Adaptation to climate change: A challenge for family farming in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Introduction

  Family farming is already experiencing the impacts of climate change and variability and will continue to feel the effects in the future. Different parameters, such as changes in the amount and frequency of precipitation, temperatures, alternations of the seasons will increasingly influence production systems. Some elements of complex natural systems (such as water cycles and temperature patterns) are important parameters of agricultural production. Farmers have always had to manage uncertainties and adapt to changes: agricultural practices and knowledge have benefited from developments that have made it possible to manage uncertainties, within the limits of the circumstances usually encountered in the DRC.

The urgency to adapt to this new challenge

Observations and projections of climate change predict severe impacts for agriculture, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. The hardest hit will be developing countries, precisely where farmers are least able to adapt to long periods of drought, more intense rainfall patterns, greater heat stress and the consequences of soil degradation. Such changes can be dramatic, such as the example in Figure 1 on the effects of heat stress, which shows the sensitivity of groundnut crops in the DRC.

There is therefore a real risk of endangering livelihoods and food security systems in the family farming sector. The challenge is to identify this threat, assess it and develop targeted adaptation measures. Reinforcing adaptation potential and disaster risk reduction (DRR) In many of the least developed countries, family farming actors are seeing significant changes in agricultural production systems.

Uncertainty is growing and the time available for farmers to adapt on their own is shrinking. This notion of urgency is reinforced by the need to increase overall agricultural production over the coming decades. It is through the identification of changes and support for adaptation that development cooperation must support the family farming sector.

• The first step towards adaptation is the identification of potential impacts likely to affect family farming. This requires scientific and technical information and local knowledge, which must be combined.

• After identifying adaptation potential, development cooperation can help the family farming sector to identify its potential vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change. Vulnerability is defined in many ways, but the three main key factors are: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity.

• Sustainable agriculture practices, particularly land management practices, can contribute significantly to reducing disaster risk. For example, land stabilization techniques combining mounds and contour crops reduce the risk of flooding and landslides. At the same time, they contribute to maintaining agricultural productivity. Sustainable land management techniques thus combine the effects of disaster risk reduction and support for agricultural production.

Accommodation measures

Without information, adaptability will continue to be exposed to uncertainty. The implementation of adaptation measures should be broad and prophylactic in nature and should exploit all available technical information as well as local knowledge. The general objective is to reduce vulnerability and increase the resilience of systems. Some of these measures are part of good agricultural practice and are considered “no regrets” measures. These are often flexible and resilient technologies that target sustainable land management. 1. Maintain or improve soil cover. Vulnerability decreases as soil erosion slows. 2. Improve soil fertility. Vulnerability decreases with maintaining or improving productivity. 3. Establish water harvesting structures. Vulnerability decreases when (1) water is not lost through runoff, (2) the risk of flooding decreases, and (3) land is protected from erosion due to excess runoff. 4. Choose plant varieties carefully in the future.