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In this paper we examine whether there are significant gender differences in the adoption of climate‐smart agricultural (CSA) practices in sub‐Saharan Africa. Using individual‐level data from four sites in Kenya, Uganda and Senegal, our empirical analysis provides robust evidence that men have a higher likelihood of adopting high‐return CSA practices including modern chemical fertiliser, improved high‐yielding varieties and drought/pest tolerant livestock practices. In contrast, women tend to have a higher likelihood of adopting low‐risk and low‐return traditional CSA practices such as water harvesting, crop covering, rangeland management and pest management. Our subsample analysis shows significant heterogeneity in the gender gap across countries. The results of the decomposition of the observed gender gap show that personal values and norms, access to weather and production information and farm characteristics are important factors that explain the gender differential in the likelihood of CSA adoption. Our findings imply that equalising access to key resources such as plots of land, information and decision making power will be crucial to close the gender gap in the adoption of CSA practices. This is particularly important given the differential impacts of climate change between men and women in sub‐Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether agricultural supply chains (ASC) can be simultaneously sustainable and resilient to ecological disruptions, using the Planetary Boundaries theory. The nine different Planetary Boundaries i.e. climatic change, biodiversity loss, biogeochemical, ocean acidification, land use, freshwater availability, stratosphere ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosols and chemical pollution are examined in relation to ASC sustainability and resilience. Kenya's tea upstream supply chain sustainability and resilience from the ecological point of view is questioned. This study adopts a multi-case study analysis approach of nine producer organisations from Kenya's tea supply chain. The data from the in-depth semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion are analysed using thematic analysis. The Kenyan tea supply chain producers are not aware of all the nine planetary boundaries, although these impact on their resilience practices. They are engaged in pursuing both sustainability and resilience practices. They implement mainly environmental practices in relation to sustainability, while only a few of them are implementing resilience practices. The sustainability and resilience concepts were found to be interrelated, but resilience does not improve at the same pace as sustainability. It is suggested that the relationship between sustainability and resilience is non-linear. Limitations and future research avenues are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of resilience, and livelihood resilience more specifically, is growing in prominence with international development and humanitarian organizations that aim to measure and build resilience to specific disturbances such as floods or droughts. However, measuring livelihood resilience is a difficult task, and practical methods to measure livelihood resilience, as well as analyze and visualize the data are needed. In this paper, I introduce the Household Livelihood Resilience Approach (HLRA), which draws from the sustainable livelihoods approach and it’s five capital assets to measure resilience. However, unlike other approaches that use the five capital assets such as utilized by Zurich Insurance Group, Ltd and the IFRC, the HLRA goes farther to help visualize the results and identify specific actions to build resilience. This paper illustrates the effectiveness of the HLRA through an empirical case study where this approach was used to measure livelihood resilience in Isiolo County, Kenya, and the effectiveness of agroforestry in building livelihood resilience for agricultural households. Drawing from this case study, I suggest five ways that the HLRA improves upon previous frameworks, including 1) providing practical methods and tools, not just a theoretical framework, 2) integrating ‘subjective’ measures of livelihood resilience, 3) focusing on the household-scale instead of community-scale or larger, 4) providing methods to analyze, visualize, and interpret results of livelihood resilience measures, and 5) highlighting the importance of human agency, power, and access to assets. The HLRA has the potential to help organizations identify specific interventions that could help build livelihood resilience for the most vulnerable groups of people within a community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines farmers’ ethnobotanical knowledge, innovation and rural change, and indicates one way in which indigenous technical knowledge complementing scientific knowledge may be documented for use by development planners and agencies. This paper firstly identifies plant species recognised as resources by farmers, and considers the value of these resources. Secondly, the paper documents and assesses the ethnobotanical knowledge associated with the utilisation of plant species, before turning to examine how plant resources are defined by use and culture. It also demonstrates that some components of ethnobotanical knowledge have potential for the sustainable development of plant species. The study shows that farmers have started to domesticate some of the ‘traditional’ plants, and new crops have been introduced associated with corresponding innovations in local agricultural systems. Since the farmers have a relatively strong tradition in natural resources conservation, this study suggests that it will be possible to introduce community-based gene banks linked to formal or government facilities. The paper demonstrates that it is important to combine and interweave ‘modern’ and indigenous knowledges to produce a more realistic and sensitive understanding and management of natural environmental resources for sustainable development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]