Adoption of soil and water conservation practices under different farming systems in the Sahel region of
northern Mali
Birhanu Zemadim&
Gracious Diiro, Monica Petri, and Ramadjita Tabo
Background
Climate change/climate variability remains a major development challenge in developing countries, particularly in the Sub-Saharan Economies (SSE)
The majority of the population in SSE resides in the rural areas and derive their livelihoods directly from the agricultural sector.
Sustained livelihood improvements in many of the rural communities require implementation of interventions that promote adaptation to impacts of climate variability
Strategies for effective climate variability adaptation and mitigation need to be gender inclusive, targeting both male and female farmers.
Cntd…Background
A study was conducted in three farming systems and considering gender of the head of the household with the objective of:
• Studying perceptions of causes and effects of climate variability• Evaluating adoption of Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) practices, and
identification of barriers to adoption
Formulation of robust policy interventions and programs aimed at promoting adaptation strategies for the agricultural sector require:
• A better understanding of how farmers perceive climate change/variability • The adaptation measures used by farmers and • The perceived effects of climate variability and the barriers to its adaptation.
Bryan et al., (2009)
Methodology
Three farming systems were considered in the Sahelian region of northern Mali
• Rice farming system, Cereals (sorghum and Millet) farming system and Mixed farming system.
Data was collected from 297 farmer households (average number of HH is 13), 16 NGOs and 11 focus group discussions (FGDs) in eleven villages in Mopti region.
Results and Discussion
Perception of Climate Variability by Farming System
Climate Event
All households (n=281)
Rice system (n=58)
Dry cerealssystem (n=140)
Mixed system (n=83)
Freq. %Freq.
%Freq
.%
Freq.
%
Stronger and violent wind 234 83.3 44 75.9 121 86.4 69 83.1Increased temperature 210 74.7 39 67.2 106 75.7 65 78.3Poor rainfall pattern 159 56.6 23 39.7 92 65.7 44 53.0Reduced vegetation cover 148 52.7 22 37.9 89 63.6 37 44.6
• Majority of farmers perceive variabilities in climate in the past 10 to 20 years• Stronger and violent wind is the most reported climate event
Awareness, Knowledge and Practices
Cntd..Results and Discussion
Perception of Climate Variability by Farming System and Gender
Climate Event
Rice faming system (n=58)
Dry cereals system (n=140)
Mixed system (n=83)
Female headed
Male headed Female headed
Male headed
Female headed
Male headed
n % n % n % n % n % n %Stronger and violent wind
6 54.538
80.911
73.3 110 88 8 72.761
84.7
Increased temperature
7 63.632
68.1 9 60.0 9777.6
5 45.560
83.3
Poor rainfall pattern 5 45.518
38.3 7 46.7 85 68 7 63.637
51.4
Reduced vegetation cover
5 45.517
36.2 8 53.3 8164.8
8 72.729
40.3
No significant differences in perceptions of climate variabilities between male and female headed households in the three farming systems
Cntd..Results and Discussion Perceived causes of climate variability
There is lack of clear understanding of the causes of climate variability
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
All households Male headed Female headed
Perc
ent o
f Far
mer
s
Other Factors Wrath of gods Inadequate rains
Impacts of climate variabilityMajority of the farmers (96%) indicated that climate variability affected their farming activities• The number is always
higher for female headed farmers
0.91
0.92
0.93
0.94
0.95
0.96
0.97
0.98
0.99
1.00
All households Rice farming system Dry cereals system Mixed farming system
Prop
ortio
nof
Farm
ers
Farming System
All households Male headed female headed
Reported Impacts• Increased poverty and reduced purchasing power of households• Increased food insecurity and malnutrition• Loss of livestock and low agricultural productivity• Increased pest infestations and other weather related pathogens
Degree of Household Vulnerability to Climate Variability
Weather Shock Index
All households
Farming systemRice
systemDry
systemMixed system
F-Statistic P-value
Rainfall pattern0.73
(0.24)0.73a
(0.20)0.70a
(0.27)0.77a
(0.19) 1.77 0.17
Drought0.72
(0.30)0.77a
(0.22)0.68a
(0.30)0.74a
(0.33) 1.68 0.19
Violent wind0.64
(0.26)0.57a
(0.19)0.64ab
(0.30)0.69b
(0.21) 3.70 0.03
Flood0.53
(0.34)0.56ab
(0.23)0.46a
(0.36)0.61b
(0.36) 4.34 0.01
Other Shocks0.17
(0.30)0.40 a
(0.35)0.06 b
(0.20)0.22 c
(0.33) 16.31 0.00
All shocks combined 0.49
(0.14)0.48a
(0.11)0.46a
(0.14)0.56b
(0.15)15.64 0.00
• Significant difference with respect to the various weather shock. indexes, except rain and drought.
• Significantly higher shock in the mixed farming system (0.56).
• Households residing in the mixed farming system are, on average, more vulnerable to impacts of climate variability
Higher weather shock among female headed households than male headed households in the rice system
Climate Variability Adaptation Methods by Sahelian Farmers
Farm based methods• Soil and water conservation• Fertilizer application• Crop diversification• Livestock diversification and• Tree planting
Non-farm based methods• Utilization of weather forecasts• Information and participation in
non-farm income generating activities
• Zai was the most common SWC measure used by the households (42%). The likelihood of adoption of any of the other SWC measures is less than 25%.
• Significant variation was observed in adoption of most of the SWC measures; except for vegetative barriers, contour bunding and wells.
• More adopters of the SWC measures were observed in the mixed farming system
SWC measure (1=used, 0=No)
All Rice Cereal MixedF-value
P-value
Zai0.42(0.49)
0.24a
(0.43)0.34a
(0.48)0.69b
(0.47)19.88 0.0000
Artificial ponds 0.23(0.42)
0.22ab
(0.42)0.16a
(0.37)0.35b
(0.48)5.64 0.0040
Vegetative barriers
0.23(0.42)
0.22a
(0.42)0.20 a
(0.40)0.30a
(0.46)1.51 0.2231
Contour bunding0.23(0.42)
0.22a
(0.42)0.19a
(0.40)0.30a
(0.46)1.73 0.1786
Shallow Wells 0.23(0.42)
0.22a
(0.42)0.19a
(0.39)0.30a
(0.46)1.99 0.1393
Stone bunding0.21(0.41)
0.24a
(0.43)0.14 a
(0.34)0.33b
(0.47)5.93 0.0030
Dams and dykes0.20(0.40)
0.24a
(0.43)0.13 a
(0.34)0.30b
(0.46)5.28 0.0056
Ravine creusée0.20(0.40)
0.22a
(0.42)0.14a
(0.34)0.29b
(0.46)4.06 0.0183
Adoption of soil and water conservation practices
• Fertilizer management practice: Another important measure utilized by farmers to combat the impact of climate variability
Cntd..Adoption of soil and water conservation practices
Fertilizer TypeAll
householdsRice
systemDry
systemMixed system
F-value P-value
Organic manure 0.495(0.501)
0.310 a
(0.467)0.443a
(0.499)0.711c
(0.456)13.52 0.0000
Mineral fertilizer 0.665 (0.473)
0.431a
(0.500)0.721b
(0.450)0.735b
(0.444)9.56 0.0001
Organic manure & Mineral fertilizer
0.391(0.489)
0.172a
(0.381)0.379b
(0.487)0.566c
(0.499)
12.06 0.0001
• Significant variations in fertilizer adoption across the farming systems• Higher adoption rates observed in the mixed farming system
• Barrier: Lack of finances (cited by 29.5%) and limited labor (28%)
Conclusion
• Limited awareness on the causes of climate change/variability • Farmers require proper knowledge and understanding of the real causes before they
may decide to adapt to climate change. • Need to design communication strategies that create public awareness
• SWC measures are the most critical entry points for improving land resource resilience and productivity.
• The measures are labor intensive and require capital investment.• People in the region, especially youth, migrate to urban areas and gold mines thus
reducing labor supply to the agricultural sector.
• The low uptake of adaptation practices may hamper farmer households from achieving sustainable resilience to climate variability.
• Agro-forestry options and residue management to reduce soil erosion due to stronger and violent wind.
• Low cost solar pumped water lifting structure to improve water access, production of high valued crops and improve the nutritional status of the household.
• Combination of different technologies, i.e. promotion of heat tolerant cultivars, improved livestock breeds adapted to the local condition, and agro-advisory services through weather forecasting
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