Synthesis of research issues and capacity building in water and land resources management in Ethiopia

This paper presents an overview and synthesis of the key research and capacity building issues arising from the workshop presentations and the papers. Three days of intensive deliberations by professionals from various research, development and governmental organizations, and of diverse disciplines, backgrounds and nationalities have clearly acknowledged that water management issues remain very crucial for poverty alleviation and rural development in Ethiopia – the overwhelming proportion of the population depends on smallholder agricultural production, which is highly constrained by water availability (absence of perennial rivers, high spatial and temporal availability of rainfall, etc.). This situation, over the years, has generated a critical need for efficient water and land management to reduce production risks and hazards, and enhance stable agricultural and livestock production. Recent decades have witnessed various efforts in the area of irrigation and supplementary irrigation (and other development initiatives), employing various water harvesting technologies, construction of micro dams, diversions structures, etc., which were largely combined with traditional yield-enhancing methods to facilitate sustainable smallholder agricultural production.Most of these efforts did not only fall short of their desired objectives of improving smallholder production conditions but also generated a host of other problems which aggravated smallholder production conditions: the large scale irrigation schemes (e.g. Awash Basin and elsewhere) resulted in secondary soil salinization where large tracts of land have gone out of production; the spontaneous construction of micro-dams across the country (especially in Tigray) is associated with human and livestock health hazards that in some cases has resulted into abandonment of the dams; the production potential of extensive watersheds remain largely unexploited or inappropriately utilized, resulting in extensive degradation of fragile lands, and so on. The potential for effectively integrating crops and livestock management in the context of growing water in complementary crop-livestock systems remains largely unexploited, especially from the perspective of efficient water and land utilization. The limited success of most of the technologies in Ethiopia calls attention to a dire need for research and capacity building to understand the complex issues of water and land management, so as to enhance national and local capacity to deal with water and land management issues to enhance food security, poverty alleviation and national economic development.Length: pp.204-216Water resource managementCapacity buildingPovertyLand resourcesIrrigation managementDrainageWater harvestingLivestock

Options for calibrating ceres-maize genotype specific parameters under data-scarce environments

Open Access JournalMost crop simulation models require the use of Genotype Specific Parameters (GSPs) which provide the Genotype component of G×E×M interactions. Estimation of GSPs is the most difficult aspect of most modelling exercises because it requires expensive and time-consuming field experiments. GSPs could also be estimated using multi-year and multi locational data from breeder evaluation experiments. This research was set up with the following objectives: i) to determine GSPs of 10 newly released maize varieties for the Nigerian Savannas using data from both calibration experiments and by using existing data from breeder varietal evaluation trials; ii) to compare the accuracy of the GSPs generated using experimental and breeder data; and iii) to evaluate CERES-Maize model to simulate grain and tissue nitrogen contents. For experimental evaluation, 8 different experiments were conducted during the rainy and dry seasons of 2016 across the Nigerian Savanna. Breeder evaluation data were also collected for 2 years and 7 locations. The calibrated GSPs were evaluated using data from a 4-year experiment conducted under varying nitrogen rates (0, 60 and 120kg N ha-1). For the model calibration using experimental data, calculated model efficiency (EF) values ranged between 0.88–0.94 and coefficient of determination (d-index) between 0.93–0.98. Calibration of time-series data produced nRMSE below 7% while all prediction deviations were below 10% of the mean. For breeder experiments, EF (0.58–0.88) and d-index (0.56–0.86) ranges were lower. Prediction deviations were below 17% of the means for all measured variables. Model evaluation using both experimental and breeder trials resulted in good agreement (low RMSE, high EF and d-index values) between observed and simulated grain yields, and tissue and grain nitrogen contents. It is concluded that higher calibration accuracy of CERES-Maize model is achieved from detailed experiments. If unavailable, data from breeder experimental trials collected from many locations and planting dates can be used with lower but acceptable accuracy

Influence of Cereal-Legume Rotation on Striga Control and Maize Grain Yield in Farmers’ Fields in the Northern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria

On-farm trials were conducted in 2001, 2002, and 2003 in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria to evaluate integrated Striga hermonthica control measures under farmermanaged conditions. These included intercropping a Striga-resistant maize variety with cowpea for 3 years and also cropping this maize in rotation with legume trap crops - soybean and cowpea for 1-2 two years. Intercropping Striga-tolerant maize variety, Acr. 97TZL Comp. 1-W, with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) consistently reduced Striga infestation in maize relative to continuously cropped sole maize over the threeyear period. Maize grain yield was lower in the intercrop than in the sole maize plot probably due to competition from cowpea. However, because of the high value of cowpea in the intercrop, crop value for this system was higher than sole cropped maize. Legume-maize rotation reduced Striga infestation by 35% after one year of legumes in the rotation and by 76% after two years of legumes in the rotation. Soybean was more effective in reducing Striga infestation and also gave higher maize grain yield than cowpea. The rotation of these two legumes with maize had clear advantage over continuously cropped maize. Farmers should therefore be encouraged to adopt the introduction of grain legumes into the cereal cropping systems of the Nigerian savanna

Fighting COVID-19 in Freetown, Sierra Leone: the critical role of community organisations in a growing pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads in Africa, attention is increasingly shifting to the potential and ongoing impact on informal settlements, which face considerable challenges around the implementation of conventional control measures of social distancing, hand washing and self-isolation. In Freetown, Sierra Leone, residents of informal settlements have relied on local community organisations and groups, and their resourcefulness to provide essential preparedness, response and on-going support to alleviate the public health and economic risks associated with the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. This is also premised on lessons drawn from dealing with previous epidemics, notably the Ebola virus disease in 2014–2015. This paper will explain the nature and form of community organisation that can be galvanised and leveraged for COVID-19 preparedness and responses that are suited for informal settlements. Secondly, it highlights the critical contribution of community organisations in social protection measures that tackle deeply entrenched inequalities in rapidly urbanising contexts. Finally, the cases examined seek to provide evidence of the value of processes of continuous learning within community organisation that are essential for both humanitarian assistance and emergency management. Although situated in Freetown, the broad lessons drawn are relevant for urban-poor communities and informal settlements in many urban African centres

God’s gifts: destiny, poverty, and temporality in the mines of Sierra Leone

In Sierra Leone, many artisanal miners share the view that every human act and every event is the realisation of an inscrutable divine plan. Even though notions of fate and destiny are part of the vocabulary of Krio, the country’s lingua franca, miners prefer to use expressions that evoke God and stress His immanent presence and influence in their everyday lives. In order to understand the religious vocabulary of contingency and the cosmology underlying the ways in which miners interpret, reproduce, and imaginatively prepare the conditions to change their lives, this article focuses on the ritual practices connected to artisanal diamond mining. It considers these rituals as attempts to resolve the ever-present temporal and moral tensions between actual conditions of suffering and poverty, and the realisation of the well-being that miners associate with their desired futures

Yield gains in extra-early maize cultivars of three breeding eras under multiple environments

Open Access JournalAvailability of extra-early maize cultivars has facilitated the expansion of maize production into savannas of West and Central Africa (WCA). Fifty-six extra-early maize cultivars of three breeding eras;1995 to 2000, 2001 to 2006, and 2007 to 2012 were evaluated for 2 yr under 24 multiple-stress and 28 non-stress environments in WCA. Objectives of the study were to determine genetic improvement in grain yield of cultivars developed during the breeding eras, and identify high-yielding and s multiple-stress and non-stress environments. Yield gains from era 1 to era 3 under multiple stresses was associated with increased days to anthesis, reduced stalk lodging, and improved husk cover. Cultivars 2004 TZEE-Y Pop STR C4, TZEE-W Pop STR QPM C0, and TZEE-W Pop STR BC2 C0 of era 2; and TZEE-W STR 107 BC1, TZEE-W Pop STR C5, and 2012 TZEE-Y DT STR C5 of era 3 were high-yielding and stable across multiple-stress environments while 98 Syn EE-W from era 1, FERKE TZEE-W STR, TZEE-W Pop STR C3, and TZEE-Y Pop STR QPM C0 from era 2, and TZEE-W Pop STR C5, 2009 TZEE-OR2 STR QPM, 2009 TZEE-W STR, TZEE-Y STR 106, and TZEE-W DT C0 STR C5 from era 3 were outstanding across non-stress environments and should be tested extensively and commercialized. Considerable improvement has been made in breeding for multiple-stress tolerant extra-early maize cultivars

Role of policies and development interventions in pastoral resource management: The Borana rangelands in southern Ethiopia

Grassland management / Peasant workers / Institutional development / Policy / Drought / Land use / Ethiopia

Elemental Composition Analysis of Soil Samples from Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

This study analysis the elemental composition and concentration of elements in the soils of the study area to ascertain degree of elemental enhancement in the soil resulting from anthropogenic activities with possible soil contamination, human health and environmental detriment. The study area was divided into eight grids and two soil samples per grid from over burden to a depth of 900mm was collected randomly in each grid. The samples were prepared using standard methods and analyzed with a linear accelerator. The number of detectable elements and their quantitative information was extracted from the elemental spectral signatures. . The result showed a high concentration value in some elements in the soil samples above values of elemental concentrations in soils from other reported studied region. In addition, Aluminium, Strontium, Barium, Gallium etc also showed an extremely high value in their concentration that exceeds the world wide mean range upper limit values in crustal soil study published. The study indicates some degree of potential contamination and therefore necessitate a regular periodic monitoring study to reduce potential health detriment to humans and the environment to as low as reasonably possible