Smallholder farmers’ perceptions and strategies for adaptation to climate change in Brong Ahafo and Upper West Regions of Ghana

With data collected from 750 farming households using survey questionnaire and 25 Focus Group Discussions (FGD), this report documents farmers’ perception of climate change and adaptation strategies in the Brong Ahafo and Upper West regions of Ghana. Results showed that DTM varieties are a viable strategy for adaptation to climate change. The use of drought tolerant or early maturing varieties ranked among the top three adaptation strategies used by farmers to combat risks from climate change in their production activities. Other strategies include growing different crops or engaging in mixed cropping and changing planting dates. The key determinant of DTM adoption in Brong Ahafo is occurrence of drought shock. In Upper West, farmers’ age, awareness about climate change, distance from input markets, access to credit, and training on DT varieties affect the probability of adoption of DTM. Widespread adoption of DTM has the potential of minimising farm-level impacts of climate change in Ghana

Factors influencing the use of selected inputs in yam production in Nigeria and Ghana

In West Africa, yam can be an important crop to reduce poverty and hunger if Research and Development measures identify and properly engage its key production factors for enhanced outputs and better income. Data from 1400 households in Ghana and Nigeria were collected in a multistage random sampling survey (and complementary data from 76 farm family fields) with a structured questionnaire and qualitative interview questions. The results showed that yam is produced mainly with crude inputs/technologies to reduce high dependence on labour, seed production and control of pests and diseases. Yam is produced widely with purchased inputs including seed yam and hired labour; chemical fertiliser, herbicide and pesticides are less often used. Analyses of determinants of use of purchased inputs reveal three serious impediments to expansion in yam production: the increasing scarcity and high cost of hired labour, shortage of suitable land and poor farm roads. As employment opportunities for unskilled labour in urban centres are presently expanding, increased yam production will be hard to achieve without labour-saving inputs for at least some of the production tasks, especially seedbed preparation and weeding, and without improvement in infrastructure

Constituents of Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp., Moringa oleifera Lam., Heliotropium indicum L. and Bidens pilosa L. from Nigeria.

The essential oils of four plant species from Nigeria have been extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The oils of Cajanus cajan were comprised of sesquiterpenes (92.5%, 81.2% and 94.3% respectively in the leaves, stem and seeds). The major compounds identified were α-himachalene (9.0-11.5%), β-himachalene (8.0-11.0%), γ-himachalene (6.9-8.1%), α-humulene (7.1-8.7%) and α-copaene (4.5-5.6%). However, monoterpenoid compounds (81.8%) dominated the oil of Moringa oleifera with an abundance of α-phellandrene (25.2%) and p-cymene (24.9%). On the other hand, aldehydes (52.8%) occurred in the highest amount in Heliotropium indicum, represented by phenylacetaldehyde (22.2%), ( E)-2-nonenal (8.3%) and (E, Z)-2-nonadienal (6.1%), with a significant quantity of hexahydrofarnesylacetone (8.4%). The leaf and stem oils of Bidens pilosa were dominated by sesquiterpenes (82.3% and 59.3%, respectively). The main compounds in the leaf oil were caryophyllene oxide (37.0%), β-caryophyllene (10.5%) and humulene oxide (6.0%), while the stem oils had an abundance of hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (13.4%), δ-cadinene (12.0%) and caryophyllene oxide (11.0%). The observed chemical patterns differ considerably from previous investigations

Determinants of adoption and intensity of use of balanced nutrient management systems technologies in the northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria

As part of a major effort to address soil fertility decline in West Africa, a project on Balanced Nutrient Management Systems (BNMS) has since 2000 been implemented in the northern Guinea savanna (NGS) of Nigeria. The project has tested and promoted two major technology packages, including a combined application of inorganic fertilizer and manure (BNMS-manure) and a soybean/maize rotation practice referred to as BNMS-rotation. This study employed Tobit model to examine factors that influence the adoption and intensity of utilization of BNMS technologies in the NGS of Nigeria. Results showed that less than 10% of the sample households adopted at least one of the two components of the technology package by the end of 2002. However, by 2005 the adoption of BNMS-rotation had reached 40% while that of BNMS-manure had reached 48%. A number of factors such as access to credit, farmers’ perception of the state of land degradation, and assets ownership were found to be significant in determining farmers’ adoption decisions on BNMS-manure while off-farm income was found to be significant in determining farmers’ adoption decisions on BNMS-rotation. Extension services and farmer-to-farmer technology diffusion channels were the major means of transfer of BNMS technologies.Adoption, BNMS-manure, BNMS-rotation, Northern Guinea Savanna (NGS)., Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Strategic assessment of yam research priorities.

This paper documents the procedure and findings of an ex-ante assessment of key yam research options. Following the general methodology agreed for the RTB priority assessment, the economic surplus model was used to estimate benefits for the different scenarios. In the end, five research options were considered for analysis based on available data and methodological suitability. These were (1) improved yam varieties with complementary ICM options, (2) clean planting materials and agronomic practices, (3) postharvest innovations, (4) pest and disease management options, and (5) ICM interventions. Model results show that, under the low adoption scenario, the land area coverable by different technologies ranged 220,000–870,000 ha in all the yam-growing countries