Towards a comprehensive strategic framework to upscale and out-scale ecosystem based adaptation (EbA) driven agriculture in Africa
This article on weADAPT is based on the report “Towards a comprehensive Strategic Framework to Upscale and Out-scale Ecosystem Based Adaptation (EbA) driven agriculture in Africa”, which was released ahead of the 2nd Africa EbA for Food Security Conference, hosted by the UNEP in Nairobi in July 2015. This strategic framework (PDF) by Ebafos seeks to build on the key theme of enhancing productivity of Africa’s food systems, by proposing a holistic approach that considers productivity of the agriculture value chain as a continuum. It contrasts the proposed approach with conventional systems by discussing both paradigms. Under conventional approaches to food production, increased production is achieved through ‘intensification’, – expanding cropland through clearing more land, and misusing mineral fertilizers, without considering the impacts of such practices on ecosystems. The proposed paradigm shift framework put forward policies suggestions which seeks to enhance productivity of the entire value chain by applying ecosystems based approaches to enhance on-farm production, which results in not only increased yields, but also enhances the productivity of ecosystems and consequently builds community resilience against climate change. A strategic framework to operationalize the new agriculture paradigm that imbeds ecosystem based adaptation approaches is documented. This framework captures key operational aspects of institutions, financing, knowledge management and monitoring & evaluation.