An assessment of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices skills amongst extension practitioners in South Africa

Authors

  • L Maka Agricultural Research Council, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6856-9410
  • T Ngotho Agricultural Research Council, South Africa
  • S Walker Agricultural Research Council, South Africa
  • S Ngcamphalala Agricultural Research Council, South Africa
  • L Maboa Agricultural Research Council, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2021/v49n2a12802

Keywords:

Climate-Smart Agriculture, skills, agricultural extension services

Abstract

One of the roles of extension services is to link farmers to the developers of technological solutions (research outputs). Extension officers act as facilitators and assist farmers in their decision-making and technology adaptation. With the changing climate threatening production resources, extension officers need to encourage farmers to adopt various climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices. The paper seeks to reflect on a study by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) to assess their skills and knowledge about climate change and CSA. The study aimed to conduct a skills audit on CSA and related concepts. Through a stratified sampling method, all extension practitioners (EPs) registered with South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) were included in the survey. The survey, administered through a user-friendly tool (online google forms), was developed to investigate: familiarity with, and current skills in climate-smart agriculture and collect biographic information, field of responsibility (e.g. cropping, livestock and mixed farming). Both quantitative and qualitative data was sourced through the survey tool to draw generalized conclusion and perceptions of how best to improve the capabilities of EPs on CSA. The results of the survey showed that EPs had a theoretical understanding of climate change and CSA. Generally, EPs across all positions, education levels, age categories and experience could identify the correct definition and cause of climate change, despite the fact that the majority had not received any CSA training. On the contrary, the majority of respondents had little understanding of how best to apply the CSA approach in practice, to assist farmers curb the effects of climate change. A CSA training programme was developed to establish a strong theoretical base, together with an understanding of the challenges presented by climate change and climate variability to sustainable agriculture in South Africa.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

BEHNASSI, M.; BOUSSAID, M. & GOPICHANDRAN, R. 2014. Achieving Food Security in a Changing Climate: The Potential of Climate-Smart Agriculture. In: Shahid, S.A. and Ahmed, M. (eds.), Environmental Cost and Face of Agriculture in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: Fostering Agriculture in the Context of Climate Change. Gulf Research Centre Cambridge. Chapter 2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05768-2_2

COSSAN, L. & VISSER, Z. 2017. Green Skills for Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Case Study of Poultry, Winter Grains and Deciduous Fruit Value Chains in the Western Cape. Published by Green Skills. Available at: http://www.greenskills.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Green-Skills-in-WC-CSA-Final-report-July-2017.pdf. [Date Accessed, 28/02/2020].

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES (DAFF). 2005. Norms and Standards for Extension and Advisory Services in Agriculture. [Online] Available at: https://www.daff.gov.za/daffweb3/Branches/Food-Security-Agrarian-Reform/National-Extension-Support/Norms-and-standard. [Date Accessed, 13/03/2020].

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO). 2011. The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-2011. Women in Agriculture: Closing the gender gap for development. [Online]. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i2050e/i2050e00.htm [Date Accessed, 12/03/2020].

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO). 2012a. 2050: A third more mouths to feed. [Online]. Available at: http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/35571/nicode [Date Accessed, 12/03/2020].

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO). 2012b. Greening the Economy with Climate-Smart Agriculture, Background Paper for the Second Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change. Hanoi, Vietnam: 3-7 September 2012. [Online]. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap403e/ap403e.pdf [Date Accessed, 12/03/2020].

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO). 2010. “Climate-Smart” Agriculture: Policies, Practices and Financing for Food Security, Adaptation and Mitigation. Paper prepared for Hague Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change.

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO). 2013. Climate-Smart Agriculture Sourcebook. [Online]. Available at: http://www.fao.org/3/i3325e/i3325e00.htm. [Date Accessed, 28/02/2020].

FRANK, J & BUCKLEY, C. 2012. Small-scale farmers and climate change. How can farmer organisations and Fairtrade build the adaptive capacity of smallholders? IIED, London. Available at: http://pubs.iied.org/16518IIED.html [Date Accessed, 12/03/2020].

INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC). (2007). Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva: IPCC. Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ar4_syr_full_report.pdf

KURUKURASURIYA, P. & ROSENTHAL, S. 2003. Climate Change and Agriculture: A Review of Impacts and Adaptations, Climate Change Series, 91, Agriculture and Rural Development Department and Environment Department Joint Publication. Washington DC: The World Bank. Available at: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/757601468332407727/pdf/787390WP0Clima0ure0377348B00PUBLIC0.pdf

MENDELSOHN, R., DINAR, A. & WILLIAMS, L. 2006. The distributional impact of climate change on rich and poor countries. Environment and Development Economics. 11: 159–178. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355770X05002755

MNKENI, P & MUTENGWA, C. FOOD, 2014. A comprehensive scoping and assessment study of climate smart agriculture policies in South Africa. Report published by FANRPAN. [Online] Available at: https://www.fanrpan.org/archive/documents/d01761/South%20Africa_Comprehensive_Scoping_Assessment_of_CSA_Policies.pdf [Date Accessed: 03/03/2020].

MOTLOPI, K. 2019. Climate Smart Agriculture Insights from Practice. Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation, Gaborone, Botswana.

MURIITHI, L.N., ONYARI, C.N., MOGAKA, H.R., GICHIMU, B.M., GATUMO, G,N., AND KWENA, K. 2021 Adoption Determinants of Adapted Climate Smart Agriculture Technologies Among Smallholder Farmers in Machakos, Makueni, and Kitui Counties of Kenya. Journal of Agricultural Extension 25(2): 75-85 https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jae.v25i2.7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v25i2.7

SIMELANE, S.M, TERBLANCHE, S.E, & MASARIRAMBI M.T. 2019. Perceptions of extension officers regarding public extension services: A case study of horticultural extension officers in the Hhohho region, Eswatini. S. Afr. J. Agric. Ext., 47 (1):1-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2019/v47n1a485

STEINFIELD, H., GERBER, P., WASSERNAAR, T., CASTEL, V., ROSALES, M., & DE HAAN, C. 2006. Livestock’s long shadow: environmental issues and options. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nation. Rome. Available at: http://www.fao.org/3/a0701e/a0701e00.pdf

STEVENS, J.B. 2012. Training material for extension advisors in irrigation water management. Agricultural Extension Learner Guide. Report to the Water Research Commission Available at: http://www.wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/TT%20541-12.pdf Report No: TT 541/12.

THORNTON, P. & CRAMER, L. 2012. Impacts of climate change on the agricultural and aquatic systems and natural resources within the CGIAR’s mandate. CCAFS Working Paper 23. Copenhagen, Denmark: CCAFS.

UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) 1992. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/conveng.pdf [Date Accessed: 11/03/2020].

UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) 1997. Status of ratification of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Note by the secretariat. Kyoto Climate Change Conference - December 1997. Available at: https://unfccc.int/documents/1320 [Date Accessed: 16/03/2020].

UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE (UNFCCC) 1998. Kyoto Protocol. Available at: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpeng.pdf [Date Accessed: 12/03/2020].

VERMEULEN, S.J., AGGARWAL, P.K., AINSLIE, A., ANGELONE, C., CAMPBELL, B.M., CHALLINOR, A.J, HANSEN, J.W, INGRAM, J.S.I, JARVIS A, KRISTJANSON, P., LAU, C, NELSON, G.C, THORNTON, P.K, & WOLLENBERG, E. 2012. Options for support to agriculture and food security under climate change. Environmental Science and Policy, 15: 136– 144. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2011.09.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2011.09.003

YUSUF, S.F.G, LATEGAN F.S & MASIKA P.J. 2014. Skill gaps and training needs of the farmers and agricultural development technicians on scavenging chickens production in Nkonkobe Municipality Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. J Agri Sci, 5(1-2): 19-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09766898.2014.11884709

Downloads

Published

2021-12-09

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

An assessment of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices skills amongst extension practitioners in South Africa. (2021). South African Journal of Agricultural Extension (SAJAE), 49(2), 70-83. https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2021/v49n2a12802