Leading African experts at the scientific conference in Paris which is preparing for the next round of global climate change talks in December have been discussing their work with AllAfrica's Melissa Britz.
Dr. Cheikh Mbow, a senior scientist on climate change and development, was interviewed on his research on an integrated approach to land management in Africa, where competition for resources between pastoral and agricultural communities often causes conflict. Dr. Mbow, of the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, is also an associate professor of the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar in Senegal. Excerpts from his replies:
The presentation [to the conference] was about the change in the paradigm of addressing risk in the African landscape. This risk is... related to extreme climatic events, mostly... connections between climate risk and other threats such as governance or institutional issues.
Our approach is not on the problem side but on the solution side. On the solution side we want to see how much we can improve the way we use resources and land to improve the resilience of local communities....
... [In] Europe... you have pure agricultural land, pure forestry land and pure urban land. In Africa, in most, instances, there's a mixture of various enterprises on the same piece of land. So if you want to improve the livelihoods of people using those resources it's best to develop an integrated approach such as the landscape approach.
"[The landscape approach]... is an integrated framework that can help negotiate resource risk and land resource management at the local level and respond to not only climate risk but also institutional, policy or market risks.
The access to resources is very gendered in Africa. If you go to any village you find that there are resources that are reserved for women and others that reserved for men in terms of extraction. So if you want to have a balanced approach you should not privilege one group's access as compared to the other, as it creates exclusion which is a lack of equity and is part of the vulnerability process in Africa.
Our approach is to see how we can reduce frustration and promote inclusion in helping all stakeholders, including women, to find a space and access to resources. That's the approach we want to promote with the integrated landscape approach.
Also at the Paris conference, Our Common Future Under Climate Change, Narindra Rakotovao of the University of Antananarivo presented research on the introduction of "agro-ecological practices" among farmers in Central Madagascar - which have the effect of reducing carbon emissions on farms and improving productivity and people's livelihoods. Excerpts:
The Malagasy agricultural sector is characterised by very low performance in terms of yield - about 2.5 tons per hectare. Rice is the staple food of Malagasy people and the land surface of each farm is very low - in the region of 1.4 hectares per farm.
According to statistics from Madagascar's statistics body, INSTAT, about 80 percent of the population resides in rural areas, where agriculture is the main source of income. At the same time, of the overall population more than 60 percent are engaged in agriculture and livestock activities and dependent on forest resources.
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There are many challenges for the agricultural sector in Madagascar such as improving yields and to the improve the overall efficiency of farmers.
In Central Madagascar there is an NGO whose objective is to diffuse agro-ecological practices to farmers, mainly with a system of rice intensification and the integration of trees into the cropping system.
We call this agro-forestry. The main tree species planted by farmers are fruit trees so that they can have an additional income by selling fruit in the market as well as wood for construction and home energy use.
See slideshare presentations of speakers at the conference.
Melissa Britz's reporting from Paris is sponsored by the International Development Research Centre. Follow @allafricalive on Twitter for live updates from the conference sessions.
