Presentation on opportunities for investment in Climate Smart Agriculture in Malawi

1. Climate-Smart Agriculture Project (CSAP):
Initial Recommendations for Proposal
Athur Mabiso, Ph.D. & Flora Nankhuni, Ph.D. (NAPAS:Malawi)
Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development
Department of Agricultural Planning Services
May 22nd, 2015

2. Outline
•Introduction: What is CSA?
•Research Evidence on CSA
•Examples of CSA Approaches
•Conclusion

3. What is CSA?
• Agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, resilience
(adaptation), reduces or removes Green House Gas emissions
(mitigation) where possible, while enhancing achievement of national
food security and development goals (FAO CSA Sourcebook, 2013;
Thornton and Lipper, 2014)
Three Action Areas/Pillars: Policy Goals:
1. Sustainable productivity increases
2. Resilience (adaptation)
3. Mitigation (GHGs)
• Food Security & Nutrition
• Other Development Goals
(Poverty Reduction,
Economic Growth, etc.)

4. Research Evidence on CSA

5. CSA Research: Sustainably increasing
productivity
• Benefits of research and extension are high
• Rates of return > 40% (IFPRI, 2007; Evenson, 2001).
• Nitrogen Use Efficiency in crops can be increased by increasing carbon
content in soil - integrate legumes (intercropping, crop rotations) (Snapp et
al., 2014)
• Irrigation often leads to increased yields and total output (Ringler, 2010)
• Supplement rain-fed
• Additional production cycles per year
• Flood management and water management techniques are cost-effective
• Crop yield gaps in Malawi are above 60% (Titonell and Giller, 2013)

6. CSA Research: Adaptation
• Increasing organic matter content in soils increases NUE for all crops
(Snapp, et al. 2014; Burke et al. 2015)
• There is a threshold for efficiency to improve (1.2% soil organic
matter content) (Burke et al., 2015)
• Incorporating trees and ecosystems-based approaches can help
restore or reclaim infertile soils (treatment) (Lunduka, et al.
forthcoming; Francis et al., 2015)
• But also need maintenance and preventive approaches (keep soil
healthy)! (Giller, 2014)

7. Soil Organic Matter Threshold = 1.2%
Averageproductoffertilizer
(Maizeyieldresponse)
Source: Burke et al. (2015)

8. Source: Placid Mpeketula
PhD Dissertation

9. Fertilizer alone is not enough
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
Yield(t/ha)

10. CSA Research: Mitigation
• Methane gas emissions from livestock production is the largest contributer
of GHGs from agriculture (IPPC, 2007)
• Methane has the second-largest RF (Radiative Forcing) of the LLGHGs after
CO2 (Ramaswamy et al., 2001).
• Global rice production emits 500-800 million tons of CO₂ equivalent per
year, (at least 10 percent of total agricultural GHG emissions and at least 1
percent of global GHG emissions) (Word Resources Institute, 2014; CCAFS,
2014)
• Industrial CO2 gas emissions may rise with increased development,
including value addition processes that use fossil fuels (IPCC, 2007)
• Mechanization of farming, agroprocessing using fossil fuels
• But some sources of CO2 may decline
• e.g. charcoal in Malawi may decline if replaced by hydro-electricity or solar

11. Examples of Sustainably Increasing
Productivity
• Improved seed and planting materials (yield-enhancing biotechnologies)
• Evergreen Agriculture (Incorporating trees into crop land and pastures -
FMNR, CA, integrating trees in farming)
• Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) (Francis et al., 2015)
• Woodland management techniques - coppicing and pollarding, to produce
continuous tree growth for fuel, building materials, food and fodder without the
need for frequent and costly replanting.
• Conservation agriculture, where appropriate
• Integrated soil fertility management
• Incorporate legume farming systems
• Crop rotations, double row intercropping, etc.
• Organic fertilizers (manures, composts, etc.)
• Permaculture (ecosystems-based approaches)

12. Examples of Adaptation
• National and Local adaptation planning for agriculture
• Afforestation for flood management
• Drought tolerant seed technologies
• Research programs on climate-smart technologies and agric. practices
• Diversification into resilient crops, livestock and fisheries systems (e.g.
from maize to cassava & sweet potatoes)
• Reducing production of rice
• Resettlement of farming away from flood-prone zones
• Climate-smart sensitive extension services and management systems

13. Examples of Adaptation
• Spatial planning and zoning of fish farming, to ensure aquaculture
stays within ecosystem’s carrying capacity
• Shift fish consumption toward fish that are low on the food chain—
“low-trophic” species such as tilapia, catfish, carp
• Low-impact fish production, using innovations in breeding and
hatchery technologies
• Reduce food losses (especially post-harvest) and food waste

14. Examples of Adaptation
• Integrated landscape and soil fertility management
• Monitoring and evaluating progress on CSA
• Halt increases in cultivated farming area and designate protected land
conservation areas and forestry

15. Examples of Mitigation
• Afforestation for increased carbon sequestration
• Creation of carbon credit markets and regulation of emissions
• Grassland farming for increased land cover
• Changing livestock and dairy cattle feeding methods to reduce
methane gas emissions (grass instead of maize)

16. Examples of Mitigation
• Water management techniques in rice systems (a single drawdown of
water during mid-season, alternate wetting and drying [AWD], dry
seeing, aerobic rice production) to reduce flooding
• Reducing livestock and dairy production??
• May be not for Malawi?
• Value chain innovations
• Innovative logistics and local food movement (trucking, rail and air transport to
international destinations)
• Rural electrification for agroprocessing to reduce CO2 emissions associated with
industrialization
• Law and regulations on transport for agricultural commodities
• Consumer food choices – promoting low GHG impact foods (e.g. soya pieces
and soya milk instead of meat and dairy)

17. Conclusion: Recommendations
• A CSA project is timely and critically important for Malawi
• Project should focus on first two pillar of CSA
• Sustainably increasing productivity in agriculture
• Adaptation in agriculture
• Mostly a “Do no harm” approach can be adopted on the mitigation
pillar in the project proposal
• E.g. As a whole, the project interventions should lead to ≤ 0 net GHG
emissions from Malawian Agriculture

18. Conclusion: Recommendations
• Incorporate flood management techniques; sustainable water
management approaches
• Water harvesting
• Catchment area and landscape management
• Sustainable irrigation integrated with CA
• Incorporate issues of soil management; especially carbon content
enhancing interventions
• Integrated soil fertility management
• Legumes, crop rotation, double row intercropping

19. Conclusion: Recommendations
• Incorporate trees in farming systems
• Evergreen agriculture, FMNR, CA as appropriate
• Afforestation
• Agroforestry products
• Invest in data, information systems, M&E for assessing the situation
and tracking progress on CSA interventions
• Invest in research and extension for CSA

20. Zikomo kwambiri!