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6 - Closing the yield gap in the savannah zone

from Part III - Food production globally: in hotspot regions and in the landscape

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2014

Johan Rockström ,
Malin Falkenmark ,
Carl Folke ,
Mats Lannerstad ,
Jennie Barron ,
Elin Enfors ,
Line Gordon ,
Jens Heinke ,
Holger Hoff  and
Claudia Pahl-Wostl
Johan Rockström
Affiliation:
Stockholm Resilience Centre
Malin Falkenmark
Affiliation:
Stockholm Resilience Centre
Carl Folke
Affiliation:
Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics, Stockholm
Mats Lannerstad
Affiliation:
Stockholm Environment Institute
Jennie Barron
Affiliation:
Stockholm Environment Institute
Elin Enfors
Affiliation:
Stockholm Resilience Centre
Line Gordon
Affiliation:
Stockholm Resilience Centre
Jens Heinke
Affiliation:
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and International Livestock Research Institute
Holger Hoff
Affiliation:
Stockholm Environment Institute
Claudia Pahl-Wostl
Affiliation:
Universität Osnabrück
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Summary

This chapter takes a closer look at low-income countries in the savannah zone, where poverty and malnutrition are dominant features. Although high rainfall variability across time and space is a key challenge, this zone has substantial hydrological potential. The chapter analyses how investments in agricultural water management can contribute to closing the yield gap between actual and potential yields in the savannahs, and thereby to building resilience in these regions. The chapter discusses the range of technological, biophysical and social constraints currently limiting the uptake of these promising technologies. Conclusions are finally drawn regarding broad based farming system solutions that target the interacting constraints, and deal with the uncertainty of the future.

Challenges and opportunities in the savannah zone

This chapter examines the savannah zone, which presents an enormous development challenge but also a unique opportunity to improve food production and build social–ecological resilience. A major constraint on agro-ecological productivity across the world’s savannah regions is temporal shortages of water in the crop root zone. This chapter focuses on a set of small-scale practices that improve water management in agriculture to help overcome this constraint. If properly implemented and supported, these practices can unlock the agricultural potential of the savannah zone and provide a window of opportunity for improved livelihoods for millions of smallholder farmers across the world.

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Water Resilience for Human Prosperity , pp. 172 - 193
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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