Book of Abstract (incl. addendum) - IFSA symposium 2012

Workshop 3.1 Farming Systems’ adaptation to climate change
(types of grass and associated area and usage), and feeding diet along a 12 month cycle in a given
economic and climatic scenarios. The generation and evaluation of each configuration are done
collectively in a participatory workshop and exploit a simple balance model. A diversity of use is
permitted by this game depending on the matter being discussed. The paper describes its use in the
design of dairy systems adapted to climate variability and change expected by 2050. From our
experience with the forage rummy, we synthesise lessons about key factors enhancing participation,
focus and depth of discussion, and learning about the relevance of potential farming systems
adaptations.
Development of Agricultural Innovations in Organic Agriculture to adapt to
Climate Change – Results from a Transdisciplinary R&D Project in North-
Eastern Germany
Sonja Siart, Andrea Knierim, Ralf Bloch and Johann Bachinger
Leibnitz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany
Sonja.Siart@zalf.de
Based on concepts for innovation processes and co-production of knowledge, approaches are searched
to address the urgent and complex problems related to climate change, where especially the
participation of and close collaboration with practice partners is claimed. The paper presents the
agricultural knowledge management approach in the module on organic agriculture in the R&D project
INKA BB (Innovation Network for Climate Change Adaptation Brandenburg Berlin) in north-eastern
Germany (Knierim et al. 2009). The methodology for the science-practice collaboration follows an
action research approach that supports the communication and cooperation of researchers and
practitioners. The framework is the action research cycle with the iterative stages of planning, action
and reflection. The module on organic agriculture, where individual research questions are addressed
on several farms, will be presented as a good practice example for close transdisciplinary network
cooperation. The workshop contribution will provide insights in and reflections on the process of
innovation development over two project years.
Farming Systems within Protected Areas and dealing with drought and
elephant invasion: Climate change challenges in Limpopo National Park,
Mozambique
Nicia Givá and Nadarajah Sriskandarajah
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
Ngiva@uem.mz
Drought and elephants are interconnected factors that determine food security in the Limpopo National
Park (LNP) Multiple Use Zone (MUZ) communities. About 30.000 people inhabit the so called MUZ
relying on rain fed agriculture for their livelihoods. The low and unpredictable rainfall pattern (320 to
450 mm year-1) under semi arid conditions, coupled with low input technology shape the main farming
systems. Cropping in different locations, seeding at every rainfall event regardless of the season, mixed
crops to ensure crop diversity and reduce crop failure risk are some of the adaptive strategies of MUZ
communities to cope with recurrent drought events. The effectiveness of all the adopted strategies is
further challenged by elephant invasion in the park setting, with consequent crop damage. This paper
assesses how MUZ communities respond to drought and elephant pressure to overcome food
insecurity. Participant observation, in-depth and semi-structured interviews, participatory mapping and
a survey with 106 households were used to gather qualitative and quantitative data on socio-economic
and seasonal livelihoods variations, between February 2008 and July 2009. Results show a positive
relationship between droughts and crop damaged by elephants. The number of elephant raids increases
with intensity and severity of drought, up to five or more invasions per cropped area. As a
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