Shaping forest safety nets with markets : adaptation to climate change under changing roles of tropical forests in Congo Basin

This study examined the roles of markets in non-timber forest products and services that usually serve as safety nets for forest communities. Forests are considered ‘‘safety nets’’ in that people draw on available natural resources to meet emergency shortfalls and to keep them from being worse off in times of need. Markets should complement rather than substitute forests’ roles for adaptation to climate change: although markets may increase the value of a commodity, wholesalers and retailers reap most of the benefits, and the distribution of market revenue leaves local people with returns much lower than the worth of the commodity

Radiation interception and its efficiency for dry matter production in three crop species in the transitional humid zone of Nigeria

This study was conducted in two years at the experimental fields of the International Institute of Tropical agriculture, Ibadan (7°30$'$ N, 3°54$'$ E) situated in the humid zone of Nigeria. The objective was to determine the biological productivity of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.), groundnut (Aranchis hypogea L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) in a transitional humid forest zone of Nigeria. Crop productivity was determined by calculating the Radiation Use Efficiency (RUE) from the slope of the relationship between cumulative dry matter and Intercepted Photosynthetic Active Radiation (IPAR). Linear relationships were observed between cumulative total dry weight and cumulative Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR) in all the crops. The mean radiation use efficiencies (RUE) obtained were 3.83 g$\cdot$MJ$^{-1}$ for maize, 2.37 g$\cdot$MJ$^{-1}$ for groundnut and 2.95 g$\cdot$MJ$^{-1}$ for cowpea. The maize crop was a better converter of intercepted PAR to dry matter than groundnut and cowpea.L'interception du rayonnement et son efficacité pour la production de matière sèche chez trois espèces culturales dans la zone humide de transition au Nigeria. Cette étude a été menée, deux années durant, dans les champs expérimentaux de l'Institut International d'Agriculture Tropicale d'Ibadan (7°30$'$ N, 3°54$'$ E) dans la zone humide du Nigéria. L'objectif était de déterminer la productivité biologique du niébé, de l'arachide et du maïs dans une zone de transition de la forêt humide du Nigéria. La productivité des cultures a été déterminée en calculant l'efficacité d'utilisation du rayonnement (EUR) à partir de la pente de la relation entre la matière sèche cumulative et le rayonnement photosynthétique actif intercepté (RPAI). Des relations linéaires ont été observées entre le poids total cumulatif de matière sèche et le rayonnement photosynthétique actif cumulatif chez toutes les cultures. Les moyennes d'efficacité d'utilisation du rayonnement (EUR) obtenues étaient de 3.83 g$\cdot$MJ$^{-1}$ pour le maïs, 2.37 g$\cdot$MJ$^{-1}$ pour l'arachide et 2.95 g$\cdot$MJ$^{-1}$ pour le niébé. Le maïs a été un meilleur convertisseur du rayonnement photosynthétique actif intercepté en matière sèche par rapport à l'arachide et au niébé

Water Scarcity Under a Changing Climate in Ghana: Options for livelihoods adaptation

The effects of climate change and variability on water availability in Ghana is being felt throughout the country. Coping with water scarcity has become a major issue. Most communities in the Offin River basin are rural with no pipe-borne water, and consist predominantly of farmers who depend on irrigation for their crops. The basin provides the communities with water for drinking, and for other economic activities. Benjamin Apraku Gyampoh, Monica Idinoba and Steve Amisah look at livelihood options to cope with water scarcity as the climate situation worsens in the coming years. Development (2008) 51, 415–417. doi:10.1057/dev.2008.46

Vulnerability to coastal flooding and response strategies : the case of settlements in Cameroon mangrove forests

Worldwide, millions of people experience coastal flooding each year, with devastating effects especially in rural coastal settlements in tropical developing countries. This paper investigates the vulnerability of local settlements in the Cameroon mangrove forest zone to flooding, and improves understanding of perceptions and responses to past and current coastal flooding. Six communities in the coastal mangrove forest zone of the extreme SouthWest of Cameroon were investigated. A questionnaire was administered to a total of 200 individuals supplemented by other participatory rapid appraisal tools. The ground positions of the sampled sites as well as their altitudes were recorded for subsequent geospatial analysis.Statistical analysis was performed to show trends. The coordinates of the study sites were superimposed on base topographic maps of 1965, to investigate coastal changes over a period of 43 years. Results show that: (1) changes in coastal area have occurred in the past 43 years either through inland retreat or seaward shifts and accordingly, settlements are differentially vulnerable; (2) settlement submergence, house damage, and landscape deformation are the key impacts of flooding; (3) coastal flooding promotes the deforestation of mangrove forest for fuel wood; (4) current adaptive measures include retreat of settlement, abandonment, and house design modifications; and (5) most adaptive strategies are reactive individual actions which are likely inefficient and unsustainable from a longer term perspective given their limited scope of implementation. The paper recommends external support to improve adaptive capacity in mangrove settlements, review and improvement of existing policies, and development of integrated coastal management strategy for the region