Climate-Smart Agriculture and Internet of Things Systems for Agricultural Production Efficiency in African Countries

Abstract

This chapter identifies climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices and their impact on smallholder farmers in six African countries. Various CSA practices are discussed. Observations show that farmers who adopted CSA practices obtained positive results in terms of adaptability to climate change and productivity. Furthermore, internet of things (IoT)-enabled smart agricultural systems are explored. Observations indicate that IoT-based agricultural systems enable efficient utilization of farm inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, and water. Also, using IoT systems, it is possible to provide customized, location-specific, and easily understood climate data for smallholder farmers to facilitate decision making and planning of CSA practices. Therefore, this chapter has presented recommendations for the adoption of IoT-enabled CSA in African countries. IoT-enabled agricultural systems are recommended for a country like Senegal where climate data is considered an agricultural input and also for Tanzania where IoT devices such as UAVs are considered to be useful agricultural tools.