtained from previous analyses by developing a conceptual model that introduces the temporal aspects of household vulnerability. The method is based on a factorial design with two vulnerability levels (high and low) and two production methods (conventional or business as usual, and improved agricultural management with high CSA potential). Farms are classified into groups based on cluster analysis of survey data from Zambia. Results provide a baseline consisting of probability distributions of yields, labor use, cash inputs and profit for each of the four combinations of vulnerability level and production system. This is useful for stochastic dominance analysis, but additional work is required to incorporate the temporal aspect of the problem. The chapter identifies data gaps and additional analyses required to capture the spatio-temporal aspects of household vulnerability and adaptive capacity.

Economic Analysis of Improved Smallholder Paddy and Maize Production in Northern Viet Nam and Implications for Climate-Smart Agriculture

Adoption of improved agricultural practices is shown to vary based on rainfall variability and long-term average maximum temperature, and although such practices increase productivity and profitability on average, their impacts also vary based on climatic conditions. This paper presents a case study on impacts and implications for adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) solutions in the Northern Mountainous Region (NMR) of Viet Nam. We use primary data collected through ad hoc household and community surveys to conduct profitability estimates of comparative technologies using crop financial models based on partial budget analysis and a study of the determinants of adoption and of yields. In particular, we find that the majority of farmers in NMR rely on ‘conventional’ farming despite indications that sustainable land management practices such as Minimum Tillage (MT) applied to upland maize production, and Fertilizer Deep Placement (FDP) and Sustainable Intensification for Paddy (SIP) production are more profitable. Adoption of MT is greater where long-term variation in rainfall during critical growing periods for maize is higher; FDP and SIP adoption is greater in places where the long-term average of maximum temperatures is higher during critical periods for rice growth. Finally, these improved practices have higher labour and input costs compared to conventional practices, which may prevent or slow adoption.

Value Chain Analysis of Climate-smart Shan Tea Production in the Northern Mountainous Region of Vietnam

Agricultural production in the face of climate change requires a transformation and reorientation in agricultural systems and policy making. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is such a transformative approach that aims to sustainably increase food security, by improving adaptation to climate change and capturing potential mitigation co-benefits. CSA approach goes beyond field level practices and encompasses value chains, food systems as well as enabling environments and policy. This paper provides a site-specific analysis of the contributions of organic and conventional Shan tea value chains (VCs) to CSA objectives by using a interdisciplinary approach. Our findings show that both organic and conventional Shan tea VCs simultaneously contribute to food security and adaptation. Shan tea plays a vital role in securing household income and has a strong potential in helping households to coping with extreme weather events. Potential mitigation options are mainly in the processing stage (GHG emissions from coal burning).