Studentische Projektarbeiten
Project seminar: Smallholder agriculture and climate change
Background
Four in five farmers globally are smallholders. Almost three-quarters of agricultural land is cultivated by smallholders. Most of these smallholders are located in the Global South. Because of their socioeconomical status, their geographical location and their vulnerability to shocks, climate change will affect smallholders particularly.
That is why the interactions between smallholders and climate change are of particular interest in research and teaching and we choose this as the focus of a project seminar. The students research different topics based on their interest, by reading peer-reviewed research articles, policy documents and reports, conducting expert interviews and analyzing research data. Students each present the outcome of their research in class at the end of the semester and in a research blog online.
Seminar design and preparation
In preparation of this course, we send out a short three-minute survey to different smallholder agriculture experts. Those worked at German or international research or development institutions, private corporations, or UN organizations. We asked the experts to name key knowledge gaps in the field of smallholder agriculture and climate change. Additionally, we asked whether the participant was willing to participate in interviews with the students and to be an external adviser for the students. We received 16 answers and most experts volunteered some of their time to participate in expert interviews.
The seminar is then split into three phases. An introduction to the topic, individual work on the research project and presentation of the outcomes. In the first phase the students get an introduction explaining the overall topic of the seminar and they can choose their own research topic. In the second phase students choose their research methodology. They develop interview questionnaires, conduct interviews with experts that we suggested to them and/or analyze a research dataset specific to their topic. This was the main research phase. The third phase is dedicated to presenting and visualizing the research outcomes and creating the online research blog.
Students' research blogs
Agroecology as a concept emerged in the 1960s to promote a sustainable organic farming method as counter to industrial farming systems. It especially characterized by integrating scientific, social, and practical approaches like intercropping. Yield stability is a critical component to food security under the face of climate change.
By diversifying crop species and optimizing resource use, intercropping significantly mitigates the risks associated with environmental stresses such as drought, pests, and extreme weather conditions. This practice not only contributes to higher and more stable yields compared to monocultures but also enhances financial security for small-scale farmers by providing multiple revenue streams and better managing seasonal price fluctuations.
This research work analyzes a dataset of interviews conducted with Puerto Rican farmers in the context of Hurricane Maria . The aim of this analysis is to find out to what extent knowledge about climate change and its consequences change the motivation to act in Puerto Rico. This analysis was conducted with the statical software program SPSS.
Hurricane María hardly had any impact on farmers' adaptation strategies. However, compared to studies dealing with other natural disasters, droughts, floods, and disease outbreaks increase the motivation to integrate adaptation measures. One reason for this may be that one third of respondents in the Puerto Rico data see little or no connection between climate change and the occurrence of hurricanes.
Heat and drought as abiotic stresses are the most important adverse climate-induced factors limiting agricultural production. Heat stress can cause several damages on morphological development, such as reduced root and shoot lengths in crops. Climate Change has severe negative influence on agriculture production. Potential solutions to tackle this challenge is to sow crops earlier in the year or increase the use of genetically modified wheat species.
Especially among smallholders however the knowledge of benefits of early sowing wheat varieties is not widespread. The fact that those farmers who are aware of early sowing wheat perceive the impacts as positive demonstrates that there is potential for further enhancement of the country's agricultural climate resilience - but it needs to be fostered on a broad, holistic scale.
Local and indigenous knowledge play a crucial role in meeting the challenge of climate change. Local communities possess knowledge that has been developed in harmony with the environment over centuries. This knowledge is often holistic, intergenerational, and encompasses practices for resource conservation, land use, and adaptation to changing environmental conditions. That is why the integration of local and indigenous knowledge into modern scientific approaches offers enormous opportunities for addressing the climate crisis. Modern technologies can contribute to documenting, disseminating, and linking local knowledge with scientific findings. This can create a reciprocal learning process that enriches both scientific research and local practices.