IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v37y2020i4d10.1007_s10460-020-10126-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Political economy challenges for climate smart agriculture in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Helena Shilomboleni

    (International Livestock Research Institute)

Abstract

Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) has gained prominence in global agriculture and climate agendas for its perceived “triple win” contributions to food productivity, adaptation, and mitigation to climate change. This paper highlights three important challenges for CSA activities in Africa which provide insights into contested debates surrounding CSA’s ability to respond holistically to the complex realities facing resource-constrained farmers in the global South. These are (1) prevailing neoliberal market policies that emphasize private-sector driven agricultural development in the face of rising input costs and falling commodity prices; (2) an expansion in diversified livelihood strategies amongst smallholder households as a response to the highly unpredictable biophysical environment and economic climate under which they live; and (3) a growing competition for land and other productive resources. A deeper dive into political economy processes surrounding these three issues aims to bring critical attention to factors relevant to African agricultural development that highly impact farm-level practices and carry important implications for rural livelihood outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Helena Shilomboleni, 2020. "Political economy challenges for climate smart agriculture in Africa," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1195-1206, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:37:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10460-020-10126-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-020-10126-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-020-10126-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-020-10126-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amadu, Festus O. & McNamara, Paul E. & Miller, Daniel C., 2020. "Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture: A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    2. Ola Tveitereid Westengen & Progress Nyanga & Douty Chibamba & Monica Guillen-Royo & Dan Banik, 2018. "A climate for commerce: the political agronomy of conservation agriculture in Zambia," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 255-268, March.
    3. Alvin Chandra & Karen E. McNamara & Paul Dargusch, 2018. "Climate-smart agriculture: perspectives and framings," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 526-541, April.
    4. Parayil, Govindan, 2003. "Mapping technological trajectories of the Green Revolution and the Gene Revolution from modernization to globalization," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 971-990, June.
    5. Khatri-Chhetri, Arun & Aggarwal, P.K. & Joshi, P.K. & Vyas, S., 2017. "Farmers' prioritization of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 184-191.
    6. Kansanga, Moses & Andersen, Peter & Atuoye, Kilian & Mason-Renton, Sarah, 2018. "Contested commons: Agricultural modernization, tenure ambiguities and intra-familial land grabbing in Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 215-224.
    7. Aslihan Arslan & Solomon Asfaw & Romina Cavatassi & Leslie Lipper & Nancy McCarthy & Misael Kokwe & George Phiri, 2018. "Diversification as Part of a CSA Strategy: The Cases of Zambia and Malawi," Natural Resource Management and Policy, in: Leslie Lipper & Nancy McCarthy & David Zilberman & Solomon Asfaw & Giacomo Branca (ed.), Climate Smart Agriculture, pages 527-562, Springer.
    8. Currie-Alder, Bruce & Kanbur, Ravi & Malone, David M. & Medhora, Rohinton, 2013. "The State of Development Thought," Working Papers 180073, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    9. Amanor, Kojo S. & Chichava, Sérgio, 2016. "South–South Cooperation, Agribusiness, and African Agricultural Development: Brazil and China in Ghana and Mozambique," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 13-23.
    10. Andrieu, N. & Sogoba, B. & Zougmore, R. & Howland, F. & Samake, O. & Bonilla-Findji, O. & Lizarazo, M. & Nowak, A. & Dembele, C. & Corner-Dolloff, C., 2017. "Prioritizing investments for climate-smart agriculture: Lessons learned from Mali," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 13-24.
    11. Westermann, Olaf & Förch, Wiebke & Thornton, Philip & Körner, Jana & Cramer, Laura & Campbell, Bruce, 2018. "Scaling up agricultural interventions: Case studies of climate-smart agriculture," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 283-293.
    12. Bryceson, Deborah Fahy, 2002. "The Scramble in Africa: Reorienting Rural Livelihoods," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 725-739, May.
    13. Aslihan Arslan & Romina Cavatassi & Federica Alfani & Nancy Mccarthy & Leslie Lipper & Misael Kokwe, 2018. "Diversification Under Climate Variability as Part of a CSA Strategy in Rural Zambia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(3), pages 457-480, March.
    14. Poole, Nigel D. & Chitundu, Maureen & Msoni, Ronald, 2013. "Commercialisation: A meta-approach for agricultural development among smallholder farmers in Africa?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 155-165.
    15. Thornton, Philip K. & Whitbread, Anthony & Baedeker, Tobias & Cairns, Jill & Claessens, Lieven & Baethgen, Walter & Bunn, Christian & Friedmann, Michael & Giller, Ken E. & Herrero, Mario & Howden, Mar, 2018. "A framework for priority-setting in climate smart agriculture research," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 161-175.
    16. Scoville-Simonds, Morgan & Jamali, Hameed & Hufty, Marc, 2020. "The Hazards of Mainstreaming: Climate change adaptation politics in three dimensions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    17. Leslie Lipper & Philip Thornton & Bruce M. Campbell & Tobias Baedeker & Ademola Braimoh & Martin Bwalya & Patrick Caron & Andrea Cattaneo & Dennis Garrity & Kevin Henry & Ryan Hottle & Louise Jackson , 2014. "Climate-smart agriculture for food security," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(12), pages 1068-1072, December.
    18. Dell’Angelo, Jampel & D’Odorico, Paolo & Rulli, Maria Cristina & Marchand, Philippe, 2017. "The Tragedy of the Grabbed Commons: Coercion and Dispossession in the Global Land Rush," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1-12.
    19. Nagler, Paula & Naudé, Wim, 2017. "Non-farm entrepreneurship in rural sub-Saharan Africa: New empirical evidence," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 175-191.
    20. Mutenje, Munyaradzi Junia & Farnworth, Cathy Rozel & Stirling, Clare & Thierfelder, Christian & Mupangwa, Walter & Nyagumbo, Isaiah, 2019. "A cost-benefit analysis of climate-smart agriculture options in Southern Africa: Balancing gender and technology," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 126-137.
    21. Scoones, Ian & Amanor, Kojo & Favareto, Arilson & Qi, Gubo, 2016. "A New Politics of Development Cooperation? Chinese and Brazilian Engagements in African Agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1-12.
    22. Saturnino M Borras & Jennifer C Franco, 2013. "Global Land Grabbing and Political Reactions ‘From Below’," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(9), pages 1723-1747, October.
    23. Khatri-Chhetri, Arun & Pant, Anjali & Aggarwal, Pramod K. & Vasireddy, Vijya Vardhan & Yadav, Akhilesh, 2019. "Stakeholders prioritization of climate-smart agriculture interventions: Evaluation of a framework," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 23-31.
    24. Marijn Faling & Robbert Biesbroek, 2019. "Cross-boundary policy entrepreneurship for climate-smart agriculture in Kenya," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(4), pages 525-547, December.
    25. Philip Mcmichael, 2013. "Value-chain Agriculture and Debt Relations: contradictory outcomes," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 671-690.
    26. Ogada, M. & Radeny, M. & Recha, J. & Kimeli, P. & Rao, J. & Solomon, D., 2018. "Uptake and Impact of Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies and Innovations in East Africa," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277499, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    27. Dawson, Neil & Martin, Adrian & Sikor, Thomas, 2016. "Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications of Imposed Innovation for the Wellbeing of Rural Smallholders," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 204-218.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eichsteller, Marta & Njagi, Tim & Nyukuri, Elvin, 2022. "The role of agriculture in poverty escapes in Kenya – Developing a capabilities approach in the context of climate change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    2. William Lacy, 2023. "Local food systems, citizen and public science, empowered communities, and democracy: hopes deserving to live," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Tubagus Muhammad Ali Ridho Azhari & Beatrice Chepkoech, 2022. "Factors Affecting the Performance of Climate-Smart Agriculture Project from the Perspectives of Agriculture Extension Workers: A Case Study of Nakuru County, Kenya," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(12), pages 405-415, December.
    4. Mohamed Rafik Noor Mohamed Qureshi & Ali Saeed Almuflih & Janpriy Sharma & Mohit Tyagi & Shubhendu Singh & Naif Almakayeel, 2022. "Assessment of the Climate-Smart Agriculture Interventions towards the Avenues of Sustainable Production–Consumption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-24, July.
    5. Barnes, A.P. & McMillan, J. & Sutherland, L.-A. & Hopkins, J. & Thomson, S.G., 2022. "Farmer intentional pathways for net zero carbon: Exploring the lock-in effects of forestry and renewables," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Amadu, Festus O. & McNamara, Paul E. & Miller, Daniel C., 2020. "Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture: A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    2. Rodríguez-Barillas, María & Klerkx, Laurens & Poortvliet, P. Marijn, 2024. "What determines the acceptance of Climate Smart Technologies? The influence of farmers' behavioral drivers in connection with the policy environment," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    3. Maleki, Tahereh & Koohestani, Hossein & Keshavarz, Marzieh, 2022. "Can climate-smart agriculture mitigate the Urmia Lake tragedy in its eastern basin?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    4. Mashi, Sani Abubakar & Inkani, Amina Ibrahim & Oghenejabor, Obaro Dominic, 2022. "Determinants of awareness levels of climate smart agricultural technologies and practices of urban farmers in Kuje, Abuja, Nigeria," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Victor O. Abegunde & Ajuruchukwu Obi, 2022. "The Role and Perspective of Climate Smart Agriculture in Africa: A Scientific Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-15, February.
    6. Giulio Fusco & Marta Melgiovanni & Donatella Porrini & Traci Michelle Ricciardo, 2020. "How to Improve the Diffusion of Climate-Smart Agriculture: What the Literature Tells us," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-15, June.
    7. Kangogo, Daniel & Dentoni, Domenico & Bijman, Jos, 2021. "Adoption of climate‐smart agriculture among smallholder farmers: Does farmer entrepreneurship matter?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    8. Sitko, Nicholas J. & Scognamillo, Antonio & Malevolti, Giulia, 2021. "Does receiving food aid influence the adoption of climate-adaptive agricultural practices? Evidence from Ethiopia and Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    9. Wegenast, Tim & Richetta, Cécile & Krauser, Mario & Leibik, Alexander, 2022. "Grabbed trust? The impact of large-scale land acquisitions on social trust in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    10. Sibhatu, Kibrom T. & Arslan, Aslihan & Zucchini, Emanuele, 2022. "The effect of agricultural programs on dietary diversity and food security: Insights from the smallholder productivity promotion program in Zambia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    11. Das, Usha & Ansari, M.A. & Ghosh, Souvik, 2022. "Effectiveness and upscaling potential of climate smart agriculture interventions: Farmers' participatory prioritization and livelihood indicators as its determinants," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    12. Amadu, Festus O. & McNamara, Paul E. & Miller, Daniel C., 2020. "Yield effects of climate-smart agriculture aid investment in southern Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    13. Shilomboleni, Helena & Owaygen, Marwan & De Plaen, Renaud & Manchur, Wendy & Husak, Laura, 2019. "Scaling up innovations in smallholder agriculture: Lessons from the Canadian international food security research fund," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 58-65.
    14. Islam, Zeenatul & Sabiha, Noor E & Salim, Ruhul, 2022. "Integrated environment-smart agricultural practices: A strategy towards climate-resilient agriculture," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 59-72.
    15. Mutenje, Munyaradzi Junia & Farnworth, Cathy Rozel & Stirling, Clare & Thierfelder, Christian & Mupangwa, Walter & Nyagumbo, Isaiah, 2019. "A cost-benefit analysis of climate-smart agriculture options in Southern Africa: Balancing gender and technology," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 126-137.
    16. Barnes, A.P. & McMillan, J. & Sutherland, L.-A. & Hopkins, J. & Thomson, S.G., 2022. "Farmer intentional pathways for net zero carbon: Exploring the lock-in effects of forestry and renewables," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    17. Carmenta, Rachel & Cammelli, Federico & Dressler, Wolfram & Verbicaro, Camila & Zaehringer, Julie G., 2021. "Between a rock and a hard place: The burdens of uncontrolled fire for smallholders across the tropics," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    18. Dhanya Jagadeesh & Mzuyanda Christian & Simon Letsoalo, 2024. "Assessing the Effectiveness of Climate-Smart Irrigation Practices in Improving Household Income Among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Botswana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-14, November.
    19. Madhusudan Ghosh, 2019. "Climate-smart Agriculture, Productivity and Food Security in India," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 4(2), pages 166-187, July.
    20. Collins C. Okolie & Gideon Danso-Abbeam & Okechukwu Groupson-Paul & Abiodun A. Ogundeji, 2022. "Climate-Smart Agriculture Amidst Climate Change to Enhance Agricultural Production: A Bibliometric Analysis," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:37:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10460-020-10126-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.