Legume integration in smallholder farming systems for food security and resilience to climate change

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327727 August 13, 2025 1 / 20 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Melese M, Getachew B, Woldemeskel E, Gunnabo AH (2025) Legume integration in smallholder farming systems for food security and resilience to climate change. PLoS One 20(8): e0327727. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0327727 Editor: Charles Odilichukwu R. Okpala, University of Georgia, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Received: July 20, 2024 Accepted: June 19, 2025 Published: August 13, 2025 Peer Review History: PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process; therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. The editorial history of this article is available here: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0327727 Copyright: © 2025 Melese et al . This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, RESEARCH ARTICLE Legume integration in smallholder farming systems for food security and resilience to climate change Meseretu Melese 1*, Bereket Getachew 1, Endalkachew Woldemeskel2, Ashenafi Hailu Gunnabo 1 1 College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia, 2 World Agroforestry (ICRAF), ILRI-Addis Ababa Campus, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * meseretu2023@gmail.com; meseretu.melese@amu.edu.et Abstract A random sample of 847 households (HHs) in southern Ethiopia was used to assess

the impact of HH characteristics, land and livestock ownership, seasonal variations, and agricultural challenges on cereals and legumes, crucial to community livelihoods. A structured survey was integrated into the ODK data collection tool, validated, and used with trained agricultural agents, and analyzed using an R statistical package. Farm productivity was significantly influenced by gender, since male headed HHs produced 25.5% more yield than female headed HHs. Livestock ownership, land cul- tivation, farm productivity and product utilizations were also varied among the HHs. Furthermore, agricultural practices like labor utilization, fertilizer and composite appli- cation, and use of improved seed varieties significantly affected the farm productivity. Besides, maize was identified as the principal and top-priority crop, while common bean (legume) was the second-priority crop for local people. This shows that legumes were important in the region’s agricultural systems, but some farmers experienced reduced productivity due to poor agronomic practices. Consequently, a substantial proportion of farmers (>50%) faced food shortages from February to June, represent- ing the peak of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season (April to May). Integrating early-maturing legumes in the farming system would help to escape the food shortage periods. Many farmers disclosed that the cost of chemical fertilizers’ was unaffordable, indicating a need for options like use of rhizobia inoculants and showed interest to use on their farms for improved productivities. Introduction

Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa have begun to encounter significant alter- ations in their environmental conditions, particularly those related to climate changes. The indicators of climate change, including elevated temperatures, extreme drought