Heterogeneous treatment effects of integrated soil fertility management on crop productivity: Evidence from Nigeria

This study compares the impacts of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) on crop production with use of either mineral fertilizer or organic manure alone. We also investigate the conditions under which .ISFM technology has greater beneficial effects on yields and the factors constraining its uptake. To answer these questions, the study uses a cross-sectional, plot-level data set collected in Nigeria by the International Food Policy Research Institute and the World Bank in 2009. Using both quasi experimental matching estimators and multivariate regression approaches, it finds that overall ISFM has robustly significant positive effects on crop production. The study also finds that ISFM positively affects crop production on plots with customary tenure, sandy soils, and clay soils—conditions that are normally perceived to be less favorable for crop production. The results also show ISFM to be more effective on plots with mild erosion or no erosion. On the constraints, we find that households with limited livestock, equipment, labor, and land are less likely to use ISFM technology, and the extension services currently do not seem to be disseminating ISFM. This evidence provides strong support for efforts to promote ISFM in Nigeria and in other regions with comparable conditions, but adequate attention must be paid to the biophysical conditions of the plots and the household's access to labor endowments, livestock, equipment, and tenure conditions if this technology is to be scaled up and more widely used in Sub-Saharan Africa.Crop production, Integrated soil fertility management, matching estimators,

Productivity Differences between Male and Female Managed Farms in the Eastern and Central Highlands of Kenya

This study was carried out in an agroforestry farming system in the central highlands of Kenya. The purpose of the study was to compare the productivity and technical efficiency of male and female managed farms. The study also sought to investigate the sources of differences in the Total Value Product and the technical efficiency of farms. Using a female dummy, the study found no evidence of differences in total value product between male and female managed farms. Male managed farms were however more technically efficient than female managed farms. The highest proportion of farms in the lowest bracket of efficiency levels was female managed farms. The total value product was found to be positively affected by age of the farmer, female labour and inputs while it was negatively affected by land size.Farm Management, Labor and Human Capital,

Land Markets and Agricultural Land Use Efficiency and Sustainability: Evidence from East Africa

Land markets, including land sales and short-term land rentals, have an important role to play for efficient and sustainable land management and agricultural development, especially where markets for other factors of production are imperfect or missing. This study utilises data from the highlands of Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to examine the impact of land markets on various types of land investment and management practices, crop yield, and land quality. The results highlight the relative long-term versus short-term return to different types of investment and practices, where those with longer-term benefits such as trees, manuring, and composting are preferred on more tenure-secure plots, while those with immediate or season-to-season benefits such as drainage structures or chemical fertilizers are preferred on rented plots. The impact on agricultural productivity is mixed and context specific. Regarding land quality outcomes, there is reason to believe that plots traded on short-term markets in Kenya and Uganda tend to be of inferior quality, supporting the hypothesis of movement of land from households to those with higher capital/land ratios.land markets, land investment and management, land use efficiency, Land Economics/Use,

Assessing research impact on poverty: the importance of farmers’ perspectives

P. Kristjanson and P.K. Thornton are ILRI authorsIn this paper we provide evidence to show that farmers' perspectives on poverty processes and outcomes are critical in the early stages of evaluating impact of agricultural research on poverty. We summarize lessons learned from farmer impact assessment workshops held in five African locations, covering three agro-ecological zones and five different agroforestry and livestock technologies arising from collaborative national–international agricultural research. Poverty alleviation is a process that needs to be understood before impact can be measured. Workshops such as those we describe can help researchers to identify farmers' different ways of managing and using a technology and likely effects, unanticipated impacts, major impacts to pursue in more quantitative studies, the primary links between agricultural technology and poverty, and key conditioning factors affecting adoption and impact that can be used to stratify samples in more formal analyses. Farmer workshops inform other qualitative and quantitative impact assessment methods. We discuss the linkage of farmer-derived information with GIS-based approaches that allow more complete specification of recommendation domains and broader-scale measurement of impact

Assessing the factors underlying differences in achievements of farmer groups: methodological issues and empirical findings from the highlands of central Kenya

This paper examines the performance of rural-based community groups in Central Kenya and addresses the methodological issues and challenges faced in doing this. Performance measures included subjective and objective ratings of success, including more objectively verifiable measures at household and group levels, derived from a survey of 87 groups and 442 households within four sites. Empirical evidence regarding explanatory factors for relative performance levels is presented using a special sample of 40 groups involved in tree nursery activities, with both descriptive analysis and regression models. Collective action is desired and practised for many tasks. The incredible number, diversity and dynamic nature of groups make it difficult to standardise and measure achievement. Choice and level of performance measures matters in explaining differences in group achievement. Focusing on groups undertaking similar activities allows deeper analysis of performance drivers. Examining different types of groups engaged tree nurseries found that performance was not linked to any easy-to-measure group characteristic, implying that for this task dissemination need not be targeted towards particular types of groups. Assessing the factors underlying Differences in Achievements of Farmer Groups: Methodological Issues and Empirical Findings from the Highlands of Central Kenya

Improved Land Management in the Lake Victoria Basin: Annual Technical Report, July 2000 to June 2001

ICRAF and the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MOARD) are implementing a project on “Improved Land Management in the Lake Victoria Basin.” The project began in 1999 – 2000 with a one-year startup year of activities under the Sida-sponsored National Soil and Water Conservation Programme (NSWCP). The collaborative project of ICRAF and MOARD has now been continued for another three years under the National Agriculture and Livestock Extension Programme (NALEP). This paper summarizes achievements and findings for the project for the year 2000 / 2001. The Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) supports “Improved Land Management in the Lake Victoria Basin” through NALEP. Additional financial support for the activities reported herein was also provided by the Rockefeller Foundation, ICRAF core funds, Danida, the University of Florida and the USAID. Research conducted during 2000 / 2001 addressed a range of issues across a large tract of Western Kenya. A coarse resolution assessment of soil erosion risk conducted for the entire Lake Victoria Basin identified the Nzoia / Yala and Kagera river basins as those with the greatest percentage of land at risk. Biophysical research on land management problem domains has quantified the widespread spatial extent of soil physical and chemical degradation in the Nyando river basin and illustrated four contrasting biophysical problem domains within the basin. District-level data on population density, poverty and agricultural production available from secondary sources have been complemented with baseline household and community survey data collected in 9 villages around the Nyando river basin. The overall picture that is emerging is that while much of the Nyando river basin has experienced some physical and chemical land degradation, there are pockets of severe poverty, severe environmental degradation and extremely low agricultural production. Different approaches to extension, investment and policy may be needed to address poverty – environment – agricultural problems in different parts of the river basin. Reversing trends in environmental deterioration will require interventions on farmers fields and in the many areas between farms that publicly-used, although usually privately-owned. Farmers have demonstrated their willingness to adopt recommended conservation practices on their individual family fields, but the intensity of adoption depends upon the potential returns to investments, their cultural grouping, and the approach that extension providers take to the provision of information and mobilization of community participation. Adoption of improved practices and investments on publicly-used areas between farms requires the mobilization of collective action among small, medium and large groups. Collective action in the Nyando River basin is most likely to be effective where it harnesses local institutional arrangements (e.g. sub-clan affiliations among the Luo) and advances common interests in the provision of high quality water and the generation of additional cash income. Among other opportunities, there appears to be good prospects for market-oriented agroforestry for production of fruit, fuelwood and timber. Changes in local and national policies would help to ensure good returns for smallholder farmers. This report begins with a presentation of a number of major findings, implications of those findings for extension and investment and implications for policy. A summary of progress by activity is then presented, followed by lists of personnel involved, presentations and publications. An annex presents detailed accomplishments by activity

Phosphorylation of p65(RelA) on Ser547 by ATM Represses NF-κB-Dependent Transcription of Specific Genes after Genotoxic Stress

The NF-κB pathway is involved in immune and inflammation responses, proliferation, differentiation and cell death or survival. It is activated by many external stimuli including genotoxic stress. DNA double-strand breaks activate NF-κB in an ATM-dependent manner. In this manuscript, a direct interaction between p65(RelA) and the N-terminal extremity of ATM is reported. We also report that only one of the five potential ATM-(S/T)Q target sites present in p65, namely Ser547, is specifically phosphorylated by ATM in vitro. A comparative transcriptomic analysis performed in HEK-293 cells expressing either wild-type HA-p65 or a non-phosphorylatable mutant HA-p65S547A identified several differentially transcribed genes after an etoposide treatment (e.g. IL8, A20, SELE). The transcription of these genes is increased in cells expressing the mutant. Substitution of Ser547 to alanine does not affect p65 binding abilities on the κB site of the IL8 promoter but reduces p65 interaction with HDAC1. Cells expressing p65S547A have a higher level of histone H3 acetylated on Lys9 at the IL8 promoter, which is in agreement with the higher gene induction observed. These results indicate that ATM regulates a sub-set of NF-κB dependent genes after a genotoxic stress by direct phosphorylation of p65

Deciphering the stem cell machinery as a basis for understanding the molecular mechanism underlying reprogramming

Stem cells provide fascinating prospects for biomedical applications by combining the ability to renew themselves and to differentiate into specialized cell types. Since the first isolation of embryonic stem (ES) cells about 30 years ago, there has been a series of groundbreaking discoveries that have the potential to revolutionize modern life science. For a long time, embryos or germ cell-derived cells were thought to be the only source of pluripotency—a dogma that has been challenged during the last decade. Several findings revealed that cell differentiation from (stem) cells to mature cells is not in fact an irreversible process. The molecular mechanism underlying cellular reprogramming is poorly understood thus far. Identifying how pluripotency maintenance takes place in ES cells can help us to understand how pluripotency induction is regulated. Here, we review recent advances in the field of stem cell regulation focusing on key transcription factors and their functional interplay with non-coding RNAs