Smallholder farmers expand production area of the perennial crop enset as a climate coping strategy in a drought-prone indigenous agrisystem

Chase, R.; Roux, N.; Borrell, J.; Buchi, L.; Rodenburg, J.; Wendawek, A. (2022) Smallholder farmers expand production area of the perennial crop enset as a climate coping strategy in a drought-prone indigenous agrisystem. Plants People Planet First published (07 November 2022) 13 p. ISSN: 2572-2611

Climate resilient crops will become increasingly important, especially in regions where smallholder farmers are vulnerable to climate extremes. Enset, a multipurpose perennial staple crop consumed by over 20 million people in Ethiopia, purportedly provides food security during periods of drought. Here, we find evidence that fre-quent severe drought events led to an increase in enset production area. This is con-sistent with a broader pattern whereby farmers preferentially cultivate perennial and storable crops after long-term drought events, providing an example of adaptation to fluctuations in climate through crop choice in indigenous agrisystems.