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© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
B. R. Singh et al. (eds.), Climate Impacts on Agricultural and Natural Resource
Sustainability in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37537-9_1
Agricultural and Natural Resource
Sustainability Under Changing Climate
in Africa
Bal Ram Singh, Andy Safalaoh, Nyambilila A. Amuri, Lars Olav Eik,
Bishal K. Sitaula, and Rattan Lal
Abstract Sustaining soil and forest resources, ensuring food security, and reducing
poverty under changing climate in Africa are major challenges. The ever-increasing
population, which may reach 1.4 billion by 2030, demands that food production
must increase by 20% as compared to the present production. The population growth
rate of 2.7% in 2017 in SSA region is also the highest in the world. This has intensified the problem of food insecurity as nearly 34% of population in SSA appears to
be food insecure. Soils of SSA are prone to a range of soil degradation processes,
and this is further aggravated by the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme
events. The biophysical process of soil degradation is strongly influenced by the
socio-economic, political, and cultural factors including the land tenure and genderrelated issues. Indeed, soil-climate-human factors are intricately interlinked, and
humanity’s impact on soil is increasing with the increase in population, affluence
with which the population lives, and changes in technologies. Use of innovative
technologies, financing value-added investments, and promotion of value addition
to agricultural products are the ways of increasing and ensuring sustainable agricultural and livestock production. The adoption of new technologies, such as integrated
B. R. Singh (*)
Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management,
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
e-mail: balram.singh@nmbu.no
A. Safalaoh
Animal Science Department, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources
(LUANAR), Lilongwe, Malawi
N. A. Amuri
Department of Soil and Geological Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture,
Morogoro, Tanzania
L. O. Eik · B. K. Sitaula
Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University
of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
R. Lal
School of Environment and Natural Resources, Carbon Management and Sequestration
Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
B. R. Singh et al. (eds.), Climate Impacts on Agricultural and Natural Resource
Sustainability in Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37537-9_1
Agricultural and Natural Resource
Sustainability Under Changing Climate
in Africa
Bal Ram Singh, Andy Safalaoh, Nyambilila A. Amuri, Lars Olav Eik,
Bishal K. Sitaula, and Rattan Lal
Abstract Sustaining soil and forest resources, ensuring food security, and reducing
poverty under changing climate in Africa are major challenges. The ever-increasing
population, which may reach 1.4 billion by 2030, demands that food production
must increase by 20% as compared to the present production. The population growth
rate of 2.7% in 2017 in SSA region is also the highest in the world. This has intensified the problem of food insecurity as nearly 34% of population in SSA appears to
be food insecure. Soils of SSA are prone to a range of soil degradation processes,
and this is further aggravated by the increase in frequency and intensity of extreme
events. The biophysical process of soil degradation is strongly influenced by the
socio-economic, political, and cultural factors including the land tenure and genderrelated issues. Indeed, soil-climate-human factors are intricately interlinked, and
humanity’s impact on soil is increasing with the increase in population, affluence
with which the population lives, and changes in technologies. Use of innovative
technologies, financing value-added investments, and promotion of value addition
to agricultural products are the ways of increasing and ensuring sustainable agricultural and livestock production. The adoption of new technologies, such as integrated
B. R. Singh (*)
Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management,
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
e-mail: balram.singh@nmbu.no
A. Safalaoh
Animal Science Department, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources
(LUANAR), Lilongwe, Malawi
N. A. Amuri
Department of Soil and Geological Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture,
Morogoro, Tanzania
L. O. Eik · B. K. Sitaula
Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University
of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
R. Lal
School of Environment and Natural Resources, Carbon Management and Sequestration
Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA