Application of GIS to assess rainfall variability impacts on crop yield in Guinean Savanna part of Nigeria

The scientific evidence on rainfall variability with its significant impacts on crop yield is now stronger than ever. It is even more so on maize that serves as staple food in most parts of Sub-Sahara Africa. Hence, this study aim at examines and map spatio-temporal impacts of rainfall variability on water availability for maize yield using Geographic Information System (GIS). Major regions where maize is highly produced in Nigeria were selected and rainfall data for 30 years (1970 to 2000) were used for theGeospatial analysis. GIS Interpolation and other geospatial Analysis techniques were carried out to map the impacts of rainfall variability on maize yield. The results of the analysis and the maps produced show that inter-annual rainfall variability consequently affect the rate of maize yield in Nigeria

Climate change adaptation options in farming communities of selected Nigerian ecological zones

This chapter examines the impacts of climate change on three tropical crops and assesses the climate change adaptation options adopted by rural farmers in the region. The study was conducted among farming communities settled in three major ecological zones in Nigeria. Over 37 years of data on rainfall and temperature were analyzed to examine climate change impacts on three major crops: rice, maize, and cassava. Farmers' adaptive capacity was assessed with a survey. Climatic data, crop yields, and survey data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The relation between rainfall/temperature and crop yields was examined using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results show a high variation in the annual rainfall and temperature during the study period. The major findings from this research is that crops in different ecological zones respond differently to climate variation. The result revealed that there is a very strong relationship between precipitation and the yield of rice and cassava at p <0.05 level of significance. The results further showed low level of adaption among the rural farmers. The study concludes that rainfall and temperature variability has a significant impact on crop yield in the study area, but that the adaptive capacity of most farmers to these impacts is low. There is a need for enhancing the adaptation options available to farmers in the region, which should be the focus of government policies

Intra-annual climate variability and malaria transmission in Nigeria

This study develops an integrated innovation for malaria early warning systems (MEWS), based on vulnerability monitoring, seasonal climate variability data, and epidemiologic surveillance. The main aim of the study is to examine the relationship between intra-annual climate variability and malaria transmission in Nigeria. For this study, climatic conditions considered suitable for the development of the malaria parasite and its transmission through the mosquito stage of its life cycle are temperatures within the range from 18°C to 32°C. Below 18°C the parasite development decreases significantly, while above 32°C the survival of the mosquito is compromised. Relative humidity greater than 60% is also considered a requirement for the mosquito to survive long enough for the parasite to develop sufficiently to be transmitted to its human host stage. The research findings show that seasonality of climate greatly influences the seasonality of malaria transmission. Specifically, rainfall plays an important role in the distribution and maintenance of breeding sites for the mosquito vector. Rainfall and surface water is required for the egg laying and larval stages of the mosquito life cycle and monthly rainfall above 80 mm is considered a requirement. Also, it is temperature that regulates the development rate of both the mosquito larvae and the malaria parasite (Plasmodium species) within the mosquito host. Relative humidity and temperature play an important role in the survival and longevity of the mosquito vector. This study is in conformity with the findings of the IPCC (2001) that malaria is caused by four distinct species of the Plasmodium parasite, transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles, which are most abundant in tropical/subtropical regions, although they are also found in limited numbers in temperate climates

Rainfall variability and drought characteristics in two agro-climatic zones: An assessment of climate change challenges in Africa

This paper aims at examining drought characteristics as an evidence of climate change in two agro-climatic zones of Nigeria and farmers' perceptions of impacts and adaptation strategies. The results show high spatial and temporal rainfall variability for the stations, in consequence, there are several anomalies in rainfall in recent years but much more in the locations around the Guinea savanna. The inter-station and seasonality statistics reveal less variable and wetter early growing seasons and late growing seasons in the Rainforest zone, and more variable and drier growing seasons in other stations. The probability (p) of dry spells exceeding 3, 5 and 10 consecutive days is very high with 0.62≤p≥0.8 in all the stations, though, the p-values for 10day spells drop below 0.6 in Ibadan and Osogbo. The results further show that rainfall is much more reliable from the month of May until July with the coefficient of variance for rainy days 0.30), though CV-RD appears higher in the month of August for all the stations. It is apparent that farmers' perceptions of drought fundamentally mirror climatic patterns from historical weather data. The study concludes that the adaptation facilities and equipment, hybrids of crops and animals are to be provided at a subsidized price by the government, for farmers to cope with the current condition of climate change

Trace elements concentrations in soil contaminate corn in the vicinity of a cement-manufacturing plant : potential health implications

Funding Information: This work was supported and funded by the Nigerian government through Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). Funding Information: SA-U acknowledges the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Nigeria for funding, the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Nigeria for granting the study leave, and MetaResponse International Limited for the use of Greeneco Laboratory Limited, Nigeria. Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Simultaneous network reconfiguration and capacitor allocations using a novel dingo optimization algorithm

Power loss and voltage magnitude fluctuations are two major issues in distribution networks that have drawn a lot of attention. Numerous strategies have been put forward to provide remedies to lessen the undesirable effects of these issues. Combining two of these approaches and dealing with them simultaneously to get more effective outcomes is essential. Therefore, this study hybridizes the network reconfiguration and capacitor allocation strategies using a novel dingo optimization algorithm (DOA) to solve the optimization problems. The optimization problems for simultaneous network reconfiguration and capacitor allocations were formulated and solved using a novel DOA. To demonstrate its effectiveness, DOA’s results were contrasted with those of the other optimization techniques. The methodology was validated on the IEEE 33-bus network and implemented in the MATLAB program. The results demonstrated that the best network reconfiguration was accomplished with switches 7, 11, 17, 27, and 34 open, and buses 8, 29, and 30 were the best places for capacitors with ideal sizes of 512, 714, and 495 kVAr, respectively. The voltage profile was significantly improved, and the power losses were significantly decreased. When compared to some of the different methods, DOA came out on top

Application of Three-Phase Power Flow Analysis to the Nigerian Distribution Networks

Single-phase power flow analysis is used to study most distribution networks in Nigeria. The use of single-phase-power flow analysis assumes that the network is balanced and that the conductor phases act identically. However, Nigerian distribution networks are highly imbalanced because of untransposed lines, irregularly distributed loads in conductor phases, mismatched conductor sizes, and spacing. Consequently, single-phase modeling of the networks fails to reflect actual network behavior, resulting in an incorrect power flow solution. This research presents the three-phase modeling of radial distribution networks for a three-phase-power flow study of Nigerian distribution networks. Olusanya's 54-bus and Ajinde's 62-bus distribution networks in Nigeria were evaluated, both of which were very imbalanced. Without making any assumptions about the network components, these two distribution networks were properly modeled. Each network's three-phase power flow study was carried out in the MATLAB environment. The power flow solutions for each network demonstrated unevenness in the voltage profile for each network phase, as well as inequality in the real and reactive power losses in each phase, indicating that the deployed three-phase-power flow analysis properly mirrored the underlying network characteristics. Therefore, applying three-phase power flow analysis to distribution networks is critical for proper assessment of distribution network performance

Africa

Africa is one of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, yet key development sectors have already experienced widespread losses and damages attributable to human-induced climate change, including biodiversity loss, water shortages, reduced food production, loss of lives and reduced economic growth (high confidence1).// Between 1.5°C and 2°C global warming—assuming localised and incremental adaptation—negative impacts are projected to become widespread and severe with reduced food production, reduced economic growth, increased inequality and poverty, biodiversity loss, increased human morbidity and mortality (high confidence). Limiting global warming to 1.5°C is expected to substantially reduce damages to African economies, agriculture, human health, and ecosystems compared to higher levels of global warming (high confidence).// Exposure and vulnerability to climate change in Africa are multi-dimensional with socioeconomic, political and environmental factors intersecting (very high confidence). Africans are disproportionately employed in climate-exposed sectors: 55–62% of the sub-Saharan workforce is employed in agriculture and 95% of cropland is rainfed. In rural Africa, poor and female-headed households face greater livelihood risks from climate hazards. In urban areas, growing informal settlements without basic services increase the vulnerability of large populations to climate hazards, especially women, children and the elderly. // Adaptation in Africa has multiple benefits, and most assessed adaptation options have medium effectiveness at reducing risks for present-day global warming, but their efficacy at future warming levels is largely unknown (high confidence)./

Impact of climate variability on pineapple production in Ghana

Background: Climate variations have a considerable impact on crop production. For pineapple, variable temperatures and rainfall patterns are implicated, yet there is limited knowledge of the conditions and consequences of such variations. Pineapple production plays a major role in Ghana, primarily via socioeconomic impacts and the export economy. The aims of this study were to assess the impact of current climatic trends and variations in four pineapple growing districts in Ghana to provide stakeholders, particularly farmers, with improved knowledge for guidance in adapting to changing climate. Results: Trend analysis, standardized anomaly, correlation analysis as well as focus group discussions were employed to describe climate and yields as well as assess the relationship between climate and pineapple production from 1995 to 2014. The results revealed that, relative to Ga district, temperature (minimum and maximum) in the study areas was increasing over this period at a rate of up to 0.05 °C. Rainfall trends increased in all but Nsawam Adoagyiri district. Rainfall and temperature had different impacts on production, and pineapple was particularly sensitive to minimum temperature as accounting for up to 82% of yield variability. Despite consistent report of rainfall impact on growth stages later affecting quantity and quality of fruits, minimal statistical significance was found between rainfall and yield. Conclusions: With continuously increasing stresses imposed by a changing climate, the sustainability of pineapple production in Ghana is challenged. This subsequently has detrimental impacts on national employment and exports capacity resulting in increased poverty. Further research to explore short- and long-term adaption options in response to challenging conditions in the pineapple industry in Ghana is suggested

Comparing smallholder farmers' perception of climate change with meteorological data: A case study from southwestern Nigeria

This paper examines smallholder farmers’ perceptions of climate change, climate variability and their impacts, and adaptation strategies adopted over the past three decades. We use ethnographic analysis, combined with Cumulative Departure Index (CDI), Rainfall Anomaly Index (RAI) analysis, and correlation analysis to compare farmers’ perceptions in Southwestern Nigeria with historical meteorological data, in order to assess the way farmers’ observations mirror the climatic trends. The results show that about 67% of farmers who participated had observed recent changes in climate. Perceptions of rural farmers on climate change and variability are consistent with the climatic trend analysis. RAI and CDI results illustrate that not less than 11 out of 30 years in each study site experienced lower-than-normal rainfall. Climatic trends show fluctuations in both early growing season (EGS) and late growing season (LGS) rainfall and the 5-year moving average suggests a reduction in rainfall over the 30 years. Climatic trends confirmed farmers’ perceptions that EGS and LGS precipitations are oscillating, that rainfall onset is becoming later, and EGS rainfall is reducing. Overall impacts of climate change on both crops and livestock appear to be highly negative, much more on maize (62.8%), yam (52.2%), poultry (67%) and cattle (63.2%). Years of farming experiences and level of income of farmers appear to have a significant relationship with farmers’ choice of adaptation strategies, with r≥0.60@ p < 0.05 and r≥0.520@ p <0.05 respectively. The study concluded that farmers’ perceptions of climate change mirror meteorological analysis, though their perceptions were based on local climate parameters. Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate change since the majority of them do not have enough resources to cope