How is organic farming performing agronomically and economically in sub-Saharan Africa?

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorSchader, Christian
dc.contributor.authorHeidenreich, Anja
dc.contributor.authorKadzere, Irene
dc.contributor.authorEgyir, Irene
dc.contributor.authorMuriuki, Anne
dc.contributor.authorBandanaa, Joseph
dc.contributor.authorClottey, Joseph
dc.contributor.authorNdungu, John
dc.contributor.authorGrovermann, Christian
dc.contributor.authorLazzarini, Gianna
dc.contributor.authorBlockeel, Johan
dc.contributor.authorBorgemeister, Christian
dc.contributor.authorMuller, Adrian
dc.contributor.authorKabi, Fred
dc.contributor.authorFiaboe, Komi
dc.contributor.authorAdamtey, Noah
dc.contributor.authorHuber, Beate
dc.contributor.authorNiggli, Urs
dc.contributor.authorStolze, Matthias
dc.date.accessioned2022-12-11T07:03:59Z
dc.date.available2022-12-11T07:03:59Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.description.abstractThe potential of organic agriculture and agroecological approaches for improving food security in Africa is a controversial topic in global discussions. While there is a number of meta-analyses on the environmental, agronomic and financial performance of organic farming, most of the underlying data stems from on-station field trials from temperate regions. Data from sub-Sahara Africa in particular, as well as detailed real-farm data is scarce. How organic farming is implemented in sub-Saharan Africa and how it performs in a smallholder context remains poorly understood. We applied a novel observational two-factorial research design, which allowed to evaluate the impacts of i) interventions for introducing organic agriculture and ii) specific organic management practices on 1,645 farms from five case studies in Ghana and Kenya, which we closely monitored for 24 months. Among the farmers who have been exposed to the interventions, we found heterogeneous adoption of organic agriculture principles, depending on the intervention. Furthermore, we found rather passive than active organic management among farmers. Most yields and gross margins under organic management remained at similar levels as the conventional values in four of the case studies. In one case study, however, coffee, maize and macadamia nut yields increased by 127–308% and farm-level gross margins over all analysed crops by 292%. Pooling our data across all case studies, we found significantly higher (+144%) farm-level gross margins on organically managed farms than on conventional farms. This indicates the potential of organic and agroecological approaches if implemented well. Based on our observations, we argue for improving the implementation of organic agriculture projects in settings with smallholder farmers. Limited capacities, lack of appropriate inputs and market access are major agronomic and institutional challenges to be addressed. Furthermore, we argue for supporting a differentiated debate about which types of organic farming are really desirable by classifying approaches to organic farming according to i) their intention to work organically and ii) the degree of following the organic principles. This will support the design and implementation of targeted policy interventions for stimulating sustainability of farming systems and rural development.en_US
dc.identifier.citationSchader, C., Heidenreich, A., Kadzere, I., Egyir, I., Muriuki, A., Bandanaa, J., ... & Stolze, M. (2021). How is organic farming performing agronomically and economically in sub-Saharan Africa?. Global Environmental Change, 70, 102325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102325en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102325
dc.identifier.urihttps://nru.uncst.go.ug/handle/123456789/6139
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherGlobal Environmental Changeen_US
dc.subjectProductivityen_US
dc.subjectProfitabilityen_US
dc.subjectSmallholder farmeren_US
dc.subjectImpact assessmenten_US
dc.subjectAgroecologyen_US
dc.titleHow is organic farming performing agronomically and economically in sub-Saharan Africa?en_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
How is organic farming performing agronomically and economically in.pdf
Size:
6.02 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Article
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences