Unpacking innovation demands for climate-resilient mixed farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa

According to the United Nations (n.d.), climate change is the long-term shift in temperatures and weather patterns due to natural changes, such as the sun’s activity and significant volcanic eruptions, or human activities, such as burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. The effects of and challenges caused by climate change on farmers’ ability to manage mixed farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa are well documented in the literature. How­ever, the synergies among mixed farming systems’ components and farmers’ innovation demands and responses to climate change impacts remain frag­mented. Using a case of mixed crop-livestock-tree (MCLT) systems in northern Ghana, this paper examined farmers’ responses, their innovation needs, and how these innovations can be catalyzed to enable more farmers to adopt similar climate change adaptations. Our findings show that climate change impacts mixed farming systems in several domains, with these impacts being more visible in some domains. Significant productivity declines are observed in crops, livestock, and the whole mixed farming system. Productivity declines lead to decreased incomes, food availability, and house­hold food security. Female farmers’ access to pro­duction factors, resource management, and market participation is reduced. Farmers make technical, managerial, and business changes in response to climate change impacts. Such changes are domi­nated by technical changes, including using high-yielding, disease-resistant, and early-maturing crop varieties, crop and animal pest and disease manage­ment, agricultural water and land management, and wind and bush fire control. Interconnections between the MCLT system components include cross-component investments, additional income generation, animal feeding and healthcare improve­ment, nutrition exchanges, and family nutrition improvement. These interconnections generate income and cash flow and support food and nutri­tion security, enabling farmers’ adaptation. Cli­mate-resilient innovation bundles to enable farmers’ adaptation include good agricultural prac­tices, circular farming techniques, irrigation pack­ages, information services, and value-chain link­ages. Scaling climate-resilient innovations in northern Ghana and other sub-Saharan African contexts require multiple pathways, including inno­vation platforms, innovation bundling, multi-actor partnerships, inclusive finance, and multistake­holder dialogues to support farmers’ adaptation to climate change.