ClimateChangeMayPutAfricanSmall-ScaleFarmersatRisk
FromVOALearningEnglish,thisistheAgricultureReport.
AnewstudysaysthespeedandseverityofclimatechangecouldcausemajordamagetosmallAfricanfarms.Thesefarmersarealreadystrugglingtodealwiththeeffectsofclimatechange.ThestudywasreleasedattheAfricanGreenRevolutionForuminAddisAbabalastmonth.ItiscalledtheAfricanAgricultureStatusReport.
DavidSarfoAmeyawwasaleadproducerofthereport.HeisadirectoratAGRA,theAllianceforaGreenRevolutioninAfrica.
Small-scalefarmersarethebackboneofAfricanagriculture.About70-percentoftheruralpopulationinsub-SaharanAfricaaresmall-scalefarmers.Theyproduceabout80-percentofthefoodneedinAfrica,saidAmeyaw.
Small-scalefarmersgrowmostofthestaplecropsinAfricaonfieldsthatareusuallyfromtwoto10hectares.Small-scalefarmersinAfricaaremuchlessproductivethanthoseinothercontinents.
InAfricancountries,farmersproduceaboutone-point-fivetonsofcerealfromeachhectare.Farmersinmanyothercountriesproducemorethanfivetonsperhectare.MrAmeyawsaysthereareseveralreasonsforthisdifference.
About90-precentofthesefarmsarerain-fed,whichmeansthattheydependontheweather.Weatherisrainfall.Weatherisdrought.Weatheris[an]increaseintemperature.Theyare[more]exposedtotheseclimateeffectsthananyotherpartoftheworld.Ontopofthatmostofthemusetheirownlabororfamilylabor.Theyarenotmechanized,hesaid.
TheAGRAreportsaysfarmersinsub-SaharanAfricaarealsodealingwithrisingtemperatures.
Itsbeenprojectedthatwithinthenext35yearstheincreaseintemperaturewillbebetweenone-point-fivetotwo-point-fivedegrees[Celsius].ThismajorriseintemperaturebringsalotofissuestoAfricafoodsecurity.Itisgoingtoaffectreductioninyield,whichisalreadylow–increaseinvulnerabilitytopestsanddiseasesthatwillkillmostofthelivestock,saidAmeyaw.
Climatechangeisalsoexpectedtoaffecttheaveragelengthofthegrowingseason,thiscouldcontinuetoreducethealreadylowamountofcropsthat北京白癜风哪家医院看的好白斑医院哪家好