Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date (Issue Year)

2025

Journal Name

World

Abstract

Drought, pests, soil fertility depletion, environmental challenges, and the limited use of agricultural inputs continue to plague food production in many developing countries such as Mozambique. As a response to these production constraints, sustainable strategies must be defined to cope with these problems. One strategy, largely applied worldwide, is the combination of the usage of plant growth-promoting microorganisms, conservation tillage, intercropping, and crop residue management. The above can help smallholder farmers to become more resilient, sustainable, and productive, in a framework where the limitations imposed by global climate change are being exacerbated. The impacts of these strategies are less known and lack studies in Mozambique. Here, we provide a comprehensive review based on the relevant scientific literature published in the last three decades which evaluated the effects of diverse sustainable alternatives for crop production, mainly oriented to enhance crop tolerance to drought. The use of these strategies and their promising potential to increase crop yields under drought conditions emerge as one of the most sustainable approaches, leading to both an increase in agricultural productivity and the amelioration of soil properties in Southern Mozambique. However, to achieve this goal, it is critical to perform studies that enable positive impacts and also take full account of the specific socio-economic and environmental contexts in which agricultural production is developed in the semi-arid areas of Southern Mozambique. Hence, future field studies assessing conservation agriculture practices effects on yield productivity and environment under drought conditions are suggested to address issues concerned to sustainable agricultural productions which allow us to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG 1) and SDG 2.

Keywords

sustainable production alternatives; drought; Mozambique; smallholder farmers

Grantee Name(s)

Iris Victorino

Project Title

Mapping of occurrence and eco-sustainable growth stimulation of Pterocarpus angolensis (umbila) in Mozambique

Type of Grant

Research Award

Thematic Area

Climate Change

Funding Statement

This study was supported through the grants ANID/FORTALECIMIENTO CENTROS REGIONALES/CERES/R23F0003 and ANID/FONDAP/1523A0001 from Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo (ANID, Chile), and the Project FCIDERI1927 from GORE O’Higgins.

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