Building resilient farming in Southern Africa through collaborative science
Smallholder farming communities in Southern Africa continue to face significant climate-related challenges, including changing rainfall patterns, increased unpredictability, and the growing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as droughts, heatwaves, floods, and pest outbreaks. These challenges are expected to intensify under predicted climate changes in this region. This poses a serious threat to smallholder and emerging farmers, who are among the most vulnerable due to their limited access to essential resources (i.e. fertile arable lands, irrigation systems, fertilizers, pesticides, farming equipment, etc.,) and modern technologies (i.e. improved seed varieties, weather forecasts and early warning systems). Their vulnerability is further intensified by their heavy reliance on traditional farming methods, which are increasingly being undermined by climate extremes associated with global warming.
It is clear that a business-as-usual approach is no longer adequate. There is an urgent need to build the capacity of these farmers to better manage climate-induced shocks, while also capitalizing on emerging opportunities presented by climate change. Addressing this challenge requires collaborative science across international partners, fostering shared learning and the co-development of context-specific solutions through joint research initiatives. Within this context, the Sustainable Climate Change Mitigation in Africa Smallholder Cropping System (SMART) project has become an agent of change in this challenging environment. This project is driven by the collaboration of experts in different fields such as agriculture, climate, crop, soil, social, and natural scientists. This international collaborative project is supported by a consortium including the North-West University (NWU), the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), and the University of Limpopo (UL) in South Africa, Tohoku University and Tottori University in Japan, and the University of Botswana. In South Africa, this international collaborative initiative is financially supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) through the Africa-Japan Collaborative Research (AJ-CORE) program. The SMART project seeks to co-identify and promote the widespread adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) solutions that are tailored to and relevant for local conditions. The goal of this project is to equip smallholder farmers and local institutions with evidence-based solutions to improve food and nutrition security, economic development and sustainability, and climate-resilience while reducing the carbon footprint of agricultural systems in vulnerable smallholder farming communities in Botswana and South Africa.
Driving Climate-Smart Innovation: Highlights from the engagement week of the SMART project
From 17 to 21 February 2025, the SMART Project members participated in a 5-day consortium meeting hosted by the North-West University in South Africa. It was an important event marking the progress of the SMART project and bringing together experts and researchers from various institutions to exchange information on successful climate-smart initiatives and strategies that can be replicated or adapted in different regions.
The event aimed to advance the core pillars of the SMART project, which include strengthening partnerships and identifying strategies to overcome challenges through reviewing ongoing work and planning for future actions. The meeting included a one-day seminar and field visits to research farms of the North-West University and Agricultural Research Council in Potchefstroom (North West Province). Additionally, a farmers’ day event was held in Gavaza village, around Tzaneen town in Limpopo Province.
Specifically, a seminar held in Potchefstroom kicked off the meeting, combining both technical and strategic elements of this research project, where the members of the project shared knowledge across a variety of workstreams, including climate modeling, soil carbon mapping, and CSA studies. This seminar provided a platform for building partnerships and collaborations in adaptation and mitigation of climate change, particularly in agricultural systems. In addition to these discussions, the participants of the seminar visited several research farms of the NWU and ARC to observe and further discuss CSA practices being tested on these trials.
As part of strengthening the collaboration, delegates met with leadership from NWU and ARC, who expressed enthusiasm for the project’s work and optimism about future collaborations.
The highlight of the consortium meeting was the farmers’ day, which took place in Gavaza village on 20 February. The SMART team prioritized stakeholder engagement by connecting with farmers on the ground. During this farmer’s day, the project team discussed the climate risks that are threatening agricultural production and the most promising climate-smart technologies to improve agricultural production and climate-resilience while reducing the carbon footprint of agricultural systems with local farmers and stakeholders including extension advisors. This farmers’ day also provided a platform for researchers to engage and get feedback from farmers, including those who were trained on the expected seasonal weather forecast and response smart strategies during the pre-season workshop that was held in October 2024 as part of the SMART project. These discussions highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by smallholder farmers during the 2024/25 planting season, including armyworm outbreaks and extreme rainfall events.
Practical demonstrations in CSA practices remain a priority for the SMART team to improve the capacity of these most vulnerable farmers in implementing these recommended smart strategies. Therefore, the SMART team demonstrated some of the CSA practices, such as soil classification, and three pillars of conservation agriculture (i.e., minimum soil disturbance/tillage, cover cropping, and crop diversity). The team emphasized the importance of these practices in improving soil health, which is critical for sustaining agricultural productivity over time, while also mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from farming systems. To wrap up the farmers’ day, the team managed to visit one of the farmer-trial sites for this project to observe the progress as part of the routine crop monitoring protocol. Farmers expressed great enthusiasm at the opportunity to meet international project partners in person and appreciated having a platform to voice their questions and concerns, which were addressed by relevant experts. To ensure inclusive participation, all information was translated into local languages by fluent team members.
Way forward
As the saying goes, “No one can thrive alone, we need one another.”. In this spirit, the international consortium meeting served as a vital platform for knowledge sharing among partners. This is especially crucial for regions like Southern Africa, which face high climate vulnerability but often lack the capacity and resources needed to respond effectively. Collaborative research and sustained partnerships are therefore essential to delivering timely and practical solutions to the farmers who need them most.
Acknowledgments
Financial support from the NRF’s AJ-CORE programme (grant no. AJCR230704126720) is gratefully acknowledged. This work was carried out as part of the SMART project, and we acknowledge our international partners from various institutions for their support. Most importantly, special thanks to Dr Zaid Bello (ARC- Grain Crops Institute) & Dr Bonginkosi Vilakazi (North-West University) for their participation and contribution in organizing these workshops. The views conveyed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the North-West University or other partners.
For more information:
Ms Thembisile Ravhuanzwo or Dr Lindumusa Myeni
Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University
E-mail: thembisilere@gmail.com or Lindumusa.Myeni@nwu.ac.za
