The risks presented by climate change and extreme weather events such as drought and floods have severe consequences for agricultural production, especially for smallholder and resource-poor farmers. Climate change related events, especially droughts, can also result in water shortage, crop failure, famine, hunger, migration, and loss of livelihoods. These impacts are being increasingly witnessed in parts or in their entirety in sub-Saharan Africa where crop production is predominantly rainfed. In such instances, it is argued that water-smart farming, including water-efficient irrigation technologies, can reinforce climate-smart agriculture to abate farmers’ susceptibilities to climate change effects on the continent. Water-smart farming seeks to optimize and supplement rainfall and irrigated agriculture by improving the storage capacities of soils, reducing evaporation from the soil surface, and improving the water use efficiency in crop production.To encourage sustainable intensification of agriculture and meet the increasing demand for food, agricultural production will likely have to rely on water-smart farming technologies and techniques that can harness and make soil moisture and nutrients readily available for plant growth and development. Water-smart agriculture includes the application and use of diverse best water-use practices at both the landscape (ecosystem management, climate information services) and farm levels (crop-soil-water-atmosphere continuum) for resilient, sustainable, and efficient agriculture, toward the enhancement of family farmers’ livelihoods. Most often, such management approaches are overlooked until a crisis unfolds.To achieve water-smart agriculture, water must be both conserved and efficiently used. Water conservation can be achieved through the proper management of community, landscape, and drainage water, rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse as well as farming practices such as the use of cover crops, and crop diversification. Efficient water use in farming can be achieved through irrigation techniques including deficit irrigation, furrow irrigation, micro-irrigation, and partial root-zone drying, as well as farming methods such as greenhouse farming, aeroponics and hydroponics. In addition, spectral imaging, remote sensing, weather forecasting, and moisture monitoring are all technologies that can also be used to improve water use efficiency on farms and increase their resilience, adaptability to, and potential to mitigate climate change-induced water scarcity in agriculture. This Research Topic aims to explore strategies and approaches for water-smart farming in sub-Saharan Africa, including, but not limited to the composite adoption of conservation and ecological farming approaches that promote landscape management and aquifer recharge as well as on-farm water and nutrient management. This Research Topic further aims to explore other technologies or techniques that aid farmer decision making in Sub-Saharan Africa in the face of increasingly uncertain weather extremes. Such techniques include the use of forecasted weather, pest and disease data as well as crop and market projections. On a grander scale, community water management is expected to improve access to water for all water-dependent micro-economies within the watershed or basin. This Research Topic will collate advances made in research and some well-known as well as emerging technologies and strategies that have been tried and tested to stimulate and promote the adoption of said technologies and strategies, thus building resilience into agricultural systems, improving food security and rural livelihoods, and contributing to environmental sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa.We welcome research on the following topics (but not limited to) in the context of their relevance to sub-Saharan Africa:· Water-smart farming as a prerequisite for climate-smart agriculture· Incentives and benefits to the adoption of water-smart farming technologies· Environmental approaches to water-smart farming· Landscape and watershed management options for water-smart farming· Wastewater and bio-waste as resources in water-smart farming· Water-smart on-farm soil conservation practices· Climate information services for decision support in water-smart farming · Irrigation and irrigation system design in water-smart agriculture· Remote sensing and GIS for agricultural water resource management· Barriers to the adoption of water-smart farming technologies
The risks presented by climate change and extreme weather events such as drought and floods have severe consequences for agricultural production, especially for smallholder and resource-poor farmers. Climate change related events, especially droughts, can also result in water shortage, crop failure, famine, hunger, migration, and loss of livelihoods. These impacts are being increasingly witnessed in parts or in their entirety in sub-Saharan Africa where crop production is predominantly rainfed. In such instances, it is argued that water-smart farming, including water-efficient irrigation technologies, can reinforce climate-smart agriculture to abate farmers’ susceptibilities to climate change effects on the continent. Water-smart farming seeks to optimize and supplement rainfall and irrigated agriculture by improving the storage capacities of soils, reducing evaporation from the soil surface, and improving the water use efficiency in crop production.To encourage sustainable intensification of agriculture and meet the increasing demand for food, agricultural production will likely have to rely on water-smart farming technologies and techniques that can harness and make soil moisture and nutrients readily available for plant growth and development. Water-smart agriculture includes the application and use of diverse best water-use practices at both the landscape (ecosystem management, climate information services) and farm levels (crop-soil-water-atmosphere continuum) for resilient, sustainable, and efficient agriculture, toward the enhancement of family farmers’ livelihoods. Most often, such management approaches are overlooked until a crisis unfolds.To achieve water-smart agriculture, water must be both conserved and efficiently used. Water conservation can be achieved through the proper management of community, landscape, and drainage water, rainwater harvesting and wastewater reuse as well as farming practices such as the use of cover crops, and crop diversification. Efficient water use in farming can be achieved through irrigation techniques including deficit irrigation, furrow irrigation, micro-irrigation, and partial root-zone drying, as well as farming methods such as greenhouse farming, aeroponics and hydroponics. In addition, spectral imaging, remote sensing, weather forecasting, and moisture monitoring are all technologies that can also be used to improve water use efficiency on farms and increase their resilience, adaptability to, and potential to mitigate climate change-induced water scarcity in agriculture. This Research Topic aims to explore strategies and approaches for water-smart farming in sub-Saharan Africa, including, but not limited to the composite adoption of conservation and ecological farming approaches that promote landscape management and aquifer recharge as well as on-farm water and nutrient management. This Research Topic further aims to explore other technologies or techniques that aid farmer decision making in Sub-Saharan Africa in the face of increasingly uncertain weather extremes. Such techniques include the use of forecasted weather, pest and disease data as well as crop and market projections. On a grander scale, community water management is expected to improve access to water for all water-dependent micro-economies within the watershed or basin. This Research Topic will collate advances made in research and some well-known as well as emerging technologies and strategies that have been tried and tested to stimulate and promote the adoption of said technologies and strategies, thus building resilience into agricultural systems, improving food security and rural livelihoods, and contributing to environmental sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa.We welcome research on the following topics (but not limited to) in the context of their relevance to sub-Saharan Africa:· Water-smart farming as a prerequisite for climate-smart agriculture· Incentives and benefits to the adoption of water-smart farming technologies· Environmental approaches to water-smart farming· Landscape and watershed management options for water-smart farming· Wastewater and bio-waste as resources in water-smart farming· Water-smart on-farm soil conservation practices· Climate information services for decision support in water-smart farming · Irrigation and irrigation system design in water-smart agriculture· Remote sensing and GIS for agricultural water resource management· Barriers to the adoption of water-smart farming technologies