Climate-smart agriculture

We prove that good farming, backed by strong marketing and sustainably managed ecosystems, is a lasting way out of poverty.

Building on nearly 40 years’ experience of supporting farmers in eastern Africa, Farm Africa supports smallholder farmers to:

• Use market information to produce food that is in high demand.
• Use climate information to adapt farming practices to climate extremes such as drought and flooding.
• Access high-quality agricultural inputs, such as improved seeds, fertiliser, and irrigation, and gain access to the finance needed to buy them.
• Learn by doing. We help farmers groups learn about good agricultural practices on demonstration plots managed by other farmers and Farmer Training Centres.
• Boost productivity. The use of high-quality agricultural inputs and good agricultural practices means farmers can increase the volumes of crop they produce per hectare.
• Reduce food loss. Storing produce in waterproof sacks in moisture-controlled warehouses, preserving produce like chillies using solar dryers and building links to markets are some of the ways farmers can reduce post-harvest losses, meaning higher incomes and a lower carbon footprint.
• Improve marketing. Aggregating crops and selling them in bulk, or adding value to produce by processing and packaging it, such as producing oil from sunflower seeds are ways that farmers can attract buyers and secure higher prices.

With training from our staff in eastern Africa, farmers are doubling and tripling their harvests as they adopt better seeds, methods and soil improvers.

We focus on regenerative agriculture approaches that help farmers to manage their resources in ways which protect ecosystems and reduce agriculture’s contribution to climate change.

These practices such as mulching, intercropping, organic composting and diverse cover crops build soil fertility and organic carbon stocks.

Farm Africa promotes diversification and trains farmers in sustainable practices to promote more intensive farming that will increase yields and incomes without damaging local ecosystems.

Many smallholder farmers in eastern Africa rely on seeds that they have collected from their own crops, but these recycled seeds are often poor quality and have very little chance of growing into a healthy harvest, particularly if the conditions are dry.

With the effects of climate change worsening, these crops are more likely to fail and farmers will struggle.

But high-quality seeds have the power to revolutionise harvests. They help to boost crop yields, are tolerant to droughts and resilient to pests and diseases.

Farm Africa trains farmers in producing, processing and selling high-quality, drought-tolerant seeds to give farmers and their families the best chance of a healthy harvest, even in the driest conditions.

With improved productivity and soil health, there is less need to cut down trees or use more land for agriculture. This reduces the pressure on forests, rangelands and drylands and makes farming viable for people with small plots of land.

Agroforestry is a component of many of our projects. We encourage farmers to grow fruit, fodder and shade trees on their farms. Tree roots hold water in the soil and hold soil together, which leads to less erosion and improved soil health and fertility. Trees also provide shade for other crops and can stimulate diversity in plants and animals.

This low-cost, low-tech approach uses worms to rapidly convert green waste and animal manure into rich, organic compost that can supercharge crop production.

As the price for fertiliser continues to climb, vermiculture is an affordable option for smallholder farmers across eastern Africa.

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