Landscape-scale assessments of stable carbon isotopes in soil under diverse vegetation classes in East Africa : application of near-infrared spectroscopy

Stable carbon isotopes are important tracers used to understand ecological food web processes and vegetation shifts over time. However, gaps exist in understanding soil and plant processes that influence delta C-13 values, particularly across smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to develop predictive models for delta C-13 values in soil using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to increase overall sample size. In addition, this study aimed to assess the delta C-13 values between five vegetation classes. The Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF) was used to collect a stratified random set of soil samples and to classify vegetation. A total of 154 topsoil and 186 subsoil samples were collected and analyzed using NIRS, organic carbon (OC) and stable carbon isotopes. Forested plots had the most negative average delta C-13 values, -26.1aEuro degrees; followed by woodland, -21.9aEuro degrees; cropland, -19.0aEuro degrees; shrubland, -16.5aEuro degrees; and grassland, -13.9aEuro degrees. Prediction models were developed for delta C-13 using partial least squares (PLS) regression and random forest (RF) models. Model performance was acceptable and similar with both models. The root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) values for the three independent validation runs for delta C-13 using PLS ranged from 1.91 to 2.03 compared to 1.52 to 1.98 using RF. This model performance indicates that NIR can be used to predict delta C-13 in soil, which will allow for landscape-scale assessments to better understand carbon dynamics

Including soil organic carbon into nationally determined contributions: Insights from Kenya

Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable and regenerative food systems and provide several vital ecosystem services. Sequestering carbon in agricultural soils, for example, can have mutual benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation, food and nutrition security, biodiversity, and water resilience. Despite these benefits, there are few policies that incentivize farmers to invest in maintaining and improving soil health. This policy brief highlights opportunities for the inclusion of soil health and soil organic carbon (SOC) into the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as a key step for governments to support farmers in investing in their soil. This activity builds on recent assessments including a paper that extensively reviewed the first-round of 184 NDCs concluding that only 28 countries referred to SOC, peatlands or wetlands (1). This review and the subsequent interviews with experts (n=8) indicated the importance of understanding the impact of land management on SOC storage and dynamics (1). As a follow-up, Rose et al (2) focused on the updated NDCs and found that the number of countries that included SOC in their updated NDC increased compared to the first-round NDC process (2). This review also highlighted that 19 countries highlighted the need for financing for SOC and related measures (2)

Including soil organic carbon into nationally determined contributions: Insights from Ethiopia

Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable and regenerative food systems and provide several vital ecosystem services. Sequestering carbon in agricultural soils, for example, can have mutual benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation, food and nutrition security, biodiversity, and water resilience. Despite these benefits, there are few policies that incentivize farmers to invest in maintaining and improving soil health. This policy brief highlights opportunities for the inclusion of soil health and soil organic carbon (SOC) into the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in Ethiopia as a key step for governments to support farmers in investing in their soil. We interviewed key informants involved in the NDC process to understand the process for the developing the NDC targets and investigated reasons why policy makers did or did not include soil in these targets

Including soil organic carbon into nationally determined contributions: Insights from Zambia

Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable and regenerative food systems and provide several vital ecosystem services. Sequestering carbon in agricultural soils, for example, can have mutual benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation, food and nutrition security, biodiversity, and water resilience. Despite these benefits, there are few policies that incentivize farmers to invest in maintaining and improving soil health. This policy brief highlights opportunities for the inclusion of soil health and soil organic carbon (SOC) into the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as a key step for governments to support farmers in investing in their soil. We interviewed key informants involved in the NDC process to understand the process for the developing the NDC targets and investigated reasons why policy makers did or did not include soil in these targets

Including soil organic carbon into nationally determined contributions: Insights from Senegal

Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable and regenerative food systems and provide several vital ecosystem services Sequestering carbon in agricultural soils, for example, can have mutual benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation, food and nutrition security, biodiversity, and water resilience. Despite these benefits, there are few policies that incentivize farmers to invest in maintaining and improving soil health. This policy brief highlights opportunities for the inclusion of soil health and soil organic carbon (SOC) into the National Determined Contributions (NDC) as a key step for governments to support farmers to invest in their soil. We interviewed key informants involved in the NDC process to understand the process for the developing the NDC targets and investigated reasons why policy makers did or did not include soil in these targets

Including soil organic carbon into nationally determined contributions: Insights from Mali

Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable and regenerative food systems and provide several vital ecosystem services Sequestering carbon in agricultural soils, for example, can have mutual benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation, food and nutrition security, biodiversity, and water resilience. Despite these benefits, there are few policies that incentivize farmers to invest in maintaining and improving soil health. This policy brief highlights opportunities for the inclusion of soil health and soil organic carbon (SOC) into the National Determined Contributions (NDC) as a key step for governments to support farmers to invest in their soil. This activity builds on recent assessments including a paper that extensively reviewed the first-round of 184 NDCs concluding that only 28 countries referred to SOC, peatlands or wetlands (Wiese et al., 2021). This review and the subsequent interviews with experts (n=5) indicated the importance of understanding the impact of land management on SOC storage and dynamics (Wiese et al., 2021). As a follow-up, Rose et al (2022) focused on the updated NDCs and found that the number of countries that included SOC in their updated NDC increased compared to the first-round NDC process (Rose et al., 2022). This review also highlighted that 19 countries highlighted the need for financing for SOC and related measures (Rose et al., 2022)

Including soil organic carbon into nationally determined contributions: Insights from Ghana

Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable and regenerative food systems and provide several vital ecosystem services. Sequestering carbon in agricultural soils, for example, can have mutual benefits for climate change mitigation and adaptation, food and nutrition security, biodiversity, and water resilience. Despite these benefits, there are few policies that incentivize farmers to invest in maintaining and improving soil health. This policy brief highlights opportunities for the inclusion of soil health and soil organic carbon (SOC) into the National Determined Contributions (NDC) as a key step for governments to support farmers to invest in their soil. This activity builds on recent assessments including a paper that extensively reviewed the first-round of 184 NDCs concluding that only 28 countries referred to SOC, peatlands or wetlands (Weise et al., 2021). This review and the subsequent interviews with experts (n=8) indicated the importance of understanding the impact of land management on SOC storage and dynamics (Weise et al., 2021). As a follow-up, Rose et al (202) focused on the updated NDCs and found that the number of countries that included SOC in their updated NDC increased compared to the first-round NDC process (Rose et al., 2021). This review also highlighted that 19 countries highlighted the need for financing for SOC and related measures (Rose et al., 2021)

Impact of zero budget natural farming on crop yields in Andhra Pradesh, SE India

It has been claimed that Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), a burgeoning practice of farming in India based on low-inputs and influenced by agro-ecological principles, has the potential to improve farm viability and food security. However, there is concern that the success of the social movement fueling the adoption of ZBNF has become out of step with the science underpinning its performance relative to other farming systems. Based on twenty field plot experiments established across six districts in Andhra Pradesh (SE India), managed by locally based farmer researchers, we present the first ‘on the ground’ assessment of ZBNF performance. We show that there is no short-term yield penalty when adopting ZBNF in small scale farming systems compared to conventional and organic alternatives. In terms of treatment response, we observed differences between agro-climatic zones, but in this initial evaluation we cannot recommend specific options tuned to these different contexts

Data on how tree planting and management practices influence tree seedling survival in Kenya and Ethiopia

Understanding which trees farmers prefer, what determines their survival and enhancing farmer knowledge of tree management is key to increasing tree cover in agricultural landscapes. This article presents data on tree seedling survival under different tree planting and management practices in Kenya and Ethiopia. Data were collected from 1600 households across three Counties in Kenya and 173 households across four Woredas in Ethiopia, using a structured questionnaire which was administered through the Open Data Kit. Data on seedling survival were collected at least six months after tree seedlings were planted. To understand how planting and management practices influence tree planting across the different socioeconomic and biophysical contexts, both household level and individual tree level data were collected. Household level data included socio-economic and biophysical characteristics of the households while tree specific data included when the tree seedling was planted, where it was planted, the management practices employed and whether surviving. The datasets described in this article help understand which options confer the best chance survival for the planted seedlings and in which socio-economic and biophysical contexts they are most successful. [Abstract copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc.