AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2016

Figure 4.1: Resilience and sustainability as
complementary concepts
Capacity over time in face of disturbances
conservation farming collectively referred to as ecological
intensification; plant and livestock breeding referred to as
genetic intensification; and the enabling environment for SI
to be delivered, termed socio-economic intensification. This
section provides examples of interventions of SI that have
worked and lessons from success stories. The section also
considers incentives for policy makers to help bring about
the desired shift towards resilient food production systems.
The final section of the chapter provides conclusions.
Resilience
Sustainabilty
Environmental Resilience
Environmental resilience is the ability of environmental
systems to absorb disturbances and still retain their basic
ecological functions and structure. With respect to SI,
the challenge is how to achieve sustainable and resilient
agricultural productivity with more efficient use of all inputs
while reducing environmental damage. Since agricultural
production systems are parts of larger landscapes, they
play an important role in the conservation of natural
landscapes to enhance the flow of environmental goods
and services and cultural values while minimizing negative
externalities (Pretty et al., 2011).
Capacity to preserve the system in the long run
Source: Tendall et al, 2015
Economic resilience, the focus of section three, is the
ability of the agricultural system to recover from or adjust
to the negative impacts of external economic shocks.
The analysis focuses on the impact of several factors
such as climate change and variability, price fluctuations
and political instability (insecurity, disruption of transport
networks) that periodically and frequently shock the
agricultural sector in Africa. In addition, the opportunities
for and challenges to the resilience of African agriculture
caused by the increasing inter-regional and international
interactions including factor and product markets, value
chains, and markets under the umbrella of globalization
and regional integration, are also discussed.
In section four, we analyze various aspects of social
resilience. The section seeks to deepen the understanding
of the roles of governance of resources and value chains,
tenure on land, forestry, fisheries and other productive
resources (e.g., water). It also deals with the role of social
preferences in shaping social resilience under projected
economic pathways.
The fifth section focuses on the practical approaches that
can deliver SI. These including good agronomic practices
such as intercropping, agroforestry technologies and
Analyzing coping strategies and capacities including
indigenous and traditional strategies is very important in
the African setting. Agriculture in Africa is under threat of
low productivity due to limited use of yield-enhancing inputs
(especially improved seeds and fertilizers), increasing
water stress in many countries, and disasters such as
flood and drought that are affecting crop, livestock and fish
production. Forests are being affected in different ways such
as unsustainable logging, slash and burn, and domestic
and commercial firewood and charcoal production. The
impact of these activities is highly location specific. Coastal
and low-lying areas are at risk of flooding due to rising
sea level and soil erosion. In some areas, infrastructure
such as settlements, roads and bridges, and industries
are at risk of disasters such as floods and landslides. To
understand how to adapt to the increasing frequency of
extreme events, we must understand the central concept
of adaptation, which is vulnerability (Locatelli et al., 2008).
Land and Soil Degradation
Thiombiano and Tourino-Soto (2007) report that Africa is
seriously threatened by land degradation which is being
caused by inter alia, population growth, conflicts and wars
with expanded refugee settlements, inappropriate soil
management, deforestation, shifting cultivation, insecurity
in land tenure, and variation of climatic conditions as well
as intrinsic characteristics of fragile soils in diverse agroecological
zones. As a consequence, Africa accounts for
65 percent of the total extensive cropland degradation
AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2016
77