Abstract:
Sustainable agriculture is central to the development challenges of the Central African sub-region. It is the nexus
for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Congo basin in the central African sub-region stores a
vast amount of carbon. However, deforestation and degradation from agricultural practices compromise the
forest carbon stocks at the expense of sustainable forest management. This paper contends that in the advent of
climate change, agriculture must be one that meets the triple challenge of ensuring food security, adapting to
climate stressors and contributing to climate change mitigation. The goal of this discourse is to unveil the
potentials for climate-smart agriculture in contributing to a better REDD+ strategy for countries in the Congo
Basin. The paper reveals that agriculture based on agroforestry systems and conservation practices will be
required to conserve forests and ensure food production, and also contribute to meeting the objectives of REDD+.
The paper demonstrates that sustainable land management and climate-smart actions that form the panoply of
agroforestry actions could help increase carbon sequestration, increase overall productivity and ensure systems
cope with the adverse effects of climate change. Harnessing these opportunities requires that the prescribed
strategies strengthen the link between forestry and agriculture, and agrarian efforts maximize synergies and
minimize trade-offs in addressing agricultural production, food security and climate change adaptation and
mitigation challenges.
