scholarly journals Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Smallholders’ Cropping Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Shaankua E. Lemarpe ◽  
Collins M. Musafiri ◽  
Joseph M. Macharia ◽  
Milka N. Kiboi ◽  
Onesmus K. Ng’etich ◽  
...  

Increased concentration of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), is of great concern due to its impact on ozone layer depletion leading to climate change. Ozone layer depletion allows penetration of ultraviolet radiations, which are hazardous to human health. Climate change culminates in reduced food productivity. Limited empirical studies have been conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to quantify and understand the dynamics of soil N2O fluxes from smallholder cropping systems. The available literature on soil N2O fluxes in SSA is limited; hence, there is a pressing need to consolidate it to ease mitigation targeting and policy formulation initiatives. We reviewed the state of N2O emissions from selected cropping systems, drivers that significantly influence N2O emissions, and probable soil N2O emissions mitigation options from 30 studies in SSA cropping systems have been elucidated here. The review outcome indicates that coffee, tea, maize, and vegetables emit N2O ranging from 1 to 1.9, 0.4 to 3.9, 0.1 to 4.26, and 48 to 113.4 kg N2O-N ha-1 yr−1, respectively. The yield-scaled and N2O emissions factors ranged between 0.08 and 67 g N2O-N kg−1 and 0.01 and 4.1%, respectively, across cropping systems. Soil characteristics, farm management practices, and climatic and environmental conditions were significant drivers influencing N2O emissions across SSA cropping systems. We found that site-specific soil N2O emissions mitigation measures are required due to high variations in N2O drivers across SSA. We conclude that appropriate fertilizer and organic input management combined with improved soil management practices are potential approaches in N2O emissions mitigation in SSA. We recommend that (i) while formulating soil N2O emissions mitigation approaches, in SSA, policymakers should consider site-specific targeting approaches, and (ii) more empirical studies need to be conducted in diverse agroecological zones of SSA to qualify various mitigation options on N2O emissions, yield-scaled N2O emissions, and N2O emission factors which are essential in improving national and regional GHG inventories.

Author(s):  
Chinedu Egbunike ◽  
Nonso Okoye ◽  
Okoroji-Nma Okechukwu

Climate change is a major threat to agricultural food production globally and locally. It poses both direct and indirect effects on soil functions. Thus, agricultural management practices has evolved to adaptation strategies in order to mitigate the risks and threats from climate change. The study concludes with a recommendation the coconut farmers should explore the idea of soil biodiversity in a bid to mitigate the potential negative impact of climate related risk on the farming. The study proffers the need for adopting sustainable agricultural practices to boost local coconut production. This can contribute to the simultaneous realisation of two of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations: SDG 2 on food security and sustainable agriculture and SDG 13 on action to combat climate change and its impacts. The study findings has implications for tackling climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa and in particular Nigeria in order to boost local agricultural production and coconut in particular without negative environmental consequences and an ability to cope with climate change related risks.


Author(s):  
Osarumwense Iguisi

There has been general upsurge in cultures and management research in the last decades. Despite this fact, empirical studies on culture dimensions to management practices in Sub-Saharan Africa have been limited in numbers and scope. In Africa, there is very limited knowledge about cultural values and the consequences they pose for employee motivation. A major research question this study tries to address is whether the results could help to explain the disappointing economic development of Nigeria. The findings do confirm profound employee motivational values with the family collective interests playing a very important role in Nigeria. The study challenges the validity of the dominant Western universal perspectives in employee motivation in traditional African organizations. The study suggests that elements of traditional values pose serious challenges to African managers’ abilities to adopt local cultural and traditional values practices that can improve the effectiveness of employee motivation in their organizations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 34001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. Zougmoré ◽  
Samuel T. Partey ◽  
Mathieu Ouédraogo ◽  
Emmanuel Torquebiau ◽  
Bruce M. Campbell

In the literature, a lot of information is available about climate change perceptions and impacts in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is limited attention in the region to emerging initiatives, technologies and policies that are tailored to building the adaptive capacity of agricultural systems to climate change and variability. In this paper, we discuss the prospects for climate-smart agriculture technologies and enabling policies in dealing with climate change and variability at different sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa to sustain farm productivity and livelihoods of agrarian communities. The review provides substantial information suggesting that without appropriate interventions, climate change and variability will affect agricultural yields, food security and add to the presently unaceptable levels of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Although some of them were already existing, the past decades have seen the development and promotion of climate-smart agriculture innovations such as the use of high yielding drought tolerant crop varieties, climate information services, agricultural insurance, agroforestry, water harvesting techniques, integrated soil fertility management practices, etc. In the context of climate change, this appears as a stepping up approach to sustainably improving farm productivity, rural livelihoods and adaptive capacity of farmers and production systems while contributing to mitigation. The development of regional, sub-regional and national climate change policies and plans targeted at mitigating climate change and improving adaptive capacity of the African people have also been developed to enable mainstreaming of climate-smart agriculture into agricultural development plans. Financial commitments from governments and development agencies will be crucial for improving large scale adoption of climate-smart agriculture.


Author(s):  
Dalal Aassouli ◽  
Mehmet Asutay ◽  
Mahmoud Mohieldin ◽  
Tochukwu Chiara Nwokike

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuaib Lwasa

Africa’s urbanization rate has increased steadily over the past three decades and is reported to be faster than in any other region in the world . It is estimated that by 2030, over half of the African population will be living in urban areas . But the nature of Africa’s urbanization and subsequent form of cities is yet to be critically analyzed in the context of city authorities’ readiness to address the challenges . Evidence is also suggesting that urbanization in African countries is increasingly associated with the high economic growth that has been observed in the last two decades . Both underlying and proximate drivers are responsible for the urbanization, and these include population dynamics, economic growth, legislative designation, increasing densities in rural centers, as well as the growth of mega cities such as Lagos, Cairo and Kinshasa, that are extending to form urban corridors . With the opportunities of urbanization in Sub–Saharan Africa, there are also challenges in the development and management of these cities . Those challenges include provision of social services, sustainable economic development, housing development, urban governance, spatial development guidance and environmental management, climate change adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction . The challenge involves dealing with the development and infrastructure deficit, in addition to required adaption to and mitigation of climate change . This paper examines the current state of urban management in Africa .


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1158
Author(s):  
Cecilia M. Onyango ◽  
Justine M. Nyaga ◽  
Johanna Wetterlind ◽  
Mats Söderström ◽  
Kristin Piikki

Opportunities exist for adoption of precision agriculture technologies in all parts of the world. The form of precision agriculture may vary from region to region depending on technologies available, knowledge levels and mindsets. The current review examined research articles in the English language on precision agriculture practices for increased productivity among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 7715 articles were retrieved and after screening 128 were reviewed. The results indicate that a number of precision agriculture technologies have been tested under SSA conditions and show promising results. The most promising precision agriculture technologies identified were the use of soil and plant sensors for nutrient and water management, as well as use of satellite imagery, GIS and crop-soil simulation models for site-specific management. These technologies have been shown to be crucial in attainment of appropriate management strategies in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of resource use in SSA. These technologies are important in supporting sustainable agricultural development. Most of these technologies are, however, at the experimental stage, with only South Africa having applied them mainly in large-scale commercial farms. It is concluded that increased precision in input and management practices among SSA smallholder farmers can significantly improve productivity even without extra use of inputs.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003072702199003
Author(s):  
Patience Ifeyinwa Opata ◽  
Oguejiofor Joseph Okorie ◽  
Juliana Chinasa Iwuchukwu ◽  
Chukwuma Otum Ume ◽  
Oyakhilomen Oyinbo

Much of the empirical studies on crop varietal adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa relied on self-reported adoption in farm-household surveys, which is prone to measurement errors. In addition, farmers’ perceptions of consumption-related varietal traits in adoption studies has received limited attention compared with production-related traits. Using DNA-based and self-reported adoption measures, we analyze the adoption of improved cassava varieties (ICVs) with a focus on the extent of varietal misidentification, the sensitivity of the drivers of adoption to varietal misidentification and the role of farmers’ perceptions of biofortification trait in adoption decisions. We find that the adoption rate of ICVs is relatively high using both DNA-based and self-reported adoption measures, but there is notable misclassification in varietal adoption. We find that the mismatch in DNA-based and self-reported adoption measures leads to some variation in the factors that influence the likelihood and intensity of adoption of ICVs. This suggests that appropriate varietal identification helps in better understanding of the drivers of adoption. In addition, we find that despite the observed varietal misclassification, farmers’ perceptions of biofortification trait is significantly correlated with the probability and intensity of adoption of ICVs using both DNA-based and self-reported varietal identification. This suggests that inclusion of biofortification trait in cassava matters for both the likelihood and extent of adoption of ICVs. The latter lends credence to the emerging policy interests in breeding programs for biofortified crops to address hidden hunger in Nigeria.


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