Agricultural diversification as an important strategy for achieving food security in Africa.

ABSTRACT: Farmers in Africa have long adapted to climatic and other risks by diversifying their farming activities. Using a multi-scale approach, we explore the relationship between farming diversity and food security and the diversification potential of African agriculture and its limits on the household and continental scale. On the household scale, we use agricultural surveys from more than 28,000 households located in 18 African countries. In a next step, we use the relationship between rainfall, rainfall variability, and farming diversity to determine the available diversification options for farmers on the continental scale. On the household scale, we show that households with greater farming diversity are more successful in meeting their consumption needs, but only up to a certain level of di

SUBMITTER: Waha K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6055696 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature