Climate change is now a tangible threat to sustainable agriculture among smallholder farmers in the developing world. Extreme variations in rainfall patterns, volume and intensity, as well as high temperatures, negatively affect crop yield leading to maize yields as low as <1.5 t/ha. The severity of the impacts of climate change is higher within the smallholder sector due to these farmers’ low adaptive capacity, which has seen poor uptake of several climate change-related initiatives. Consequently, there has been a sustained interest in the search for appropriate sustainable solutions that can be easily adopted by smallholder farmers. The production of small grain crops such as sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet offers a feasible climate change adaptation option for smallholder farmers, particularly in Africa. However, several barriers and constraints such as labour intensiveness, unavailability of markets, lack of technical and government support, food preferences and unavailability of appropriate technologies hamper production leading to low adoption by farmers.

Apart from the well-documented barriers to small grain crop production in developing countries, the greatest challenge is the production of small grains by most smallholder farmers on marginal land in the poorest portions of their fields, with minimal external inputs and management, which contributes to low yields. This practice is fuelled by the common belief that small grains can do well with minimal or no management. It is therefore necessary to promote research and dissemination of information on appropriate and sustainable small grains cropping systems that will increase productivity and achieve food security and improve resilience to climate change. There is therefore a need for more research on practices such as conservation agriculture, legume intercropping, agroforestry, organic agriculture, and improved pest, water, and nutrient management. These practices may lead to improved yields and overcome some of the barriers that prevent the adoption of small grains by smallholder farmers and hence ensure food security.

Some of the barriers preventing the wide-scale adoption of small grain crops can be overcome by improving agronomic practices through recommending appropriate cropping systems, availing improved varieties, improving post-harvest management and access to markets and improving processing methods and equipment. This Research Topic therefore focuses on research and technologies that seek to overcome barriers to the adoption of small grain crops as an adaptation to climate change among smallholder farmers. We invite original research, review, practice reviews and systematic reviews that address sustainable cropping systems that will aid the adoption of small grain crops thereby increasing smallholder farmers’ resilience to climate change. We welcome research within the following themes:

• Appropriate climate-smart agriculture-based cropping systems for small grain crops
• On-farm research on improved small grain cultivars that are compatible with smallholder cropping systems
• On-farm research on integrated crop-livestock systems for small grains
• Socio-economic drivers for small grains adoption by smallholder farmers
• Low-cost small grain crops production and processing technologies
• Climate change projections and potential impacts on small grains production

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Frontiers in Agronomy

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