ABSTRACT
The challenge of meeting the food and nutrition requirements of a growing population through sustainable and climate-resilient farming systems is one of the key issues facing African agriculture over the coming decades. This challenge is well recognized by African political leaders. Africa’s Agenda 2063 endorsed by the African Union (AU) Summit of January 2015 and the AU Malabo Summit Declaration of June 2014 on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation both affirmed African governments’ commitment to eliminate hunger and food insecurity by 2025; and to enable resilience of livelihoods and production systems to climate change and other shocks (AU, 2014, 2015). Meeting these commitments will critically depend, among other things, on how land, soils, water, energy and agroecosystems are managed and sustained in the production of food and other basic human needs. As essential as these resources are, each one is coming under pressure due to demographic, economic and climatic changes.
