期刊名称：Science et changements planétaires / Sécheresse
印刷版ISSN：1147-7806
电子版ISSN：1777-5922
出版年度：2013
卷号：24
期号：4
页码：350-358
DOI：10.1684/sec.2014.0409
出版社：John Libbey Eurotext
摘要：Figures See all figures Authors Sieglinde Snapp , Rachel Bezner Kerr , Alex Smith , Mary Ollenburger , Wezi Mhango , Lizzie Shumba , Tinkani Gondwe , George Kanyama-Phiri Michigan State University Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences Kellogg Biological Station East Lansing, MI USA, Cornell University Department of Development Sociology Ithaca, NY USA, Wageningen University Plant Production Systems Group P.O. Box 430 6700 AK Wageningen The Netherlands, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Bunda College Lilongwe Malawi, Ekwendeni Hospital Soils Food & Healthy Communities Project Ekwendeni Malawi Key words: climate change adaptation, legume diversification, participatory systems analysis, smallholder farm DOI : 10.1684/sec.2014.0409 Page(s) : 350-8 Published in: 2013 Crop diversification has a long history in Africa, as a foundation for more resilient and sustainable farming systems. However, success has often been mixed. Variable weather and changing climate requires a focus on supporting farmer capacity to adapt and innovate. Participatory research and simulation modeling are uniquely suited to this goal. Here we present a case study from Northern Malawi where crop modeling in conjunction with participatory approaches were used to evaluate the performance of the promising mixed cropping systems, involving maize and pigeon pea. Using historical rainfall records, simulated yield (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator, APSIM) from maize and pigeon pea-maize intercrop and rotation systems was compared to food requirements for 12 households selected to represent a range of wealth status. We found that pigeon pea-maize intercrops were highly likely to produce sufficient calories for smallholder households across variable rainfall patterns, from 73 to 100% of the years simulated, for 10 out of 12 case study households. This stands in contrast to monoculture maize, where sufficient calories were consistently produced for only half of the case study households. Survey data from this case study documented adoption patterns that reflected strong interest in legume mixtures, and gains in farmer capacity. Farmers shared agronomic information and seeds of pigeon pea and other improved legumes. Overall, we found that farmers were highly motivated to experiment with and adopt legumes that produced food and other valued combinations of traits, whereas green manures met with limited interest. Notably, farmers prioritized species that were reliable at producing food under variable rainfall. Support for farmer-to-farmer learning was critical to the success of the project, and a co-learning approach provided valuable insights to researchers regarding which technologies were more adaptable, and ultimately, adoptable by smallholders living in a highly variable environment.
关键词：climate change adaptation; legume diversification; participatory systems analysis; smallholder farm
