Agriculture is one of key industries in both sub-Saharan Africa and Australia. In the recent few decades, agricultural production is under serious threat from severe drought, and the drought has triggered a series of chain-reactions involving important economic and social issues. To cope with various challenges, sub-Saharan Africa and Australia have already taken multiple approaches.
There is no doubt that climate is a considerable element for the agricultural production. However, along with the climate change, extreme weather tends to be more frequent and more intense that destructively affects framing. As a result, the drought occurred in sub-Saharan Africa became continual and long duration, which resulted in poor harvests. In addition,
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The practice of Drought Tolerant Maize showed excellent consequences under reduced rainfall and warm climate. Moreover, climate information and early warning system were applied in sub-Saharan Africa. They aimed to provide evidences of risk of significant changes in climate ahead and to tack action that can decrease possible risks. In contrast, because of insufficient and incomplete understanding of the impact of climate change on the agriculture, Australia introduced climate change adaptations, which covers obtaining knowledge about how the communities confront the climate change in the …show more content…
The drought has weakened the ability of farmers who produce food. Therefore, sub-Saharan Africa and Australia farmers obtained reduced income and tax revenues. Instead, food prices and the rate of unemployment were increased. Compared with sub-Saharan Africa, Australia had more severe financial problems. With an economic recession spreading in agricultural industry, Australia farmers are encumbered by debts that they cannot afford new technologies or crops.
In response to the economic crisis, sub-Saharan Africa adjusted the corresponding market system, which was input/output market development. The goal of the input/output market was to regulate prices and consumption during the drought period to minimize the loss of farmers. Furthermore, sub-Saharan Africa encouraged farmers to diversify the livelihoods to lighten stresses. Unlike sub-Saharan Africa, numerous Australia farmers tried to gain secondary off-farm employment to mitigate the burden on
The climatic conditions of Australia are extremes, and this has brought challenges in the farming sector, these have led to great inventions and improved production methods that have put Australia in the forefront of world agricultural development. The combine head harvester, stump jump plough, and improved strains of drought and disease- resistant wheat.
The data that has been presented will now be broken down and simplified as well analysed as to what it all means for the agriculture business sector. However, there may be additional information included to help support our findings. Presently the agriculture system is already struggling with the increased demand for food and renewable energy. Now with the climate change issues of temperature increases, raised sea levels, the issues of water scarcity, pollution, and soil degradation are also now playing a large factor in today’s struggles. Small differences in weather or more specifically temperature can affect a farmer’s crop more than we realise. Crops with a higher level of average temperature will require more water in order to stay
In the face of climate change Sub-Saharan Africa is confronted by two main challenges of food security and water availability for human and agricultural use. These challenges are projected to increase in the coming years compounded by extreme droughts and extreme flooding in some areas. Rain-fed agriculture is the main livelihood for a majority of small scale farmers in SSA. Their main farming systems focus on the “ major crops”(maize, wheat, rice and beans) However, strategies to cultivate these crops in the region are no longer sustainable due to reliability on finite resources, high input load and vulnerability to climate change. A key alternative strategy to adapt to a changing climate is the development and promotion of Orphan crop species
Forty percent of the earth’s land cover is classified as either arid or semi-arid environment (Clark Davis & Kay 1983), in which, billions of people mainly from developing countries, live and work. Many of the arid zone environment is classified as to dry to grow crops (Creswell & Martin 1998). Still, crops like sorghum, millets (CONSORTIUM 2011) and cashes (Creswell & Martin 1998) are grown with reasonable success, as the plants or farmers have been able to adapt to the dry environment (Creswell & Martin 1998).
Sub-Saharan Africa’s grain yields roughly one third of other developing regions of the planet. Part of the problem is Africa's age-old dependence on rain-fed agriculture in a savanna climate, where the risks of drought are ever present. Sub-Saharan Africa lacks the river-based irrigation systems of South and East Asia. Another urgent problem with Africa's agriculture is that Africa's soils have been depleted of nutrients because impoverished farmers have been unable to afford fertilizers to replenish their soils. Older techniques for replenishing soil nutrients, such as the rotation of farm lands, allowing the replenishment of nutrients on land left to fallow for 10 or 20 years, are no longer feasible. Rising land scarcity because of
Water scarcity affects more than 23 million hectares of rained rice growing in many countries. Drought affects rice production in Australia, China, USA, and other countries
Furthermore, Grain producers are all over the United States and there are different weather conditions. Scientist and biologist have now affected the hormones of crops making them able to withstand harsh conditions in the United States, and the World. Weather conditions that can affect crops damaging the crop intensely or killing it. “A gene is modified so it can withstand weather conditions like; drought, heat, frost, acid or salty soil,” (Nuffield Council, 6). With weather changing every year, a crop that can withstand these changing climates is needed. Hybrid seeds (another form of biotechnology seeds) such as super sweet corn can be grown in areas with very high or very low elevations. Less weather damages, then less farmers will be affected with a crop loss. Enzymes are worked to make the crop more tolerable to harsh weather conditions.
AGRICULTURAL ECOLOGY 1. Land and its Uses (a) Uses of land for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes: Uses of land for agriculture, forestry and wildlife conservation. (b) Factors affecting land availability and use: (i) Physical factors e.g., soil type, topography etc., (ii) Socio-economic factors e.g., population pressure. 2. Environmental factors affecting agricultural production: (a) Climatic factors: rainfall, temperature, light and wind. (b) Biotic factors: predators, parasites, soil microorganisms, pests and diseases. (c) Edaphic factors: soil pH, soil texture and soil structure. 3. Rock formation (a) rock types: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic; (b) rock formation processes. Formation, composition and properties of soil (a) Factors of soil formation: parent rock, topography, organisms, climate, vegetation and time (b) Processes of soil formation: physical, chemical and biological processes.
Drought and famine can make it hard to grow produce and cater livestock, which in turn results in no income, as the selling of produce and live stock is what provides a source of income.
There is no doubt that climate is a considerable element of agricultural production. However, along with climate change, extreme weather has tended to be more frequent and more intense, which has affected farming destructively. As a result, the drought that occurred in sub-Saharan Africa has become continual and long duration, which resulted in poor harvests. In addition, climate change restricted weather risk management. Similarly, long-time climate change is threatening agricultural development in Australia and has reduced agricultural production capacity and challenged traditional farming and irrigation measures. Interestingly, in most rural areas of Australia, farmers acknowledged “a changing climate”, rather than “climate change”.
The Sahel is an area in Africa which suffers droughts and it is hard to grow crops due to the hot climate. Seasonal shifts there lead to decreased rainfall and the drought tolerant maize helps farmers adapt to climate change.
Effects of Climate change: repeated crop failure due to unpredictable weather changes that affects fruit and vegetable production as it is highly sensitivity.
Drought is another factor of climate change that causes severe damages to agriculture and livestock. The effects of drought on agricultural production and livestock holding can be a detrimental issue and result in quality dissatisfaction of products. The agricultural industry can be affected by drought both economically and environmentally. The economical effects of drought on crops and animals can lead to the loss of money and time. When droughts occur farmers lose money because they will have to spend more money earned from their
Drought is not the only risk that people face in dry land areas. There are multiple sources of vulnerability. The implication is that a multi-dimensional approach to manage risk and reduce vulnerability is required. The reason why past rangeland development projects in Africa have failed was their focus on only a single issues and interventions in isolation, such as addressing animal health problems with veterinary services, or addressing the under-provision of education and health services with mobile schools and clinics (Devereux 2006).
These climate change can have wide ranging, often unanticipated, effects on the environment and on socio- economic and development related sectors, including agriculture food security,