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Overview of Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Drought Risk Reduction Targeting Small-Scale Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation in Practice

Part of the book series: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ((NTHR,volume 42))

Abstract

Rain-fed agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) provides major but highly climate-dependent sources of livelihoods. Recurrent dry spells and droughts can impact SSA’s agro-ecosystems in multiple ways, negatively affecting local social-ecological systems (SES). Droughts not only destroy crops and livestock and degrade natural resources but also impact a large variety of ecosystem services. However, ecosystems can also frequently be powerful agents for drought mitigation and resilient livelihoods. Ecosystem-based approaches mitigate drought impacts while providing multiple co-benefits which contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable development, food security, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and livelihood resilience. In drought risk management, ecosystem-based solutions have always been important, even if not explicitly acknowledged as such. Based on available literature, this chapter provides an overview of approaches for drought risk reduction in SSA in the context of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR) and ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA). Using selected criteria, the review found many types of approaches, which strengthen functionality of the ecosystem and offer substantial environmental and socio-economic benefits, and thus help to mitigate drought impacts. More information on the limits of these approaches is needed in order to integrate them effectively into Eco-DRR and EbA programmes and complement them with more traditional disaster risk reduction strategies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A system that includes societal (human) and ecological (biophysical) subsystems in mutual interaction (Gallopin 2006:294).

  2. 2.

    Drought mitigation in the disaster risk reduction community is usually understood as a set of programs, measures and actions, which are undertaken in advance of a drought event in order to reduce the expected impacts of a drought and facilitate recovery. Mitigation includes proactive elements of drought preparedness. The term “drought mitigation” therefore corresponds to the term “adaptation” in the climate change community. Drought mitigation does not address the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as usually associated with the term “mitigation” in a climate change context (Wilhite et al. 2014; WMO and GWP 2014).

  3. 3.

    The procedure for identifying ecosystem-based adaptation measures for the review is described in Munroe et al. (2012).

  4. 4.

    While insufficient rainfall is the primary cause of drought, this often goes together with increased potential evapotranspiration (IPCC 2012).

  5. 5.

    Also called “soil moisture drought” to refer to the fact that soil moisture deficits have wider effects than only those on the agro-ecosystem (IPCC 2012).

  6. 6.

    Assessments of the full range of ecosystem services that are impacted by droughts and of interactions with the social system are rare (see e.g. Banerjee et al. (2013) for an example).

  7. 7.

    Resilience: “The capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain their essential function, identity, and structure, while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation, learning, and transformation” (IPCC 2014:5).

  8. 8.

    For a closer comparison of EbA and Eco-DRR see Doswald and Estrella (2015).

  9. 9.

    For a discussion of the differences and commonalities between the concepts of sustainable intensification and ecological intensification see Tittonell (2014).

  10. 10.

    Dile et al. (2013) provide an overview of different types of water harvesting systems (ex-situ and in-situ), their biophysical and ecological functions, mechanisms, social implications and drawbacks.

  11. 11.

    There are many mixed approaches. Applying organic matter or fostering the growth of nitrogen fixing trees is simultaneously a measure of nutrient management or agro-forestry.

  12. 12.

    Small pits are called “Zaï” or “tassa” and larger, half-moon shaped holes “Demi-lunes” (half-moons).

  13. 13.

    Stone lines on low slopes are mainly found in West Africa (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger); Earth bunds/ridges mainly in East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya) and Southern Africa (Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, etc.); Fanya juu mainly in East Africa (Kenya; also Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda); vegetative strips throughout Africa especially in the more humid parts (Liniger et al. 2011).

  14. 14.

    For more details on drivers and constraints for adaption of conservation agriculture in SSA see Corbeels et al. (2014).

  15. 15.

    Agroforestry in Western Kenya has increased food security during drought and flooding by 25 % due to increased income and improved livelihoods (Thorlakson and Neufeldt 2012).

  16. 16.

    Diversified systems consist of components such as crops and livestock that coexist independently from each other. In this case, integrating crops and livestock serves primarily to minimize risk and not to recycle resources. In an integrated system, crops and livestock interact to create a synergy, with recycling allowing the maximum use of available resources (FAO 2001 as cited in IFAD 2010).

  17. 17.

    Integrated Plant Nutrient Management “aims to optimize the condition of the soil, with regard to its physical, chemical, biological and hydrological properties, for the purpose of enhancing farm productivity, whilst minimizing land degradation” (FAO 2015c).

  18. 18.

    Integrated pest management is an ecosystem-based approach to crop production and protection that aims to ensure the growth of healthy crops with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms (FAO 2015b). Using an ecosystem approach to control pests, a “coordinated integration of multiple complementary methods to suppress pests in a safe, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly manner” is needed (Parsa et al. 2014:3889). Prevention of pests is addressed through developing ecosystem resilience and diversity for pest, disease, and weed control. Pesticides are only used when other options are ineffective (Pretty et al. 2011).

  19. 19.

    We did not include livestock-related agricultural practices, nor specific forestry management systems or fish production.

  20. 20.

    There are a few examples in the region of successful large scale implementation of ecosystem-based measures to reduce the impacts of climatic droughts. In terms of large scale implementation, the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative, which is an African partnership to tackle desertification in the Sahel and Sahara, is perhaps the most contemporary one. This initiative encompasses 13 countries and addresses the desertification problem through a variety of interventions (i.e. not limited to planting a tree barrier). It also aims to support the efforts of local communities in the sustainable management of their resources. By doing so, the initiative contributes to climate change mitigation and adaptation and to the improvement of the livelihoods of the communities in the region (FAO 2013b).

  21. 21.

    Instead of aiming to minimize disturbances and uncertainties, adaptive management strives to strengthen resilience by providing space for experimentation, learning and understanding of ecological processes (Darnhofer et al. 2010).

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  2. Fabrice G. Renaud
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Correspondence to Julia Kloos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Environment and Human Secu, United Nations University, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Fabrice G. Renaud

  2. Commission on Ecosystem Management, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Gland, Switzerland

    Karen Sudmeier-Rieux

  3. Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch, United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva, Switzerland

    Marisol Estrella

  4. Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT), TH Köln, University of Applied Sciences, Köln, Germany

    Udo Nehren

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Kloos, J., Renaud, F.G. (2016). Overview of Ecosystem-Based Approaches to Drought Risk Reduction Targeting Small-Scale Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. In: Renaud, F., Sudmeier-Rieux, K., Estrella, M., Nehren, U. (eds) Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction and Adaptation in Practice. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 42. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43633-3_9

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