Landscape positions dictating crop fertilizer responses in wheat-based farming systems of East African Highlands

Improving fertilizer use efficiency has remained a challenge, particularly for small-scale farming in undulating ‘abnormal’ landscapes of East Africa. Milne's 1930s concept on ‘Catena’ was considered as a breakthrough in understanding soil variability and its implication on productivity in East African highlands. However, there is limited information on how the ‘Catena’ features could be used for fine tuning fertilizer recommendations. We initiated multiple on-farm replicated experiments in three wheat-growing districts (Endamohoni, Lemo and Worreilu) in the Ethiopian highlands in 2014, 2015 and 2016 to assess landscape positions affecting crop-nutrient responses, identify yield limiting nutrients across the ‘Catena’ (N, P, K, S and Zn) and quantify effects of landscape positions on resources use efficiency. We clustered farmlands across the ‘Catena’ (Hillslopes, Midslopes and Footslopes) based on land scape positions in the respective locations. Wheat yield was more strongly and significantly affected by landscape positions (P N92 P46) while differences between landscape positions diminish at lower rates. Yield benefits due to application of K was significant only in the dry years (P < 0.05), while there was hardly any yield benefit from the application of zinc and sulfur. The crop nitrogen recovery fraction and crop water productivity decreased with an increasing slope regardless of nutrient combinations. The results indicated that the landscape position could be considered as a proxy indicator for targeted fertilizer application, particularly in farms with undulating topographic features. Hillslopes are better served by the application of organic fertilizers along with conservation measures as applying higher rates of mineral fertilizer in hillslopes would rather increase the risk of downstream nutrient movement

A review of soil fertility management and crop response to fertilizer application in Ethiopia: Towards development of site- and context-specific fertilizer recommendation

More than 80% of the Ethiopian population is dependent on agriculture, which contributes about 50% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and more than 80% of its export earnings. Although the agricultural sector is the engine of economic growth and the country has designed an “Agriculturalled Industrialization”, the agricultural sector is still characterized by severe soil erosion, high levels of nutrient mining, low use of external inputs, low productivity and limited capacity to respond to environmental shocks. Thus, the country is grappling with a daunting challenge: produce more food for a fast-growing population on low fertility soils on land owned by poor smallholder farmers who are unlikely to afford adequate input use. To address these challenges, several efforts are being made since the 1960s to assess the potential effects of various sources of organic and mineral fertilizers on crop yield and soil fertility status of the differing farming systems in the country..

Controls on timescales of soil organic carbon persistence across sub-Saharan Africa

Given the importance of soil for the global carbon cycle, it is essential to understand not only how much carbon soil stores but also how long this carbon persists. Previous studies have shown that the amount and age of soil carbon are strongly affected by the interaction of climate, vegetation, and mineralogy. However, these findings are primarily based on studies from temperate regions and from fine-scale studies, leaving large knowledge gaps for soils from understudied regions such as sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, there is a lack of data to validate modeled soil C dynamics at broad scales. Here, we present insights into organic carbon cycling, based on a new broad-scale radiocarbon and mineral dataset for sub-Saharan Africa. We found that in moderately weathered soils in seasonal climate zones with poorly crystalline and reactive clay minerals, organic carbon persists longer on average (topsoil: 201 ± 130 years; subsoil: 645 ± 385 years) than in highly weathered soils in humid regions (topsoil: 140 ± 46 years; subsoil: 454 ± 247 years) with less reactive minerals. Soils in arid climate zones (topsoil: 396 ± 339 years; subsoil: 963 ± 669 years) store organic carbon for periods more similar to those in seasonal climate zones, likely reflecting climatic constraints on weathering, carbon inputs and microbial decomposition. These insights into the timescales of organic carbon persistence in soils of sub-Saharan Africa suggest that a process-oriented grouping of soils based on pedo-climatic conditions may be useful to improve predictions of soil responses to climate change at broader scales

Strategies and policies to reach a land-degradation neutral world

Despite the difficulties in quantifying the extent and degree of land degradation or restoration, evidence shows that continued land degradation will be an impediment to meeting several SDGs. The United Nations states that it aims for land degradation neutrality (LDN) which in 2015 became firmly established as an agreed-upon objective in the realm of international environmental politics. First, as part of the SDGs whose Target 15.3 calls to “combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradationneutral world” by 2030 (UNGA, 2015). The Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) took the decision to align the implementation of the Convention with SDG 15.3 and invited its Parties to set voluntary LDN targets (UNCCD, 2015). From that point onwards, the key question is how to implement these global aspirations at the national level and what is needed to operationalize the LDN concept and translate it into concrete strategies to meet LDN at scale..

The global, regional, and national burden of cirrhosis by cause in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Cirrhosis and other chronic liver diseases (collectively referred to as cirrhosis in this paper) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally, although the burden and underlying causes differ across locations and demographic groups. We report on results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 on the burden of cirrhosis and its trends since 1990, by cause, sex, and age, for 195 countries and territories. Methods We used data from vital registrations, vital registration samples, and verbal autopsies to estimate mortality. We modelled prevalence of total, compensated, and decompensated cirrhosis on the basis of hospital and claims data. Disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were calculated as the sum of years of life lost due to premature death and years lived with disability. Estimates are presented as numbers and age-standardised or age-specific rates per 100 000 population, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). All estimates are presented for five causes of cirrhosis: hepatitis B, hepatitis C, alcohol-related liver disease, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and other causes. We compared mortality, prevalence, and DALY estimates with those expected according to the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) as a proxy for the development status of regions and countries. Findings In 2017, cirrhosis caused more than 1.32 million (95% UI 1.27-1.45) deaths (440000 [416 000-518 000; 33.3%] in females and 883 000 [838 000-967 000; 66.7%] in males) globally, compared with less than 899 000 (829 000-948 000) deaths in 1990. Deaths due to cirrhosis constituted 2.4% (2.3-2.6) of total deaths globally in 2017 compared with 1.9% (1.8-2.0) in 1990. Despite an increase in the number of deaths, the age-standardised death rate decreased from 21.0 (19.2-22.3) per 100 000 population in 1990 to 16.5 (15.8-18-1) per 100 000 population in 2017. Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest age-standardised death rate among GBD super-regions for all years of the study period (32.2 [25.8-38.6] deaths per 100 000 population in 2017), and the high-income super-region had the lowest (10.1 [9.8-10-5] deaths per 100 000 population in 2017). The age-standardised death rate decreased or remained constant from 1990 to 2017 in all GBD regions except eastern Europe and central Asia, where the age-standardised death rate increased, primarily due to increases in alcohol-related liver disease prevalence. At the national level, the age-standardised death rate of cirrhosis was lowest in Singapore in 2017 (3.7 [3.3-4.0] per 100 000 in 2017) and highest in Egypt in all years since 1990 (103.3 [64.4-133.4] per 100 000 in 2017). There were 10.6 million (10.3-10.9) prevalent cases of decompensated cirrhosis and 112 million (107-119) prevalent cases of compensated cirrhosis globally in 2017. There was a significant increase in age-standardised prevalence rate of decompensated cirrhosis between 1990 and 2017. Cirrhosis caused by NASH had a steady age-standardised death rate throughout the study period, whereas the other four causes showed declines in age-standardised death rate. The age-standardised prevalence of compensated and decompensated cirrhosis due to NASH increased more than for any other cause of cirrhosis (by 33.2% for compensated cirrhosis and 54.8% for decompensated cirrhosis) over the study period. From 1990 to 2017, the number of prevalent cases snore than doubled for compensated cirrhosis due to NASH and more than tripled for decompensated cirrhosis due to NASH. In 2017, age-standardised death and DALY rates were lower among countries and territories with higher SDI. Interpretation Cirrhosis imposes a substantial health burden on many countries and this burden has increased at the global level since 1990, partly due to population growth and ageing. Although the age-standardised death and DALY rates of cirrhosis decreased from 1990 to 2017, numbers of deaths and DALYs and the proportion of all global deaths due to cirrhosis increased. Despite the availability of effective interventions for the prevention and treatment of hepatitis B and C, they were still the main causes of cirrhosis burden worldwide, particularly in low-income countries. The impact of hepatitis B and C is expected to be attenuated and overtaken by that of NASH in the near future. Cost-effective interventions are required to continue the prevention and treatment of viral hepatitis, and to achieve early diagnosis and prevention of cirrhosis due to alcohol-related liver disease and NASH. Copyright (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Reference soil groups map of Ethiopia based on legacy data and machine learning-technique: EthioSoilGrids 1.0

Up-to-date digital soil resource information and its comprehensive understanding are crucial to supporting crop production and sustainable agricultural development. Generating such information through conventional approaches consumes time and resources, and is difficult for developing countries. In Ethiopia, the soil resource map that was in use is qualitative, dated (since 1984), and small scaled (1 : 2 M), which limit its practical applicability. Yet, a large legacy soil profile dataset accumulated over time and the emerging machine-learning modeling approaches can help in generating a high-quality quantitative digital soil map that can provide better soil information. Thus, a group of researchers formed a Coalition of the Willing for soil and agronomy data-sharing and collated about 20 000 soil profile data and stored them in a central database. The data were cleaned and harmonized using the latest soil profile data template and 14 681 profile data were prepared for modeling. Random forest was used to develop a continuous quantitative digital map of 18 World Reference Base (WRB) soil groups at 250 m resolution by integrating environmental covariates representing major soil-forming factors. The map was validated by experts through a rigorous process involving senior soil specialists or pedologists checking the map based on purposely selected district-level geographic windows across Ethiopia. The map is expected to be of tremendous value for soil management and other land-based development planning, given its improved spatial resolution and quantitative digital representation.</p

Children’s and adolescents’ rising animal-source food intakes in 1990–2018 were impacted by age, region, parental education and urbanicity

Animal-source foods (ASF) provide nutrition for children and adolescents’ physical and cognitive development. Here, we use data from the Global Dietary Database and Bayesian hierarchical models to quantify global, regional and national ASF intakes between 1990 and 2018 by age group across 185 countries, representing 93% of the world’s child population. Mean ASF intake was 1.9 servings per day, representing 16% of children consuming at least three daily servings. Intake was similar between boys and girls, but higher among urban children with educated parents. Consumption varied by age from 0.6 at <1 year to 2.5 servings per day at 15–19 years. Between 1990 and 2018, mean ASF intake increased by 0.5 servings per week, with increases in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, total ASF consumption was highest in Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Turkey, and lowest in Uganda, India, Kenya and Bangladesh. These findings can inform policy to address malnutrition through targeted ASF consumption programmes.publishedVersio

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries and territories, 1980-2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Global development goals increasingly rely on country-specific estimates for benchmarking a nation's progress. To meet this need, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 estimated global, regional, national, and, for selected locations, subnational cause-specific mortality beginning in the year 1980. Here we report an update to that study, making use of newly available data and improved methods. GBD 2017 provides a comprehensive assessment of cause-specific mortality for 282 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1980 to 2017. Methods The causes of death database is composed of vital registration (VR), verbal autopsy (VA), registry, survey, police, and surveillance data. GBD 2017 added ten VA studies, 127 country-years of VR data, 502 cancer-registry country-years, and an additional surveillance country-year. Expansions of the GBD cause of death hierarchy resulted in 18 additional causes estimated for GBD 2017. Newly available data led to subnational estimates for five additional countries Ethiopia, Iran, New Zealand, Norway, and Russia. Deaths assigned International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for non-specific, implausible, or intermediate causes of death were reassigned to underlying causes by redistribution algorithms that were incorporated into uncertainty estimation. We used statistical modelling tools developed for GBD, including the Cause of Death Ensemble model (CODErn), to generate cause fractions and cause specific death rates for each location, year, age, and sex. Instead of using UN estimates as in previous versions, GBD 2017 independently estimated population size and fertility rate for all locations. Years of life lost (YLLs) were then calculated as the sum of each death multiplied by the standard life expectancy at each age. All rates reported here are age-standardised. Findings At the broadest grouping of causes of death (Level 1), non-communicable diseases (NC Ds) comprised the greatest fraction of deaths, contributing to 73.4% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 72.5-74.1) of total deaths in 2017, while communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) causes accounted for 186% (17.9-19.6), and injuries 8.0% (7.7-8.2). Total numbers of deaths from NCD causes increased from 2007 to 2017 by 22.7% (21.5-23.9), representing an additional 7.61 million (7. 20-8.01) deaths estimated in 2017 versus 2007. The death rate from NCDs decreased globally by 7.9% (7.08.8). The number of deaths for CMNN causes decreased by 222% (20.0-24.0) and the death rate by 31.8% (30.1-33.3). Total deaths from injuries increased by 2.3% (0-5-4-0) between 2007 and 2017, and the death rate from injuries decreased by 13.7% (12.2-15.1) to 57.9 deaths (55.9-59.2) per 100 000 in 2017. Deaths from substance use disorders also increased, rising from 284 000 deaths (268 000-289 000) globally in 2007 to 352 000 (334 000-363 000) in 2017. Between 2007 and 2017, total deaths from conflict and terrorism increased by 118.0% (88.8-148.6). A greater reduction in total deaths and death rates was observed for some CMNN causes among children younger than 5 years than for older adults, such as a 36.4% (32.2-40.6) reduction in deaths from lower respiratory infections for children younger than 5 years compared with a 33.6% (31.2-36.1) increase in adults older than 70 years. Globally, the number of deaths was greater for men than for women at most ages in 2017, except at ages older than 85 years. Trends in global YLLs reflect an epidemiological transition, with decreases in total YLLs from enteric infections, respirator}, infections and tuberculosis, and maternal and neonatal disorders between 1990 and 2017; these were generally greater in magnitude at the lowest levels of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI). At the same time, there were large increases in YLLs from neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases. YLL rates decreased across the five leading Level 2 causes in all SDI quintiles. The leading causes of YLLs in 1990 neonatal disorders, lower respiratory infections, and diarrhoeal diseases were ranked second, fourth, and fifth, in 2017. Meanwhile, estimated YLLs increased for ischaemic heart disease (ranked first in 2017) and stroke (ranked third), even though YLL rates decreased. Population growth contributed to increased total deaths across the 20 leading Level 2 causes of mortality between 2007 and 2017. Decreases in the cause-specific mortality rate reduced the effect of population growth for all but three causes: substance use disorders, neurological disorders, and skin and subcutaneous diseases. Interpretation Improvements in global health have been unevenly distributed among populations. Deaths due to injuries, substance use disorders, armed conflict and terrorism, neoplasms, and cardiovascular disease are expanding threats to global health. For causes of death such as lower respiratory and enteric infections, more rapid progress occurred for children than for the oldest adults, and there is continuing disparity in mortality rates by sex across age groups. Reductions in the death rate of some common diseases are themselves slowing or have ceased, primarily for NCDs, and the death rate for selected causes has increased in the past decade. Copyright (C) 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

Incident type 2 diabetes attributable to suboptimal diet in 184 countries

The global burden of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not well established. This risk assessment model estimated T2D incidence among adults attributable to direct and body weight-mediated effects of 11 dietary factors in 184 countries in 1990 and 2018. In 2018, suboptimal intake of these dietary factors was estimated to be attributable to 14.1 million (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 13.8–14.4 million) incident T2D cases, representing 70.3% (68.8–71.8%) of new cases globally. Largest T2D burdens were attributable to insufficient whole-grain intake (26.1% (25.0–27.1%)), excess refined rice and wheat intake (24.6% (22.3–27.2%)) and excess processed meat intake (20.3% (18.3–23.5%)). Across regions, highest proportional burdens were in central and eastern Europe and central Asia (85.6% (83.4–87.7%)) and Latin America and the Caribbean (81.8% (80.1–83.4%)); and lowest proportional burdens were in South Asia (55.4% (52.1–60.7%)). Proportions of diet-attributable T2D were generally larger in men than in women and were inversely correlated with age. Diet-attributable T2D was generally larger among urban versus rural residents and higher versus lower educated individuals, except in high-income countries, central and eastern Europe and central Asia, where burdens were larger in rural residents and in lower educated individuals. Compared with 1990, global diet-attributable T2D increased by 2.6 absolute percentage points (8.6 million more cases) in 2018, with variation in these trends by world region and dietary factor. These findings inform nutritional priorities and clinical and public health planning to improve dietary quality and reduce T2D globally.publishedVersio