Over the last decade climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has been promoted as a new approach to deal with the impacts of climate change on agriculture while simultaneously trying to mitigate emissions and improve food security. This approach suggests that these multiple goals – adaptation, mitigation and food security - could be achieved simultaneously by adopting specific technologies. At its core, CSA describes agricultural interventions that can 1) sustainably increase agricultural productivity, and hence food security and farm incomes; 2) help adapt and build resilience of agricultural systems to climate change; and 3) reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture (including crops, livestock and fisheries). The main focus of CSA is on smallholder producers, many of whom are already marginalized by existing food production systems, their livelihoods increasingly affected by changes in climate. Unsustainable agricultural practices are common amongst these groups. However, there is an increasing awareness of the need to sustain the natural resource base in order to maintain or increase productivity. Malawi is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with chronic food insecurity affecting large parts of the population, and climate variability increasingly noticeable across the country. Agriculture is practiced predominantly on small holdings, with more than 80% of the population depending on land-based income. In this context, the introduction of climate-smart projects and technologies with the potential to deliver triple wins could improve farmers’ incomes and food security, increase their resilience to climate change impacts, as well as deliver global benefits via climate change mitigation. This dissertation looks at the adoption levels of various, potentially climate-smart agricultural practices by smallholder dairy farmers in Malawi, with the view of establishing the current level of engagement in these practices, and identifying the factors that influence adoption. Results show the importance of the socio-economic and institutional factors in explaining the probability of adopting different agricultural practices. In particular, the findings indicate the importance of well-informed and targeted extension support as one of the major enabling factors for the adoption of improved practices. The findings further show that farmers’ climate change perceptions play a key role in the adoption of climate-smart practices. Overall, the thesis concludes that a number of currently unsustainable dairy farm management practices could be improved upon to achieve double or triple-win benefits within a reasonably short timescale, many of them at low cost. In addition, limited adoption rates of several sustainable practices that are already in place could be improved with the provision of more training, knowledge sharing and extension advice and support on the benefits of these practices. However, the thesis argues that before implementing projects and policies that promise triple wins, a careful evaluation of benefits, including mitigation, adaptation, and food security, and risks must be carried out, as triple wins will not be achievable in many cases due to the local and external constraints including lack of skills and knowledge, and lack of funding. In this respect, whether climate-smart agriculture could become a globally sustainable approach to the climate change problem in agriculture, remains to be seen.

No description available.

Le riz est devenu une denrée de grande consommation au Bénin et les études prospectives le présentent comme la céréale qui sera la plus consommée en Afrique de l’Ouest dans les prochaines décennies. Malgré le potentiel rizicole dont dispose le Bénin et les stratégies nationales de promotion du riz, l’offre domestique est faible par rapport aux ambitions affichées par ce pays de parvenir à la souveraineté alimentaire. Cette thèse vise à analyser les mesures de politiques de souveraineté alimentaire en matière de riz dans une perspective de sécurité alimentaire durable. Des enquêtes exploratoires et approfondies ont été réalisées auprès des riziculteurs. Des données quantitatives et qualitatives ont été collectées à l’aide de questionnaires et guides d’entretien. Les résultats de cette recherche montrent que le riz local dispose d’un avantage comparatif par rapport au riz importé. Cependant, des efforts doivent être faits pour réduire les coûts de production afin de rendre le riz malanvillois plus compétitif. Le niveau d’instruction, l’accès au crédit, l’expérience en riziculture et le statut social du producteur peuvent contribuer à améliorer le taux d’adoption des technologies et augmenter la productivité. Une politique rizicole combinant simultanément une politique de soutien du prix, de subvention d’engrais spécifiques au riz, de culture attelée et agricole climato-intelligente augmenterait la production et permettrait de parvenir à la souveraineté alimentaire. / Rice has become a primary consumed product in Benin. Studies have revealed it will become the most consumed cereal in west Africa within the next decades. Despite the resources Benin possesses favouring rice culture and the government measures to promote it, the household supply remains unsatisfactory when compared to the objective set by the country to reach food sovereignty. The present essay analyses the government policies in order to reach a sustainable food sovereignty through rice culture. In depth, exploratory surveys have been conducted among the rice farmers. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected through structured questionnaires and guided interviews revealing the comparative advantage local rice has over imported one. Efforts have yet to be made in order for Malanville rice famers to reduce their production costs and become more competitive. Education level, access to loans, rice farmers experience as well as their social status are the key factors influencing the implementation of new technologies allowing an increase of productivity. Rice production and food sovereignty should be attained by implementing simultaneously income support policies, funded fertilizers, climate-smart culture and ploughing by oxen.

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has emerged as a concept to address the multiple challenges and interdependencies of agriculture and climate change. Within CSA debates, equity and agroecology are especially contested. In Ghana, the concept of climate-smart cocoa (CSC) has emerged to simultaneously respond to high rates of deforestation, climate change pressures and low productivity of cocoa – Ghana’s principal agricultural export. Since CSC in Ghana is a nascent concept, it has received very little academic or critical appraisal. By applying a meta-discourse framework, this study aimed at gaining insights into local CSC discourses in Ghana and how these reflect global environmental meta-discourses. The adoption of certain discourses can reveal insights into subsequent policies and their implications for already marginalised cocoa smallholders. My findings are based on 37 qualitative interviews with cocoa smallholders, extension officers as well as governmental, non-governmental and private sector representatives of Ghana’s cocoa sector. Overall, my results suggest that an ecological modernisation discourse was the most pronounced meta-discourse reflected within CSC. A sustainable intensification discourse was the most common CSC practice to achieve a win-win between environment and development aspirations. Agroecological practices within CSC were mainly adopted to serve ecological modernisation discourses and are thus diametrically opposed to those promoted by more radical meta-discourses. Issues of contextual equity, especially regarding tree tenure, were ubiquitous, and discussed by a large majority of cocoa stakeholders. I caution that an overly simplistic win-win approach risks side-lining contextual equity issues and complexities regarding shade cover and agrochemical input. Community Resource Management Area Mechanisms (CREMAs) and other local governance mechanisms represent promising ways to balance trade-offs within the dominant CSC discourse by giving cocoa smallholders a stronger voice. However, given the dominance of large agricultural actors – such as foreign chocolate companies – within the current political economy of Ghana’s cocoa sector, this study cautions not to overestimate the potential of these local governance structures.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第23964号 / 農博第2513号 / 新制||農||1093(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R4||N5399(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科生物資源経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 梅津 千恵子, 教授 浅見 淳之, 准教授 三谷 羊平 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Syftet är att undersöka om en dagligvaruaktörs kommunikation av dess CSR-arbete med klimatfrågor har påverkat konsumenter till ett ändrat beteende gällande livsmedelsinköp. Undersökningen grundar sig i tidigare studier och vetenskapliga artiklar.  En kvalitativ samt kvantitativ metod har använts då insamlingen av primärdata genomfördes med en enkätundersökning med ICA Sverige ABs konsumenter samt en intervju med en representant från ICA Sverige AB. Undersökningen kom fram till att majoriteten av konsumenterna genomförde inköp av klimatsmart mat utifrån deras attityd. Å ena sidan, påverkar inte ICA Sverige AB konsumenterna till att genomföra inköp av klimatsmart mat. Å andra sidan, tillhandahåller de ett brett utbud som uppmuntrar konsumenterna till att göra det. / The purpose is to investigate whether a grocery operator’s communication of its CSR activities on climate issues has influenced consumers to a changed behaviour regarding food purchases. The study is based on previous studies and scientific articles. A qualitative and quantitative method has been used during the collection of primary data, conducted through a survey based on ICA Sweden AB’s consumers, and with an interview with a representative from ICA Sweden AB. It was discovered that the majority of the consumers purchases climate-smart food based on their attitude. However, ICA Sweden AB does not affect the consumers to make purchases of climatesmart food. Nevertheless, they provide a wide range of climatesmart food that encourage consumers to do so.

Malmö vill enligt sitt eget miljöprogram vara “Sveriges klimatsmartaste stad”. Alla livsmedel som köps in av kommunen ska vara ekologiska, och klimatgasutsläppen från maten ha minskat med 40% före utgången av 2020. Det ekologiska målet ser ut att kunna nås, men klimatgasutsläppen har endast gått ner med 15% i skrivande stund. Staden driver nu en ny satsning för att klara målsättningen. Denna undersökning granskar det förfarande som Malmö stads miljöförvaltning tagit fram och sätter det i relation till forskning om klimatkommunikation och beteendeförändring. Det är vanligt att utvärderingar av utbildningar fokuserar på deltagarnas attityd till utbildningen, istället för de beteendeförändringar som utbildningen uppmanar till. Genom gruppintervjuer med utbildare och projektdeltagare, samt innehållsanalys av utbildningsmaterialet söker undersökningen svar på frågan: leder miljöförvaltningens utbildning till ett förändrat beteende hos utbildningens målgrupp? Även om vi utifrån respondenterna kan konstatera att få konkreta förändringar hittills har skett i verksamheterna, har vi kunnat identifiera hinder, förbättringsåtgärder och kartlägga hur deltagarna på olika sätt förhåller sig till utbildningarna och till målet. Vi konstaterar att metoden för hur satsningen ska bedrivas inte använder sig av ett teoretiskt ramverk eller är konsekvent förankrad i vetenskap. Vi konstaterar att kommunen har en stark position för att verkliggöra miljövänligt beteende hos sina anställda, men att kommunen underutnyttjar potentialen. Konsekvenser och möjligheter diskuteras. / Malmö, according to its own environmental program, wants to be "Sweden's most climate friendly city". All food purchased from the municipality should be organic and the greenhouse gas emissions should decreased by 40% by the end of 2020. The ecological target seems to be achievable, but climate emissions have only fallen by 15% at the time of writing. The city is now running a new venture to meet the goals. This study examines the procedure developed by Malmö City Environmental Management in relation to research on climate communication and behavioral change.It is common for evaluations of education to focus on the attitudes of the participants, rather than the behavioral changes that the education encourages. Through group interviews with educators and project participants, as well as content analysis of the educational material, the survey seeks to answer the question: Does the management of the environmental administration lead to a change in behavior in the education target group?Even though, according to the respondents, few changes have taken place so far, we have been able to identify obstacles, improvement measures and map how the participants relate to the education and the goal in different ways. We note thatthe method of conducting the venture does not use a theoretical framework or is consistently rooted in science. We note that the municipality has a strong position to realize environmentally friendly behavior among its employees, but that the municipality underuses the potential. Consequences and opportunities is discussed.

Recycled material has attracted extensive interest due to its positive impact on decarbonization in the building sector. At the same time, utilizing these materials is limited. The main objective of this degree project is to provide a better understanding of recycled materials and their role in environmental and economic aspects. This work investigates three cases regarding the use of recycled materials as external wall insulation in ETC buildings: Case 1 (biochar), Case 2 (plastic waste materials), and Case 3 (straw bales), and the cases will be compared with Case 0 (wood) materials that are used in the building. Thermal insulation properties such as thermal conductivity and density are the most important factors influencing this material's ability to insulate. These properties are used as variables in simulation; each variable is linked to the type of material used. Models were created for each material in the building performance simulation tool IDA ICE. In each model, the insulation of the external walls will be changed, but the rest of the construction specifications will stay unchanged. The results showed that all the materials selected in the evaluation have a low environmental impact (thermo-environmental assessment), low energy demand, and low carbon emissions. In the case of comparing the three cases 1, 2, and 3 of recycled materials, the results indicated that Case 1 (biochar) has the same environmental impact as Case 0 (wood), but the energy used was more than Case 0 by 6%, and the economic impact (thermoeconomic assessment)regarding energy costs has the same value. There is no information regarding the material’s price. The results showed that Case 3 (straw bales) has a lower environmental and economic impact than wood. The results illustrated that adding Case2 (EPS) with a thickness of 200 to the wooden building reduced demand by 3% for heating and cooling, and the energy used was less than 2%. Therefore, Case0 (wood) support with this layer is considered an appropriate solution to reduce energy demand. On the other hand, recycled materials have challenges in terms of insufficient research on the extent of their use, as in the case of biochar in Sweden. As well as challenges related to the development of strawbales, which have many problems related to rotting and moisture absorption / <p></p><p></p>

To strengthen societies and address the increased risks generated by climate change, development projects within disaster risk reduction [DRR] and climate change adaptation [CCA] must ensure the sustainability of capacity development. However, sustainability is currently flawed in such projects, which could relate to the inadequate achievement of empowerment of targeted beneficiaries. Some scholars suggest that vertical collaboration – the collaboration between stakeholders and beneficiaries – is decisive in determining the achievement of community empowerment during implementation. Still, the role of vertical collaboration and the dynamics of this relationship remains unexplored. By comparing a development initiative within climate-smart agriculture [CSA] implemented in two different communities in Eswatini, this thesis aims to evaluate the achievement of vertical collaboration and explore the relationship between vertical collaboration and empowerment. The results show that the achievement of vertical collaboration does covariate with the presence of empowerment and that certain factors are more influential in determining outcomes than others. These factors include the presence of opportunities for all participants to get involved; active, accessible, and participatory communication; bidirectional learning; and providing beneficiaries with voice and decision-making power. The findings support the theoretical argument, demonstrating that vertical collaboration plays a role in determining empowerment, and highlight the importance of considering it as a critical aspect when implementing CSA projects. However, the sustainability of capacity developments could not be identified in either community, suggesting that alternative factors might be essential for long-term outcomes. Further research is required to understand interconnections among identified factors and how they can be leveraged for the success and sustainability of capacity development within this field.

No description available.