Studies on mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture(CSA)practices can increase smallholder farmers’capacity and awareness to improve food security and establish sustainable livelihoods through resilient agricultural s...Studies on mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture(CSA)practices can increase smallholder farmers’capacity and awareness to improve food security and establish sustainable livelihoods through resilient agricultural systems,while achieving adaptation and mitigation benefits.Hence,valuable insights can be obtained from smallholder farmers in responding to present and forthcoming challenges of climate change impacts.However,there is little research work on trade-off and synergy assessments.Taking Geshy watershed in Southwest Ethiopia as a case study area,both quantitative and qualitative data analysis were undertaken in this study.The data were collected from 15 key informant interviews,6 focus group discussions,and 384 households to answer the following questions:(1)what are the top 5 preferred CSA practices for smallholder farmers in Geshy watershed when coping with the impacts of climate change?(2)What is the performance of the preferred CSA practices?And(3)which trade-offs and synergies are experienced upon the implementation of CSA practices?The study came up with the most preferred CSA practices such as the use of improved crop varieties,small-scale irrigation,improved animal husbandry,the use of efficient inorganic fertilizers,and crop rotation with legumes.The selected CSA practices showed that the productivity goal exhibit the best synergy,while the mitigation goal has trade-offs.The study also indicated that the use of improved crop varieties causes high synergies in all 3 goals of CSA practices;small-scale irrigation provides a medium synergy on productivity goal but high synergy for adaptation and mitigation goals;improved animal husbandry shows a high synergy with the adaptation goal,a relatively lower synergy with the productivity goal,and a trade-off with the mitigation goal;the use of efficient inorganic fertilizers shows maximum synergy for the productivity and adaptation goals;and crop rotation with legumes exhibits high synergy with the productivity and mitigation goals but a relatively lower synergy with the adaptation goal.These results can provide evidence to various stakeholder farmers in the value chain that the impacts of climate change can be addressed by the adoption of CSA practices.In general,CSA practices are considered indispensable.Smallholder farmers prefer CSA practices that help to increase crop productivity and household resilience to climate change impacts.The results generate a vital foundation for recommendations to smallholder farming decision-makers.It also sensitizes actions for innovative and sustainable methods that are able to upscale the preferred CSA practices in the agricultural system in Geshy watershed of Southwest Ethiopia and other regions.展开更多
Background:Land degradation is an urgent agenda that requires great effort and resources to ameliorate.It worsens soil components through disrupting ecological functions and threatens agriculture production.To overcom...Background:Land degradation is an urgent agenda that requires great effort and resources to ameliorate.It worsens soil components through disrupting ecological functions and threatens agriculture production.To overcome it,different soil and water conservation(SWC)practices have been undertaken in numerous parts of Ethiopia.This paper aims to review the effects of SWC practices on soil physicochemical properties and crop yield.Data were collected from secondary sources via a computer library using various databases based on developed criteria.The collected data were organized,categorized,and analyzed through descriptive statistics.The mean difference of selected soil physicochemical properties obtained from treated and untreated farmland was tested using paired t-test.Factors influencing crop yield on treated farmland were determined by a multiple linear regression model.Results:SWC practices influenced the soil physicochemical properties and crop yield either positively or negatively.The mean values of available phosphorus(10.6 ppm,8.7 ppm),total nitrogen(0.5%,0.4%),soil pH(6.0%,5.8%),soil organic matter(4.4%,3.8%),and soil organic carbon(2.2%,1.8%)were on treated and untreated farmland under physical SWC practices,respectively.Similarly,the mean values of these variables were higher on treated farmland than untreated farmland under both biological and integrated SWC practices.The mean value of bulk density was higher on untreated farmland than treated one and statistically significant under all SWC practices.Fanya juu and stone-faced soil bund constantly increased crop yield,whereas soil bund and stone bund did not.Conclusion:Proper implementation of SWC technologies through integrating physical and biological measures will boost the effectiveness of the practice in restoring soil physicochemical properties and improving crop yield.Meanwhile,government due attention paid for land resources management in Ethiopia,whereby the annual SWC and tree planting campaign underwent for a couple of decades,entails further scientific support for its efficacy.展开更多
文摘Studies on mainstreaming climate-smart agriculture(CSA)practices can increase smallholder farmers’capacity and awareness to improve food security and establish sustainable livelihoods through resilient agricultural systems,while achieving adaptation and mitigation benefits.Hence,valuable insights can be obtained from smallholder farmers in responding to present and forthcoming challenges of climate change impacts.However,there is little research work on trade-off and synergy assessments.Taking Geshy watershed in Southwest Ethiopia as a case study area,both quantitative and qualitative data analysis were undertaken in this study.The data were collected from 15 key informant interviews,6 focus group discussions,and 384 households to answer the following questions:(1)what are the top 5 preferred CSA practices for smallholder farmers in Geshy watershed when coping with the impacts of climate change?(2)What is the performance of the preferred CSA practices?And(3)which trade-offs and synergies are experienced upon the implementation of CSA practices?The study came up with the most preferred CSA practices such as the use of improved crop varieties,small-scale irrigation,improved animal husbandry,the use of efficient inorganic fertilizers,and crop rotation with legumes.The selected CSA practices showed that the productivity goal exhibit the best synergy,while the mitigation goal has trade-offs.The study also indicated that the use of improved crop varieties causes high synergies in all 3 goals of CSA practices;small-scale irrigation provides a medium synergy on productivity goal but high synergy for adaptation and mitigation goals;improved animal husbandry shows a high synergy with the adaptation goal,a relatively lower synergy with the productivity goal,and a trade-off with the mitigation goal;the use of efficient inorganic fertilizers shows maximum synergy for the productivity and adaptation goals;and crop rotation with legumes exhibits high synergy with the productivity and mitigation goals but a relatively lower synergy with the adaptation goal.These results can provide evidence to various stakeholder farmers in the value chain that the impacts of climate change can be addressed by the adoption of CSA practices.In general,CSA practices are considered indispensable.Smallholder farmers prefer CSA practices that help to increase crop productivity and household resilience to climate change impacts.The results generate a vital foundation for recommendations to smallholder farming decision-makers.It also sensitizes actions for innovative and sustainable methods that are able to upscale the preferred CSA practices in the agricultural system in Geshy watershed of Southwest Ethiopia and other regions.
文摘Background:Land degradation is an urgent agenda that requires great effort and resources to ameliorate.It worsens soil components through disrupting ecological functions and threatens agriculture production.To overcome it,different soil and water conservation(SWC)practices have been undertaken in numerous parts of Ethiopia.This paper aims to review the effects of SWC practices on soil physicochemical properties and crop yield.Data were collected from secondary sources via a computer library using various databases based on developed criteria.The collected data were organized,categorized,and analyzed through descriptive statistics.The mean difference of selected soil physicochemical properties obtained from treated and untreated farmland was tested using paired t-test.Factors influencing crop yield on treated farmland were determined by a multiple linear regression model.Results:SWC practices influenced the soil physicochemical properties and crop yield either positively or negatively.The mean values of available phosphorus(10.6 ppm,8.7 ppm),total nitrogen(0.5%,0.4%),soil pH(6.0%,5.8%),soil organic matter(4.4%,3.8%),and soil organic carbon(2.2%,1.8%)were on treated and untreated farmland under physical SWC practices,respectively.Similarly,the mean values of these variables were higher on treated farmland than untreated farmland under both biological and integrated SWC practices.The mean value of bulk density was higher on untreated farmland than treated one and statistically significant under all SWC practices.Fanya juu and stone-faced soil bund constantly increased crop yield,whereas soil bund and stone bund did not.Conclusion:Proper implementation of SWC technologies through integrating physical and biological measures will boost the effectiveness of the practice in restoring soil physicochemical properties and improving crop yield.Meanwhile,government due attention paid for land resources management in Ethiopia,whereby the annual SWC and tree planting campaign underwent for a couple of decades,entails further scientific support for its efficacy.
