Agricultural sector in Africa adapting to climate change

A report on the improvements in East African farming and livestock management that assist farmers in adapting to the effects of climate change has been released by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security and the Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Centre.

Food insecurity in this part of the world is a growing threat from the effects of climate change and mitigation and adaptation strategies are becoming more popular from regional leaders, farmers and consumers.

The surveys of 700 farm households in East Africa indicate a willingness of local farmers to adapt their farm and livestock management to accommodate a climate that is not only drought prone but has been predicted to be a center of potential devastating human consequence from global climate change.

Over 50% of the farmers interviewed have adopted at least one drought tolerant crop, are planting trees that are a cash crop to prevent erosion, and rotating crops to manage soil nutrient composition.

Areas that still need improvement are the use of manure as a fertilizer and better water management.

This area is one of the poorest in the world yet the small local farmers are willing to put out the effort to change for their own benefit in numbers that exceed the efforts in much more financially well off countries.