The value of climate-resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa

Climate change is threatening food security in many tropical countries, where a large proportion of food is produced by vulnerable smallholder farmers. Interventions are available to offset many of the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture, and they can be tailored to local conditions of...

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Autores principales: Cacho, Oscar J, Moss, Jonathan, Thornton, Philip K., Herrero, Mario, Henderson, Benjamin B., Bodirsky, Benjamin L., Humpenöder, Florian, Popp, Alexander, Lipper, Leslie
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111154
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author Cacho, Oscar J
Moss, Jonathan
Thornton, Philip K.
Herrero, Mario
Henderson, Benjamin B.
Bodirsky, Benjamin L.
Humpenöder, Florian
Popp, Alexander
Lipper, Leslie
author_browse Bodirsky, Benjamin L.
Cacho, Oscar J
Henderson, Benjamin B.
Herrero, Mario
Humpenöder, Florian
Lipper, Leslie
Moss, Jonathan
Popp, Alexander
Thornton, Philip K.
author_facet Cacho, Oscar J
Moss, Jonathan
Thornton, Philip K.
Herrero, Mario
Henderson, Benjamin B.
Bodirsky, Benjamin L.
Humpenöder, Florian
Popp, Alexander
Lipper, Leslie
author_sort Cacho, Oscar J
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Climate change is threatening food security in many tropical countries, where a large proportion of food is produced by vulnerable smallholder farmers. Interventions are available to offset many of the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture, and they can be tailored to local conditions often through relative modest investments. However, little quantitative information is available to guide investment or policy choices at a time when countries and development agencies are under pressure to implement policies that can help achieve Sustainable Development Goals while coping with climate change. Among smallholder adaptation options, developing seeds resilient to current and future climate shocks expected locally is one of the most important actions available now. In this paper, we used national and local data to estimate the costs of climate change to smallholder farmers in Malawi and Tanzania. We found that the benefits from adopting resilient seeds ranged between 984 million and 2.1 billion USD during 2020–2050. Our analysis demonstrates the benefits of establishing and maintaining a flexible national seed sector with participation by communities in the breeding, delivery, and adoption cycle.
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spelling CGSpace1111542025-08-15T13:22:54Z The value of climate-resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa Cacho, Oscar J Moss, Jonathan Thornton, Philip K. Herrero, Mario Henderson, Benjamin B. Bodirsky, Benjamin L. Humpenöder, Florian Popp, Alexander Lipper, Leslie climate change agriculture food security adaptation smallholders seeds policies Climate change is threatening food security in many tropical countries, where a large proportion of food is produced by vulnerable smallholder farmers. Interventions are available to offset many of the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture, and they can be tailored to local conditions often through relative modest investments. However, little quantitative information is available to guide investment or policy choices at a time when countries and development agencies are under pressure to implement policies that can help achieve Sustainable Development Goals while coping with climate change. Among smallholder adaptation options, developing seeds resilient to current and future climate shocks expected locally is one of the most important actions available now. In this paper, we used national and local data to estimate the costs of climate change to smallholder farmers in Malawi and Tanzania. We found that the benefits from adopting resilient seeds ranged between 984 million and 2.1 billion USD during 2020–2050. Our analysis demonstrates the benefits of establishing and maintaining a flexible national seed sector with participation by communities in the breeding, delivery, and adoption cycle. 2020-10 2021-02-04T15:36:40Z 2021-02-04T15:36:40Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111154 en Open Access Springer Cacho OJ, Moss J, Thornton P, Herrero M, Henderson B, Bodirsky BL, Humpenöder F, Popp A, Lipper L. 2020. The value of climate-resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa. Climatic Change 162:1213–1229.
spellingShingle climate change
agriculture
food security
adaptation
smallholders
seeds
policies
Cacho, Oscar J
Moss, Jonathan
Thornton, Philip K.
Herrero, Mario
Henderson, Benjamin B.
Bodirsky, Benjamin L.
Humpenöder, Florian
Popp, Alexander
Lipper, Leslie
The value of climate-resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa
title The value of climate-resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa
title_full The value of climate-resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr The value of climate-resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed The value of climate-resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa
title_short The value of climate-resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort value of climate resilient seeds for smallholder adaptation in sub saharan africa
topic climate change
agriculture
food security
adaptation
smallholders
seeds
policies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111154
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