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http://www.new-ag.info/en/news/newsitem.php?a=2324
Smallholder farmers can address climate change through triple-win strategies
By expanding underexploited agricultural strategies, smallscale farmers can mitigate climate change, increase their resilience to climate change impacts and boost their profits from agricultural production, new research has revealed. Using crop and livestock model simulations and household survey data across Kenya’s diverse climate zones, researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Kenya Agriculture Research Institute (KARI) and the University of Georgia identified a number of these ‘triple-win’ strategies.
“We discovered that there is a set of highly beneficial practices that farmers could use to build their resilience against climate change and bolster their livelihoods,” says IFPRI senior researcher Claudia Ringler. The combined application of inorganic fertiliser, mulch, and manure – which simultaneously enhances crop yields, increases soil carbon stocks, and boosts profits – was identified as one of the most effective triple-win strategies. The use of higher quality feeds for livestock, which boosts profits and decreases methane emissions, was another important strategy.
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