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Climate change is one of the most significant challenges many rural farmers face in sub-Saharan Africa, as most agricultural practices are rainfed dependent. Many of these rural farmers are small-scale farmers with limited access to financial assets, agricultural equipment, and inputs. With a rapidly changing climate and limited access to agricultural resources, many rural farmers in Zimbabwe have found it extremely difficult to engage in meaningful crop production activities and secure their livelihoods and incomes. This paper employs participatory research methods to examine adaptive strategies adopted by rural farmers. The strategies include optimal water resource utilisation, early maturing seed adoption, soil and water conservation (SWM), and nutrient management techniques (NMT). Cost-effective integration of labour and post-harvest storage facilities is also considered. Rural farmers, despite constraints, actively engage in these adaptive practices. The study assesses the effectiveness of initiatives to enhance crop production and build resilience against climate variability. Discussion centers on the comprehensiveness of these adaptive techniques within the broader framework of sustainable development goals, focusing on goals 1 (No Poverty) and 2 (Zero Hunger). The findings contribute to understanding and promoting resilience among vulnerable households facing climate-related challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture plays a vital role in driving economic output and employment in SubSaharan African (SSA) countries. Despite some progress, agricultural productivity in SSA still lags behind other regions. Limited access to finance remains a significant impediment to improving agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper investigates the effect of financial proximity on agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan African countries. The study primarily employs the system GMM estimator, chosen to address the endogeneity issue typical in macro panel data. This method is also wellsuited to our study because it accommodates a high number of cross-sections relative to the number of periods within each cross-section. Additionally, the IV-2SLS method is employed to check the robustness of the findings. The study uses an unbalanced panel for the 36 African countries with data for the period 2004-2019. Our findings show that increasing the financial proximity favors agricultural productivity in SSA countries. Specifically, the number of commercial bank branches (CBB) and the number of automated teller machines (ATM) per 100 000 adults, as indicators of financial proximity, have positive and significant effects on agricultural value added per worker in SSA. Additionally, our findings show that rainfall, arable land, and institutional quality are robust determinants of agricultural productivity. The positive effects of the number of CBB and the number of ATM are even more pronounced on agricultural productivity when coupled with strong institutional quality. Our findings suggest that improving financial services' accessibility in rural areas, coupled with enhanced institutional quality, regular rainfall, ample arable land, and increased access to water and land, are pivotal steps for achieving sustainable enhancements in labor productivity. This, in turn, leads to increased returns through value-added growth and expanded employment in the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farm-level decision-making by resource-constrained smallholder farmers, such as investment in improved farm management practices and technologies may considerably be influenced by the age of farm operators. However, evidence of the effect of farm operators' age on farm efficiency and technological endowment, and consequently on agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa has been inexact. To contribute to an improved understanding of the age-efficiency-productivity nexus, this study investigates the impacts of farm operators' age on agricultural productivity by evaluating the managerial performance and technological endowment of the operators, disaggregated across three age cohorts, viz. the youth, middle-aged and the aged. We fit the meta-stochastic frontier statistical framework to a country-wide sample of 24,596 farm households, spanning three decades of data collection in Ghana. The results show that relative to the potentials of each age cohort, more output can be generated using currently allocated inputs, but under improved farm management practices. Whereas we did not find evidence for possible age-related technological differences in agricultural production in Ghana, we did find strong support for possible age-induced managerial differences in farm production, with youth operators being more efficient than their middle-aged and aged peers. Consequently, the age of farm operators significantly affects agricultural productivity in Ghana through their efficiency of resource allocation. We find these results relevant for policy attention, in terms of the targeting of support to farm operators in the various age cohorts and in the country's quest to achieve greater agricultural productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main challenge facing agricultural crop production in the current global climate change scenario is sustainability. Drought, as a yield‐limiting factor, has become a major threat to international food security. Tolerance to drought is a complex trait and its response is carried out by various genes, transcription factors, microRNAs, hormones, proteins, cofactors, ions and metabolites. The complexity of the trait has limited the development of drought‐tolerant sweet potato cultivars by traditional breeding. Advances in sweet potato breeding to exploit the full potential of the crop to contribute to improved and higher performing sweet potato cultivars, adapted to increasingly risky rainfed conditions, mainly drought, are key to making food production systems more efficient and more tolerant to pressure from drought and other stressors. Genetic gain for yield potential in sweet potato has improved mostly in African countries, mainly as a result of an accelerated breeding scheme. The focus on maximising the utilisation of molecular tools for sweet potato improvement and yield has been recently explored in breeding programmes in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). This article provides an update on the trends and gaps in sweet potato breeding in SSA, reviewing the relevant strategies used to improve sweet potato in the region. Finally, the perspectives of using new advanced tools including genetic engineering and genome editing, and the challenges associated with climate change for further improvement of the crop are highlighted. Collaborative efforts in African countries are driving advances in breeding methods through the incorporation of molecular tools to develop drought‐tolerant sweet potato varieties that are important to global food security despite challenges posed by the drastic change in climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural production across the African continent is subjected to various effects of climate variability. One of the main staple foods in Sub-Saharan Africa is maize. However, limited scientific research has recently focused on understanding the possible effects of hydro-climatic variability on maize production. The aim of the present work was to contribute to policy and climate adaptation, thus reducing the vulnerability of maize production to climate change over Equatorial Africa. This study firstly examined long-term trends of precipitation (PRE), soil moisture (SM), actual evapotranspiration (E), and potential evapotranspiration (Ep), as well as surface air temperatures, including the minimum (TMIN) and maximum (TMAX). Secondly, the relationship between maize production and these climate variables was quantified for 18 Equatorial African countries (EQCs) over 1980−2021. To assess the linear trends, Mann–Kendall and Sen's slope tests were used to quantify the magnitude of the hydro-climatic variable trends at the 5% significance level, and Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the relation of these climate parameters with the maize production. The annual mean PRE declined at 0.03 mm day−110a−1. Other climate variables increased at different rates: SM at 0.02 mmday−110a−1, E at 0.03 mm day−110a−1, Ep at 0.02 mm day−1 10a−1, TMIN and TMAX at 0.01 °C day−110a−1. A regional analysis revealed heterogeneous significant wet–dry and warm–cool trends over the EQCs. While, spatially, dry and warm climates were observed in the central to eastern areas, wet and warm conditions dominated the western regions. Generally, the correlations of maize production with the E, Ep, TMAX, and TMIN were strong (r > 0.7) and positive, while moderate (r > 0.45) correlations of maize production with PRE and SM were obvious. These country-wide analyses highlight the significance of climate change policies and offer a scientific basis for designing tailored adaptation strategies in rainfed agricultural regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a constant threat to global food security. In Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA), extended dry spells, heavy rainfall, flooding, and tropical storms have driven a large percentage of the population to a severe food crisis. Climate‐smart agriculture (CSA) is a potential comprehensive solution whose adoption can mitigate climate change and its ramifications on the state of food security in the region. CSA combines innovation, the use of technology, extensive research, stakeholder involvement, and data to increase food production, optimize resource allocation and utilization, and enhance the region's ability to feed its population. The adoption of CSA has succeeded in increasing agricultural productivity in several parts of SSA and will help towards the building of resilience food systems across the region amid constant and unpredictable climate change and its far‐reaching impacts in the region. For the sustained and universal adoption of CSA within the region, there is a need for more stakeholder involvement in its development and adaptation to the needs of specific communities. Furthermore, it is necessary to leverage the positive impact of the approach by expanding its scope beyond climate change mitigation to prevention and control, and ultimately help in achieving the United Nations SDG 2 and 13. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural production, food, nutrition and income security of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are threatened by extreme weather events, such as increased frequency of mid-season dry spells and increased temperatures. Their impacts are exacerbated by the prevalence of sandy soils, characterized by limited water and nutrient retention capacity leading to low crop productivity. In this study, we aimed at assessing farmers' awareness of extreme weather events, identify adaptation strategies and evaluate maize yield from different soil fertility and water management practices. A household survey including 245 smallholder farmers in Marange, Zimbabwe was carried out. The results revealed that farmers were aware of and had experienced extreme weather events. Among adaptation strategies used were soil water-harvesting, use of improved varieties, mulching and planting trees. Maize yield remains significantly low, averaging 0.62 t ha-1 among farmers using some forms of soil fertility and water management strategies. To further understand the reason for low maize yields and improve climate change related adaptation strategies, more research is needed to quantify and confirm management practices applied by farmers, such as fertilizer use and rates, water and nutrient management, use of improved varieties as well as socio-economic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the impact of the digital economy on agriculture in developing countries holds significant importance in enhancing agricultural production and addressing hunger-related challenges. This study uses panel data of 35 SSA countries from 2006 to 2021 and investigates the relationship between digital economy and agriculture using dynamic regression models. The impact mechanism is also analyzed using mediating models. The results show that the digital economy has a positive impact on agriculture through the increase of agricultural productivity, human capital accumulation and the improvement of government governance. The effects of the digital economy are larger in countries with higher and lower levels of agricultural development, significant in middle-income countries, and insignificant in low-income countries. This study may provide a better understanding of the nexus between digital economy and agricultural development, and offer valuable insights for governments in developing nations to formulate relevant and effective policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]