Helping farmers build climate resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa
Climate change is having a devastating impact on the planet and among those affected the most are farmers, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. To maintain their crops and livelihoods they must adapt to the changing weather now, to keep their land sustainable for generations to come.
Smallholder famers depend on harvest, and large harvests rely on healthy soils. Soil health in Sub-Saharan Africa is declining overall, making farms more vulnerable to the effects of drought and flooding – which are becoming more prevalent due to climate change.
One Acre Fund, an organisation that Virgin Unite has supported for the last five years through The Audacious Project, is working to limit the impact of climate change for smallholder farmers and help them build climate resilience.
Here’s how…
Investing in climate-smart agriculture
One Acre Fund helps to train smallholders on topics such as optimised planting and crop diversification to help them produce more, which helps improve food security and boost income.
Crop diversification – planting more than one crop type – helps smallholders navigate income, production and market risks. When practising diversification, farmers often see two major benefits: they harvest at different times of the year – helping buffer against market fluctuations that can drive down their income, and if one crop variety fails due to weather-related issues, another still might succeed, ensuring food and financial security in their homes.
For example, in Malawi, farmers like Petro Piyo Nyoloweru, whose maize crop was devastated by drought, can plan to diversify to more drought-resistant crops. “Soybeans are not affected by drought or bad weather, so it’s smart to try it now,” Petro says. “I’m not nervous to try a new crop because my field officer will train me on soybeans, and I’ve seen them perform well for neighbours.”
Supporting farmers financially
Extreme weather events, such as cyclones, are becoming more frequent – and often more severe – as a result of climate change. In 2022 Cyclone Ana ripped through the southern tip of Malawi, destroying more than 220,000 farmers’ fields and crops.
When events like these happen, farmers need a safety net. One Acre Fund offers farmers insurance that not only provides a level of loan forgiveness to offset the losses suffered, but can also provide them with planting supplies to help replace what they lost.
Exploring long-term solutions
One Acre Fund is helping farmers to build economic resilience with its tree-focused carbon credits scheme. One Acre Fund provides trees to farmers to plant alongside their usual crops, helping to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and gives them periodic pay-outs for keeping the trees alive.
But there are additional benefits of planting trees: farmers can sell tree products such as branches and fruit to supplement their income. Plus, trees help improve soil health and offer erosion protection, which leads to better farming outcomes in the long term.
“If a person does not have trees, then he has no wealth,” Malawian farmer Michael Kantwanje says. “Trees can also help restore soil nutrients and enhance rainfall, which will assist the nation in restoring normal rainfall patterns, as they were in the past. So trees are really beneficial to the nation.”
Visit One Acre Fund to learn more about its work to support farmers.
The Audacious Project, housed at TED, was brought to life through the collaboration of some of the most respected names in the non-profit world, including Skoll, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Scott Cook & Signe Ostby and more. Virgin Unite is proud to be one of the partners to have joined forces to help make this possible.