Measurement, reporting and verification of climate-smart agriculture: Change of perspective, change of possibilities?

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Unique Forestry and Land Use and Vuna have been working with stakeholders in four countries in eastern and southern Africa (Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to assess the current state of national CSA M&E and to set out country-specific roadmaps for developing systems for monitoring and reporting on CSA. The project took a country-driven approach to documenting stakeholders’ information needs, exploring how to build on and align with existing M&E systems and international reporting frameworks, and encouraging cross-country comparisons. Though the research was grounded in southern Africa, these lessons are applicable to CSA and other topic-driven initiatives (such as land restoration and the Bonn Challenge) across similar environments and social contexts on the continent and around the world. Here we detail three key findings from the assessment

Mesure, notification et vérification de l’agriculture intelligente face au climat: changement de perspective, changement de possibilités ? Conclusions de l’auto-évaluation nationale des besoins, systèmes et opportunités

Depuis 2009, des milliards de dollars ont été investis dans des programmes d’AIC dans le but d’aider les petits exploitants à augmenter leur productivité tout en s’adaptant aux changements climatiques et en contribuant à les atténuer. Cependant, l’AIC a récemment dépassé les cercles de l’aide au développement et de la société civile, et les pays se sont mis à adopter des stratégies d’AIC dans le cadre de leurs politiques et stratégies de riposte aux changements climatiques et de développement agricole, notamment leurs Contributions déterminées au niveau national (CDN)

Examining strain diversity and phylogeography in relation to an unusual epidemic pattern of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in a long-term refugee camp in Kenya

Background: A recent longitudinal study in the Dadaab refugee camp near the Kenya-Somalia border identified unusual biannual respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) epidemics. We characterized the genetic variability of the associated RSV strains to determine if viral diversity contributed to this unusual epidemic pattern. Methods: For 336 RSV positive specimens identified from 2007 through 2011 through facility-based surveillance of respiratory illnesses in the camp, 324 (96.4%) were sub-typed by PCR methods, into 201 (62.0%) group A, 118 (36.4%) group B and 5 (1.5%) group A-B co-infections. Partial sequencing of the G gene (coding for the attachment protein) was completed for 290 (89.5%) specimens. These specimens were phylogenetically analyzed together with 1154 contemporaneous strains from 22 countries. Results: Of the 6 epidemic peaks recorded in the camp over the period, the first and last were predominantly made up of group B strains, while the 4 in between were largely composed of group A strains in a consecutive series of minor followed by major epidemics. The Dadaab group A strains belonged to either genotype GA2 (180, 98.9%) or GA5 (2, < 1%) while all group B strains (108, 100%) belonged to BA genotype. In sequential epidemics, strains within these genotypes appeared to be of two types: those continuing from the preceding epidemics and those newly introduced. Genotype diversity was similar in minor and major epidemics. Conclusion: RSV strain diversity in Dadaab was similar to contemporaneous diversity worldwide, suggested both between-epidemic persistence and new introductions, and was unrelated to the unusual epidemic pattern

Foliage pests of Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) in Malawi: susceptibility of different provenances

Knowledge of insects’ damage to Agroforestry species is prerequisite prior to promotion of domestication of the species. The study was conducted to assess foliage insect pests in 21 Sclerocarya birrea provenances. Assessment parameters included tolerance levels, tree canopy position of attack, mode of leaf defoliation and type of insect pests responsible for the damage. The results revealed that highly tolerant provenances to leaf defoliation included Kalanga, Magunde, Moamba, and Marracuene. Highly susceptible provenances comprised of Chikwawa, Rumphi, Ntcheu, Missira and Mangochi. Highly significant (P < 0.001) variations existed in tree damage basing on crown position. The top canopy was the most affected followed by the middle and bottom canopies. Leaf damage was found to be significantly (X2 = 4.989, P = 0.026) associated with fruit production, and leaf damaged trees were found to produce three times (Odds Ratio = 3.2) less fruits compared to undamaged tree leaves. The most dominate form of leaf damage was defoliation (43%), followed by skeletonizing (18%). The least leaf damage trees were 37%. Leaf defoliators comprised of two orders namely Coleoptera (beetle) and Lepidoptera (caterpillar). Ceratitis (Pterandrus) capitata (fruit flies) were the most destructive to mature fruits. Although not the primary objective of the study, Ceratitis (Pterandrus) capitata (fruit flies) was identified as the major pest of Marula fruits. Future provenance or progeny trials should be replicated across different ecological areas in order to assess genotype-by-environment interaction effects resulting from differences in leaf flushing period

Passively transmitted gp41 antibodies in babies born from HIV-1 subtype C-seropositive Women: Correlation between fine specificity and protection

HIV-exposed, uninfected (EUN) babies born to HIV-infected mothers are examples of natural resistance to HIV infection. In this study, we evaluated the titer and neutralizing potential of gp41-specific maternal antibodies and their correlation with HIV transmission in HIV-infected mother-child pairs. Specific gp41-binding and -neutralizing antibodies were determined in a cohort of 74 first-time mother-child pairs, of whom 40 mothers were infected with HIV subtype C. Within the infected mother cohort, 16 babies were born infected and 24 were PCR negative and uninfected at birth (i.e., exposed but uninfected). Thirty-four HIV-uninfected and HIV-unexposed mother-child pairs were included as controls. All HIV-positive mothers and their newborns showed high IgG titers to linear epitopes within the HR1 region and to the membrane-proximal (MPER) domain of gp41; most sera also recognized the disulfide loop immunodominant epitope (IDE). Antibody titers to the gp41 epitopes were significantly lower in nontransmitting mothers (P<0.01) and in the EUN babies (P<0.005) than in HIV-positive mother-child pairs. Three domains of gp41, HR1, IDE, and MPER, elicited antibodies that were effectively transmitted to EUN babies. Moreover, in EUN babies, epitopes overlapping the 2F5 epitope (ELDKWAS), but not the 4E10 epitope, were neutralization targets in two out of four viruses tested. Our findings highlight important epitopes in gp41 that appear to be associated with exposure without infection and would be important to consider for vaccine design. \ua9 2012, American Society for Microbiology

Effect of climate on incidence of respiratory syncytial virus infections in a refugee camp in Kenya: A non-Gaussian time-series analysis

<div><p>Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the major causes of acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTI) in children. Children younger than 1 year are the most susceptible to RSV infection. RSV infections occur seasonally in temperate climate regions. Based on RSV surveillance and climatic data, we developed statistical models that were assessed and compared to predict the relationship between weather and RSV incidence among refugee children younger than 5 years in Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. Most time-series analyses rely on the assumption of Gaussian-distributed data. However, surveillance data often do not have a Gaussian distribution. We used a generalized linear model (GLM) with a sinusoidal component over time to account for seasonal variation and extended it to a generalized additive model (GAM) with smoothing cubic splines. Climatic factors were included as covariates in the models before and after timescale decompositions, and the results were compared. Models with decomposed covariates fit RSV incidence data better than those without. The Poisson GAM with decomposed covariates of climatic factors fit the data well and had a higher explanatory and predictive power than GLM. The best model predicted the relationship between atmospheric conditions and RSV infection incidence among children younger than 5 years. This knowledge helps public health officials to prepare for, and respond more effectively to increasing RSV incidence in low-resource regions or communities.</p></div

Tree Seed and Seedling Supply Systems: A Review of the Asia, Africa and Latin America Models

The paper reviews tree seed and seedling supply systems in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America. Across these regions, the review found that some of the germplasm supply systems do not efficiently meet farmers’ demands and environmental expectations in terms of productivity, species and genetic diversity. In some countries, germplasm used is mostly sourced from undocumented sources and often untested. Germplasm quality control systems are only found in a few countries. Appreciation of the value of tree germplasm of high genetic quality is low. Non-government organisations (NGOs) in many African countries play a prominent role in the supply of germplasm which is usually given to farmers without charge. The practice of giving farmers free germplasm by NGOs in many African countries and also government participation in germplasm supply in some Asian countries has been blamed for crowding out private entrepreneurs, although this is not substantiated by any evidence to suggest that the smallholder farmers are willing and able to pay for the germplasm. In some Latin American countries, private companies, government and NGOs provide farmers tree germplasm in a partnership in which farmers provide land and labour in return. Overall, tree germplasm markets are large in Asia, due in part to large afforestation programs, intermediate in Latin America and small in Africa where smallholder farmers constitute the market. In countries where germplasm quality control is practiced, it is either through a legal framework or voluntary. A few countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America have developed protocols for certification of tree seeds based on the OECD. Some germplasm suppliers use branding as a way of differentiating their germplasm as having superior quality. To enhance the use of high quality germplasm, there is a need to demonstrate the value of using such germplasm and raise awareness of germplasm quality among the farmers and policy-makers

Correlation-regression analysis.

<p>A: Correlation between RSV incidence and wind speed; B: Correlation between RSV incidence and temperature; C: Correlation between RSV incidence and dew point; and D: Correlation between temperature and wind speed. In these plots, the regression lines of best fit are indicated by bold blue lines.</p

Best model fit to the RSV incidence data (bold lines) with decomposed covariates.

<p>A: Poisson, GLM. B: Poisson, GAM. The standard error bars to the model fit are indicated by the dotted lines (95% confidence bounds). The base year in all these plots was September 2009.</p