Period: 2025-2028
SCALE: Sustainable Climate-smart Adoption and Land-use Change for Food Security
Funders: The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew through the Balcombe Charitable Trust
Currently, one in four people in Africa remains food insecure. Policymakers are showing strong interest in helping the African continent transition to sustainable agricultural intensification, such as climate-smart agriculture (CSA). In Madagascar, most rural communities rely on shifting slash-and-burn agriculture, a key driver of deforestation in several regions of the island, leading to declining productivity and soil erosion.
This research project aims to identify the socio-ecological factors that optimize the outcomes of climate-smart agriculture, both for food production and environmental conservation, particularly through forest preservation. This project is part of the activities of a multi-consortium initiative funded by the British government, titled “Fitantanana Maharitra Holovainjafy” (FMH) and focusses on the following themes:
1 – Evaluating Trade-offs Between Land Sparing and Land Sharing
Should we intensify agriculture while minimizing agricultural land area, or reduce intensity but expand its coverage? What are the impacts of these approaches on biodiversity, livelihoods, and food security?
Using a method successfully tested in Ethiopia, we will study 1 km² plots across a gradient of agricultural land-use intensity. We will measure biodiversity, agrobiodiversity, crop yields, and the nutritional diversity of harvested crops and wild products. This will allow us to test the effectiveness of land sparing versus land sharing in maximizing both biodiversity conservation (wild and agro-biodiversity) and its impact on community food security.
2 – Testing the Relationship Between Yield Increases and Agricultural Expansion
Does increasing agricultural yields encourage further land expansion? Yield improvements are expected to spare uncultivated land from future agricultural expansion. However, in some cases, higher yields might drive further expansion instead.
Using a representative sample of households, we will test the relationship between yield increases and recent/planned agricultural expansion, and the relative importance of yield per unit area, crop diversification (harvest synchronization), and increased production in influencing food security and livelihoods