Modeling climate change impact on low-input smallholder farming systems

Publication date: 24/07/2023
Extent: 30 pages

Contributions by: Myriam Adam, Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD), UMR AGAP Institute, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France and National University of Battambang, Cambodia; Gatien Falconnier, CIRAD, UPR AIDA, F-34398 Montpellier and AIDA, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, Montpellier, France and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Zimbabwe; David Berre, CIRAD, UPR AIDA, F-34398 Montpellier and AIDA, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, Montpellier, France; Katrien Descheemaeker, Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands; Juliette Lairez, CIRAD, UPR AIDA, F-34398 Montpellier and AIDA, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, Montpellier, France and Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherche Agricole (INERA), Burkina Faso; and Louise Leroux, CIRAD, UPR AIDA, F-34398 Montpellier and AIDA, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, Montpellier, France, CIRAD, UPR AIDA, Nairobi and IITA, Kenya

Chapter synopsis:

Smallholder farming systems face many adversities including poor soil fertility, poor access to inputs, and high dependence on climate variability. On top of that, ongoing climate change is expected to exacerbate the effect of abiotic and abiotic stresses on farm performances, and poses additional challenges of adaptation to climate change. This chapter presents the effect of climate change on the different components of the farming systems (crop, livestock, grassland and tree), in the context of low-input systems. After this account, we argue on the need to have a more integrative approach to assess the effect of climate change on farming systems as a whole. We expose different approaches: coupling of models, use of optimization model. We finally highlight the importance of involving farmers in the process of using models to co-design relevant adaptations to climate change in the context of low input systems.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2022.0115.10