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The challenges of land degradation, climate change and food insecurity have led to the introduction of conservation agriculture (CA) aimed at enhancing yield and soil quality. Despite positive biophysical results, low adoption rates have been the focus of studies identifying constraints to wider uptake. While the adoption framework is popular for measuring agricultural innovation, objective adoption measurements remain problematic and do not recognize the contextual and dynamic decision‐making process. This study uses a technographic and participatory approach to move beyond the adoption framework and understand: (a) how agricultural decision‐making takes place including the knowledge construction, (b) how agriculture is performed in a context of project intervention and (c) how practice adaptation plays out in the context of interacting knowledge. Findings confirm that farmer decision‐making is dynamic, multidimensional and contextual. The common innovation diffusion model uses a theory of change, showcasing benefits through training lead farmers as community advocates and demonstration trials. Our study shows that the assumed model of technology transfer with reference to climate‐smart agriculture interventions is not as linear and effective as assumed previously. We introduce four lenses that contribute to better understanding complex innovation dynamics: (a) social dynamics and information transfer, (b) contextual costs and benefits, (c) experience and risk aversion, and (d) practice adaptation. Investments should build on existing knowledge and farming systems including a focus on the dynamic decision process to support the 'scaling up, scaling out and scaling deep' agenda for sustainable agricultural innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite significant investments in capacity building across sub-Saharan Africa, to date no rigorous assessment has been undertaken to interrogate the extent these efforts have effectively translated into planning and implementing climate change responses. Through qualitative data obtained from interviews with 12 Malawian government and non-government training participants and their 12 supervisors, and 12 providers of various adaptation-related training and education programmes attended, this study investigates the design, content and methodologies effective in building capacity for climate change adaptation. Findings indicate that long-term education and short-term training have complementary roles in influencing design and implementation of successful adaptation practices. Short-term training workshops are most useful when customized to particular needs of participants, are participatory in design and implementation and tailored using context-specific examples. Action planning, on-the-job training and continued mentorship after training are also effective, but are rarely used. Challenges that impede effective capacity building relate not only to training design and structure, but also the inadequacy of training needs assessments and the organizational structure in which trainees attempt to put their skills and knowledge into practice. More rigorous coordination and monitoring of training efforts-and appropriate institutional support for action following training sessions are essential to enhance adaptation planning across sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International donors and advisory bodies, governments, and nongovernmental organisations are actively promoting conservation agriculture (CA) to improve agricultural productivity and resilience to climate change impacts. However, many smallholder farmers continue to dis‐adopt (abandon) the technology. Reasons for dis‐adoption are not well known. This article examines farmers' lived experiences and perceptions of CA to understand why smallholder farmers dis‐adopt CA in Malawi. Improving understanding of dis‐adoption of this seemingly appropriate intervention is important to achieve sustained adoption and for ensuring long‐lasting impacts of agricultural development project interventions. A mixed methods approach was used, involving household questionnaire survey and focus group discussions with smallholder farmers. Findings reveal that although drivers of dis‐adoption are multidimensional and multilayered, they are rooted in shortfalls of CA promoters' implementation arrangements. Although CA proponents market CA as a time‐saving, labour‐saving, and yield‐improving technology, respondents report contrary experiences. Our findings show that farmers lack sufficient technical support and encounter technological, social, institutional, and economic challenges. These, coupled with unfulfilled expectations, undermine ownership of CA projects and lead to dis‐adoption. This highlights a need to (a) collaboratively design projects to better suit local needs and context with inclusive implementation arrangements; (b) emphasise climate resilience benefits of CA rather than economic benefits to manage farmers' expectations; (c) intensify multidisciplinary research that incorporates farmers' knowledge and experiences to develop suitable, flexible, and low‐input CA packages; and (d) provide regular hands‐on technical extension support to farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Shrub encroachment is a well-documented phenomenon affecting many of the world's drylands. The alteration of vegetation structure and species composition can lead to changes in local microclimate and soil properties which in turn affect carbon cycling. The objectives of this paper were to quantify differences in air temperatures, soil carbon, nitrogen, and CO2 efflux under trees (Vachellia erioloba), shrubs (Grewia flava), and annual and perennial grasses (Schmidtia kalahariensis and Eragrostis lehmanniana) collected over three seasons at a site in Kgalagadi District, Botswana, in order to determine the vegetation-soil feedback mechanism affecting the carbon cycle. Air temperatures were logged continuously, and soil CO2 efflux was determined throughout the day and evening using closed respiration chambers and an infrared gas analyser. There were significant differences in soil carbon, total nitrogen, CO2 efflux, light, and temperatures beneath the canopies of trees, shrubs, and grasses. Daytime air temperatures beneath shrubs and trees were cooler compared with grass sites, particularly in summer months. Night-time air temperatures under shrubs and trees were, however, warmer than at the grass sites. There was also significantly more soil carbon, nitrogen, and CO2 efflux under shrubs and trees compared with grasses. Although the differences observed in soils and microclimate may reinforce the competitive dominance of shrubs and present challenges to strategies designed to manage encroachment, they should not be viewed as entirely negative. Our findings highlight some of the dichotomies and challenges to be addressed before interventions aiming to bring about more sustainable land management can be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As river basin authorities and national governments develop policies to achieve sustainable development outcomes, conflicting signals between existing policies are undermining cross-thematic integrative modes of policy planning. This raises fundamental questions over how coherent portfolios of policy interventions across vital themes can best be advanced and managed. Taking the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) as an empirical example, we analyse transboundary policies and intervention documents relating to climate adaptation, water governance and conflict management to ascertain the interdependencies at the adaptation-water-peace nexus. Using a Qualitative Document Analysis (QDA) approach and a set of subjective integration scoring criteria, we assess whether and how integration is planned, setting out ways forward for mutually beneficial integration actions. Despite recent progress in addressing lake drying and recognising cross-thematic challenges, most LCB intervention plans continue to adopt standalone basin-scale agendas and seldom consider action plan preparedness based on local-level assessments. Analysis of a few (existing) cross-thematic, well-integrated initiatives indicates that the timings of societal challenges and funding arrangements appear to play a key role in shaping policy strategies, the manner in which climate adaptation, water or security are treated and the level of integration attained. Based on the notion that integration is inherently desirable, we suggest a new ‘policy integration thinking’ that embraces a development landscape logic and balances short-term and long-term development priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting inclusive and sustainable economic and social development whilst simultaneously adapting to climate change impacts and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions – Climate Compatible Development (CCD) – requires coherent policy approaches that span multiple sectors. This paper develops and applies a qualitative content analysis to assess national sector policies of ten southern African countries to determine their approaches for water, agriculture, forestry and energy and their compatibility with the aims of the three dimensions of CCD (development, climate adaptation and climate mitigation). Results indicate that sector policies currently only partially support shifts towards CCD, with approaches that both complement and detract from CCD being prioritized by national governments. Agriculture offers the greatest number of potentially viable approaches capable of achieving the development, adaptation and mitigation aims inherent in CCD, while energy the least. National governments should focus on developing coherent, cross-sector approaches that deliver such potential triple wins in order to promote new forms of inclusive and sustainable economic and social development, whilst facilitating adaptation to climate change impacts and supporting mitigation activities. Doing so will also go a long way towards ensuring the progress needed for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Climate Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dryland vegetation is characterized by discrete plant patches that accumulate and capture soil resources under their canopies. These 'fertile islands' are major drivers of dryland ecosystem structure and functioning, yet we lack an integrated understanding of the factors controlling their magnitude and variability at the global scale., We conducted a standardized field survey across 236 drylands from five continents. At each site, we measured the composition, diversity and cover of perennial plants. Fertile island effects were estimated at each site by comparing composite soil samples obtained under the canopy of the dominant plants and in open areas devoid of perennial vegetation. For each sample, we measured 15 soil variables (functions) associated with carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling and used the relative interaction index to quantify the magnitude of the fertile island effect for each function. In 80 sites, we also measured fungal and bacterial abundance (quantitative PCR) and diversity (Illumina MiSeq)., The most fertile islands, i.e. those where a higher number of functions were simultaneously enhanced, were found at lower elevation sites with greater soil pH values and sand content under semiarid climates, particularly at locations where the presence of tall woody species with a low-specific leaf area increased fungal abundance beneath plant canopies, the main direct biotic controller of the fertile island effect in the drylands studied. Positive effects of fungal abundance were particularly associated with greater nutrient contents and microbial activity (soil extracellular enzymes) under plant canopies., Synthesis. Our results show that the formation of fertile islands in global drylands largely depends on: (1) local climatic, topographic and edaphic characteristics, (2) the structure and traits of local plant communities and (3) soil microbial communities. Our study also has broad implications for the management and restoration of dryland ecosystems worldwide, where woody plants are commonly used as nurse plants to enhance the establishment and survival of beneficiary species. Finally, our results suggest that forecasted increases in aridity may enhance the formation of fertile islands in drylands worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments and donors are investing in climate compatible development in order to reduce climate and development vulnerabilities. However, the rate at which climate compatible development is being operationalised has outpaced academic enquiry into the concept. Interventions aiming to achieve climate compatible development 'wins' (for development, mitigation, adaptation) can also create negative side-effects. Moreover, benefits and negative side-effects may differ across time and space and have diverse consequences for individuals and groups. Assessments of the full range of outcomes created by climate compatible development projects and their implications for distributive justice are scarce. This article develops a framework using a systematic literature review that enables holistic climate compatible development outcome evaluation over seven parameters identified. Thereafter, we explore the outcomes of two donor-funded projects that pursue climate compatible development triple-wins in Malawi using this framework. Household surveys, semi-structured interviews and documentary material are analysed. Results reveal that uneven outcomes are experienced between stakeholder groups and change over time. Although climate compatible development triple-wins can be achieved through projects, they do not represent the full range of outcomes. Ecosystem-and community-based activities are becoming popularised as approaches for achieving climate compatible development goals. However, findings suggest that a strengthened evidence base is required to ensure that these approaches are able to meet climate compatible development goals and further distributive justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pastoral societies in dryland Africa continue to face changes to their systems. These systems are influenced by a range of historical factors, but little use is made of this information to design policies that suit pastoralists' landscapes. This article provides a synthesis of historical perspectives on pastoral land use and tenure transformations in Ngamiland, south of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Little documentation of herders' historical perspectives exists and less is known about how past experiences can be applied to sustainable pastoralism policies. In this article, current land use pressing issues are examined and analysed within the context of past experiences. We use a series of oral histories with key informants, focus group discussions, expert interviews and rangeland field observations. Results show that Nagamiland's pastoral landscape has been shaped by a variety of factors: livestock diseases, human-wildlife conflicts, droughts, land tenure transformations associated with rangeland policies and the pastoral identity of the Ovaherero/Ovambanderu ethnic groups. Pastoralists have followed unique trajectories, specific to their rangeland conditions and socio-cultural context. Resilience to climate shocks and diseases has been weakened by inequitable patterns of control over rangeland resources. We recommend institutional diversity such that from experiences of the past, lessons can be drawn of processes and institutions required for pastoralism policies targeted pastoralists' adaptations. Using pastoralists to provide information, especially in the area of indigenous knowledge, strategies can be developed to link conservation of wildlife and rangelands with pastoral production by developing ecologically sensitive low-volume tourism that pastoral communities can tap to diversify their livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation agriculture (CA) practices of reduced soil tillage, permanent organic soil coverage and intercropping/crop rotation, are being advocated globally, based on perceived benefits for crop yields, soil carbon storage, weed suppression, reduced soil erosion and improved soil water retention. However, some have questioned their efficacy due to uncertainty around the performance and trade-offs associated with CA practices, and their compatibility with the diverse livelihood strategies and varied agro-ecological conditions across African smallholder systems. This paper assesses the role of key institutions in Malawi in shaping pathways towards more sustainable land management based on CA by outlining their impact on national policy-making and the design and implementation of agricultural development projects. It draws on interviews at national, district and project levels and a multi-stakeholder workshop that mapped the institutional landscape of decision-making for agricultural land management practices. Findings identify knowledge gaps and institutional barriers that influence land management decision-making and constrain CA uptake. We use our findings to set out an integrated roadmap of research needs and policy options aimed at supporting CA as a route to enhanced sustainable land management in Malawi. Findings offer lessons that can inform design, planning and implementation of CA projects, and identify the multi-level institutional support structures required for mainstreaming sustainable land management in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, the spatial extent of communal grazing lands in Botswana has been diminishing due to rangeland privatisation and fencing associated with animal health policies. Spatial comparisons of pastoral land use transformations are particularly important where accessibility to grazing and water resources remains at the core of sustainable pastoralism policies. Achieving success in pastoral development research requires a sound understanding of traditional pastoralists’ information systems, including the nature of local spatial knowledge. This study explores local spatial knowledge through participatory mapping and a Participatory Geographic Information System to understand and analyse pastoralists’ grazing patterns, spatial mobility and the impacts of subdivisions and privatisation policies in Botswana’s Ngamiland rangelands. The study uses focus group discussions, historical analysis through key informant interviews, and participatory mapping exercises along with community guided transect walks. The resulting maps provide insights into the traditional tenure patterns of land use and the impacts of rangeland policy on traditional livestock spatial mobility and access to grazing lands. Privatisation and rangeland enclosures have resulted in the restricted movement of livestock and overstocking of floodplains and riparian rangelands, with some natural water pans becoming inaccessible to local communities. We conclude that the integration of local spatial knowledge can be used to foster better articulation and understanding of pastoralists’ tenures, which are often lacking in communal land administration systems. Such integrated analysis can contribute to sustainable pastoral land management policy toolkits in semi-arid rangeland environments and enable better land tenure and management decision making for sustainable land management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of climate services, i.e. providing targeted, tailored, and timely weather and climate information, has gained momentum, but requires improved understanding of user needs. This article identifies the opportunities and barriers to the use of climate services for planning in Malawi, to identify the types of information that can better inform future adaptation decisions in sub-Saharan Africa. From policy analysis, stakeholder interviews, and a national workshop utilizing serious games, it is determined that only 5–10 day and seasonal forecasts are currently being used in government decision making. Impediments to greater integration of climate services include spatial and temporal scale, accessibility, timing, credibility and the mismatch in timeframes between planning cycles (1–5 years) and climate projections (over 20 years). Information that could more usefully inform planning decisions includes rainfall distribution within a season, forecasts with 2–3 week lead times, likely timing and location of extreme events in the short term (1–5 years), and projections (e.g. rainfall and temperature change) in the medium term (6–20 years). Development of a national set of scenarios would also make climate information more accessible to decision makers, and capacity building around such scenarios would enable its improved use in short- to medium-term planning. Improved climate science and its integration with impact models offer exciting opportunities for integrated climate-resilient planning across sub-Saharan Africa. Accrual of positive impacts requires enhanced national capacity to interpret climate information and implement communication strategies across sectors. Policy relevance For climate services to achieve their goal of improving adaptation decision making, it is necessary to understand the decision making process and how and when various types of weather and climate information can be incorporated. Through a case study of public sector planning in Malawi, this article highlights relevant planning and policy-making processes. The current use of weather and climate information and needs, over various timescales – sub-annual to short term (1–5 years) to medium term (6–20 years) – is outlined. If climate scientists working with boundary organizations are able to address these issues in a more targeted, sector-facing manner they will improve the uptake of climate services and the likelihood of climate-resilient decisions across sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate variability is amongst an array of threats facing agricultural livelihoods, with its effects unevenly distributed. With resource conflict being increasingly recognised as one significant outcome of climate variability and change, understanding the underlying drivers that shape differential vulnerabilities in areas that are double-exposed to climate and conflict has great significance. Climate change vulnerability frameworks are rarely applied in water conflict research. This article presents a composite climate-water conflict vulnerability index based on a double exposure framework developed from advances in vulnerability and livelihood assessments. We apply the index to assess how the determinants of vulnerability can be useful in understanding climate variability and water conflict interactions and to establish how knowledge of the climate-conflict linked context can shape interventions to reduce vulnerability. We surveyed 240 resource users (farmers, fishermen and pastoralists) in seven villages on the south-eastern shores of Lake Chad in the Republic of Chad to collect data on a range of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity variables. Results suggest that pastoralists are more vulnerable in terms of climate-structured aggressive behaviour within a lake-based livelihoods context where all resource user groups show similar levels of exposure to climate variability. Our approach can be used to understand the human and environmental security components of vulnerability to climate change and to explore ways in which conflict-structured climate adaptation and climate-sensitive conflict management strategies can be integrated to reduce the vulnerability of populations in high-risk, conflict-prone environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem services and economic returns from semi-arid rangelands are threatened by land degradation. Policies to improve ecosystem service delivery often fail to consider uncertainty in economic returns gained through different land uses and management practices. We apply an analytical framework using stochastic simulation to estimate the range of potential monetary outcomes of rangeland ecosystem services under different land uses, including consideration of the uncertainty and variability of model parameters. We assess monetary and non-monetary dimensions, including those ecosystem services with uncertain and missing information, for communal rangelands, commercial ranches, game farms and Wildlife Management Areas in southern Kgalagadi District, Botswana. Public land uses (communal grazing areas and protected conservation land in Wildlife Management Areas) provide higher economic value than private land uses (commercial ranches and game farms), despite private land uses being more profitable in their returns from meat production. Communal rangelands and protected areas are important for a broader range of ecosystem services (cultural/spiritual services, recreation, firewood, construction material and wild food), which play a key role in sustaining the livelihoods of the largest share of society. The full range of ecosystem services should therefore be considered in economic assessments, while policies targeting sustainable land management should value and support their provision and utilisation. By forecasting the range of plausible ecosystem values of different rangeland land uses in monetary terms, our analysis provides policymakers with a tool to assess outcomes of land use and management decisions and policies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are confronted with climatic and non-climatic stressors. Research attention has focused on climatic stressors, such as rainfall variability, with few empirical studies exploring non-climatic stressors and how these interact with climatic stressors at multiple scales to affect food security and livelihoods. This focus on climatic factors restricts understanding of the combinations of stressors that exacerbate the vulnerability of farming households and hampers the development of holistic climate change adaptation policies. This study addresses this particular research gap by adopting a multi-scale approach to understand how climatic and non-climatic stressors vary, and interact, across three spatial scales (household, community and district levels) to influence livelihood vulnerability of smallholder farming households in the Savannah zone of northern Ghana. This study across three case study villages utilises a series of participatory tools including semi-structured interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The incidence, importance, severity and overall risk indices for stressors are calculated at the household, community, and district levels. Results show that climatic and non-climatic stressors were perceived differently; yet, there were a number of common stressors including lack of money, high cost of farm inputs, erratic rainfall, cattle destruction of crops, limited access to markets and lack of agricultural equipment that crossed all scales. Results indicate that the gender of respondents influenced the perception and severity assessment of stressors on rural livelihoods at the community level. Findings suggest a mismatch between local and district level priorities that have implications for policy and development of agricultural and related livelihoods in rural communities. Ghana's climate change adaptation policies need to take a more holistic approach that integrates both climatic and non-climatic factors to ensure policy coherence between national climate adaptation plans and District development plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges of climate change, food insecurity and land degradation have all led to a push for 'scaling' innovation for sustainable agriculture. For this purpose, international agricultural development projects often use farm trials or farmer field schools as a way for farmers to engage with technically-constructed knowledge and empirical evidence. However, the role of such trials in the socio-political construction of knowledge is often overlooked. This study conceptualises agricultural development interventions as taking place within an interaction space between researchers and farmers. Unpacking the processes and dynamics of the interaction space from four case studies across Malawi and mainland Tanzania, we present findings which evaluate: 1) how agricultural innovation takes place in the context of funded agricultural development projects, and 2) how space for technical and social knowledge construction can be opened up or closed down in these contexts. Results show that farm trials provide a basis for interaction, but that knowledge exchange in these contexts also require knowledge brokers for successful implementation and scaling. Both knowledge brokers, and the trials themselves shape social dynamics, often simultaneously facilitating social learning for some, but contributing to social exclusions for others. A strong connection was identified between the design of the interaction space and social dynamics evident within it, indicative of the close interconnection between the processes of socio-political and technical construction of knowledge. Key factors open or close the interaction space , such as the continuity of knowledge brokers and the complexity of technologies. Improving the effectiveness of innovation for sustainable agriculture, requires opening up the interaction space to enable more effective and sustained co-creation of technologies, social learning and the collaborative construction of shared knowledge. • Agricultural interventions can be conceptualised as interaction space. • Farm trials require knowledge brokers to connect technical and social knowledge. • There is limited insight for farmers in the innovation networks. • There is a connection between the interaction space design and social dynamics. • Factors open or close the interaction space , e.g. continuity and complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]