Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Crop Adaptation to Climate Change in SSA: The Role of Genetic Resources and Seed Systems

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Climate Change and Multi-Dimensional Sustainability in African Agriculture

Abstract

Crop adaptation plays a key role in enabling farmers to adapt to the impacts of climate change. According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), cultivar adjustment is the single most effective on-farm adaptation strategy, but the report is largely silent on the modalities of cultivar adjustment; what are the assumptions with regard to the cultivar types used and the institutional context in which the adjustments will take place? The objective of the current paper is to explore these modalities and enhance our understanding of the potential for crop adaptation in Sub Saharan Africas’s agriculture. We identify the key environmental impacts and the adaptation options vis-à-vis these impacts. Drawing on insights and perspectives from the international scholarly literature on genetic resources and seed systems, we report on a local case study from the semi-arid zone in Tanzania. Farmers use a range of varieties and seed systems to cope with current climatic stress and our findings from Tanzania illustrates that crop adaptation is not only a question of switching from one modern variety to another as commonly assumed in the Climate Change impact and adaptation literature. In our case study, only 24 % of the maize seeds and 8 % of the sorghum seeds were sourced through seed supply channels classified as formal. However, in the case of maize, we found that at least 11 % of the seeds sourced from informal seed supply channels were farm-saved modern varieties. Open Pollinated Varieties of maize developed in public breeding programs in collaboration with international programs in the 1980s are still an important part of farmers’ adaptive capacity. Our results further indicate that crop adaption can happen through creolization between modern and local varieties in the local seed system. We argue that seed security in the face of climatic change depends on adaptive seed systems, which integrate formal and informal seed system approaches to the development, release and distribution of varieties.

The empirical basis and parts of this chapter is adopted from the Ph.D. thesis of the first author.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Almekinders CJM, Louwaars NP, Debruijn GH (1994) Local seed systems and their importance for an improved seed supply in developing countries. Euphytica 78:207–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellon M, Risopoulos J (2001) Small-scale farmers expand the benefits of improved maize germplasm: a case study from Chiapas, Mexico. World Dev 29:799–811

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellon MR, Taylor JE (1993) “Folk” soil taxonomy and the partial adoption of new seed varieties. Econ Dev Cult Change 41:763–786

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg T (2009) Landraces and folk varieties: a conceptual reappraisal of terminology. Euphytica 166:423–430

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjørnstad Å, Tekle S, Göransson M (2013) “Facilitated access” to plant genetic resources: does it work? Genet Resour Crop Evol 60:1959–1965

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burke MB, Lobell DB, Guarino L (2009) Shifts in African crop climates by 2050, and the implications for crop improvement and genetic resources conservation. Global Environ Change Hum Policy Dimens 19:317–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cairns JE, Hellin J, Sonder K, Araus JL, MacRobert JF, Thierfelder C, Prasanna B (2013) Adapting maize production to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa. Food Secur 5:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ceccarelli S, Grando S (2007) Decentralized-participatory plant breeding: an example of demand driven research. Euphytica 155:349–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Challinor A, Watson J, Lobell D, Howden S, Smith D, Chhetri N (2014) A meta-analysis of crop yield under climate change and adaptation. Nat Clim Change 4:287–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper H, Spillane C, Hodgkin T (2001) Broadening the genetic base of crops: an overview. Broadening the Genetic Base of Crop Production Wallingford, New York. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, pp 1–23

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • DeVries J, Toenniessen G (2002) Securing the harvest: biotechnology, breeding and seed systems for African crops. CABI, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Dudley J, Lambert R (2004) 100 generations of selection for oil and protein in corn. Plant Breed Rev 24:79–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Evenson RE, Gollin D (2003) Assessing the impact of the green revolution, 1960 to 2000. Science 300:758–762

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • FAO (2014) FAOSTAT. http://faostat3.fao.org/home/E

  • Fowler C, Hodgkin T (2004) Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture: assessing global availability. Annu Rev Environ Resour 29:143–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson R, Lyimo N, Temu A, Stathers T, Page W, Nsemwa L, Acola G, Lamboll R (2005) Maize seed selection by East African smallholder farmers and resistance to Maize streak virus*. Ann Appl Biol 147:153–159

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harlan JR (1975) Our vanishing genetic resources. Science 188:617–621

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hellin J, Bellon MR, Hearne SJ (2014) Maize landraces and adaptation to climate change in Mexico. J Crop Improv 28:484–501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kates RW, Travis WR, Wilbanks TJ (2012) Transformational adaptation when incremental adaptations to climate change are insufficient. Proc Natl Acad Sci 109:7156–7161

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Knox J, Hess T, Daccache A, Wheeler T (2012) Climate change impacts on crop productivity in Africa and South Asia. Environ Res Lett 7:034032

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langyintuo AS, Mwangi W, Diallo AO, MacRobert J, Dixon J, Banziger M (2010) Challenges of the maize seed industry in eastern and southern Africa: a compelling case for private-public intervention to promote growth. Food Policy 35:323–331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobell DB, Burke MB (2008) Why are agricultural impacts of climate change so uncertain? The importance of temperature relative to precipitation. Environ Res Lett 3 http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/3/3/034007

  • Lobell DB, Bänziger M, Magorokosho C, Vivek B (2011a) Nonlinear heat effects on African maize as evidenced by historical yield trials. Nat Clim Change 1:42–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobell DB, Schlenker W, Costa-Roberts J (2011b) Climate trends and global crop production since 1980. Science 333:616–620

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Long SP, Ainsworth EA, Leakey AD, Nösberger J, Ort DR (2006) Food for thought: lower-than-expected crop yield stimulation with rising CO2 concentrations. Science 312:1918–1921

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Louwaars NP, de Boef WS (2012) Integrated seed sector development in Africa: a conceptual framework for creating coherence between practices, programs, and policies. J Crop Improv 26:39–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lunduka R, Fisher M, Snapp S (2012) Could farmer interest in a diversity of seed attributes explain adoption plateaus for modern maize varieties in Malawi? Food Policy 37:504–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Eixarch M, Ellis RH (2015) Temporal sensitivities of rice seed development from spikelet fertility to viable mature seed to extreme-temperature. Crop Sci 55:354–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGuire S, Sperling L (2013) Making seed systems more resilient to stress. Global Environ Change Hum Policy Dimens 23:644–653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mercer KL, Perales HR (2010) Evolutionary response of landraces to climate change in centers of crop diversity. Evol Appl 3:480–493

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mercer KL, Perales HR, Wainwright JD (2012) Climate change and the transgenic adaptation strategy: smallholder livelihoods, climate justice, and maize landraces in Mexico. Global Environ Change Hum Policy Dimens 22:495–504

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore G, Hawtin G, Jackson M, Ford-Lloyd B, Parry M (2013) International mechanisms for conservation and use of genetic resources. Plant Genet Resour Clim Change 4:98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimore M, Adams W (2001) Farmer adaptation, change and ‘crisis’ in the Sahel. Global Environ Change Hum Policy Dimens 11:49–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moshi AJ, Marandu W (1985) Maize research in Tanzania. In: To feed ourselves: a proceedings of the first eastern, central and southern Africa Regional Maize workshop, Lusaka, Zambia, March 10–17, 1985 CAB Direct, Lusaka

    Google Scholar 

  • Moya TB, Ziska LH, Namuco OS, Olszyk D (1998) Growth dynamics and genotypic variation in tropical, field-grown paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.) in response to increasing carbon dioxide and temperature. Glob Change Biol 4:645–656

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy DJ (2007) People plants and genes: the story of crops and humanity. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ngwediagi P, Maeda E, Kimomwe H, Kamara R, Massawe S, Akonaay HB, Mapunda LND (2009) Tanzania country report on the state of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, Dar es Salaam

    Google Scholar 

  • Peng S, Huang J, Sheehy JE, Laza RC, Visperas RM, Zhong X, Centeno GS, Khush GS, Cassman KG (2004) Rice yields decline with higher night temperature from global warming. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:9971–9975

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Porter JR, Xie L, Challinor AJ, Cochrane K, Howden SM, Iqbal MM, Lobell DB, Travasso MI (2014) Food security and food production systems. In: Field CB, Barros VR, Dokken DJ, Mach KJ, Mastrandrea MD, Bilir TE, Chatterjee M, Ebi KL, Estrada YO, Genova RC, Girma B, Kissel ES, Levy AN, MacCracken S, Mastrandrea PR, White LL (eds) Climate change 2014: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability part a: global and sectoral aspects contribution of working group II to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 485–533

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlenker W, Lobell DB (2010) Robust negative impacts of climate change on African agriculture. Environ Res Lett 5:014010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scoones I, Thompson J (2011) The politics of seed in Africa’s green revolution: alternative narratives and competing pathways. IDS Bull 42:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sperling L, McGuire S (2012) Fatal gaps in seed security strategy. Food Secur 4:569. doi:10.1007/s12571-012-0205-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sperling L, Cooper HD, Remington T (2008) Moving towards more effective seed aid. J Dev Stud 44:586–612

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornton PK, Jones PG, Alagarswamy G, Andresen J (2009) Spatial variation of crop yield response to climate change in East Africa. Global Environ Change Hum Policy Dimens 19:54–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vermeulen SJ, Challinor AJ, Thornton PK, Campbell BM, Eriyagama N, Vervoort JM, Kinyangi J, Jarvis A, Läderach P, Ramirez-Villegas J (2013) Addressing uncertainty in adaptation planning for agriculture. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110:8357–8362

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vigouroux Y, Mariac C, De Mita S, Pham J-L, Gérard B, Kapran I, Sagnard F, Deu M, Chantereau J, Ali A (2011) Selection for earlier flowering crop associated with climatic variations in the Sahel. PLoS One 6:e19563

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Warburton ML, Setimela P, Franco J, Cordova H, Pixley K, Banziger M, Dreisigacker S, Bedoya C, MacRobert J (2010) Toward a cost-effective fingerprinting methodology to distinguish maize open-pollinated varieties. Crop Sci 50:467–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westengen OT, Brysting AK (2014) Crop adaptation to climate change in the semi-arid zone in Tanzania: the role of genetic resources and seed systems. Agric Food Secur 3:3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Westengen OT, Jeppson S, Guarino L (2013) Global ex-situ crop diversity conservation and the svalbard global seed vault: assessing the current status. PLoS One 8:e64146

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Westengen OT, Ring KH, Berg PR, Brysting AK (2014) Modern maize varieties going local in the semi-arid zone in Tanzania. BMC Evol Biol 14:1

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Zeigler RS, Jackson M, Ford-Lloyd B, Parry M (2013) Food security, climate change and genetic resources. Plant genetic resources and climate change UK. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 1–15

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Zeven AC (1998) Landraces: a review of definitions and classifications. Euphytica 104:127–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ziska LH (2003) Evaluation of the growth response of six invasive species to past, present and future atmospheric carbon dioxide. J Exp Bot 54:395–404

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Noragric, Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Ola T. Westengen & Trygve Berg

Authors
  1. Ola T. Westengen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Trygve Berg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ola T. Westengen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. SENR-CMASC, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Rattan Lal

  2. AEDE/CFAES, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    David Kraybill

  3. College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    David O. Hansen

  4. Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Bal Ram Singh

  5. Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania

    Theodosy Mosogoya

  6. Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway

    Lars Olav Eik

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Westengen, O.T., Berg, T. (2016). Crop Adaptation to Climate Change in SSA: The Role of Genetic Resources and Seed Systems. In: Lal, R., Kraybill, D., Hansen, D., Singh, B., Mosogoya, T., Eik, L. (eds) Climate Change and Multi-Dimensional Sustainability in African Agriculture. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41238-2_18

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation