Adaptive Capacity of Farmers to Climate Change in the Kassena Nankana Municipality of Ghana: Implications for climate adaptation strategies

This study analyzed factors that contribute to the adaptive capacity of farmers based on their settlement types and use/access to five forms of capital assets (natural, social, financial, physical and human). The use/access to assets were estimated and categorized into high, moderate and low adaptive capacities. The data was based on a survey of 155 farmers from three communities in the Kassena Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region of Ghana. From the findings, Manyoro, the urban community, recorded the highest adaptive score although their illiteracy level was highest. Low adaptive farmers had low access to credits and alternative livelihoods compared to farmers with high adaptive capacity. Access to irrigation had a positive significant influence on adaptive capacity. In general, the more accessible a resource was to a farmer, the more adaptable that farmer was to climate change. Following the findings of this study, it is important that policy interventions in the area prioritize creation and encouragement in alternative livelihoods sources as a means of increasing the adaptive capacity of famers in the rural and semi-urban areas. Also, private and government institutions should invest in irrigation and credits facilities as measures for economic growth and adaptation to the effects of climate change on agriculture. Farmers should be empowered through better extension and agroclimatic information and other affordable modern technologies

Impact of indigenous natural resources regulatory systems of fishing on the fisheries of a small coastal lagoon in Ghana

Many African cultures have indigenous practices that regulate the exploitation of natural resources. One such practice in Ghana is the close and open seasons for the utilisation of water bodies and the fisheries resources they provide. Compliance with the close seasons, however, has declined over the years, and this has the potential to affect fish stocks. We evaluated the impact of indigenous systems that seek to regulate natural resources exploitation on the fisheries of a small coastal lagoon, Sakumo, in Ghana. We measured fishing intensity, catch per unit effort, length-weight relationship and condition factor (K) of fish species harvested in both the open and close seasons. The predominant fish species recorded in fishermen’s catches were tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus and Sarotherodon melanotheron, which accounted for 47.62% and 35.60% by weight respectively of fish samples collected. Fishing activities occurred throughout the period of study irrespective of the season. The indigenous regulatory systems were neither respected, nor enforced by the traditional authorities, hence the lagoon fisheries continue to be overexploited. In the long run, this could lead to the collapse of the lagoon fisheries, with serious adverse impact on the livelihoods of the coastal communities who depend on this resource

Understanding drivers of urban bushmeat demand in a Ghanaian market

Wild meat (or bushmeat) is consumed as a luxury item in many African cities. By contrast, bushmeat is an important source of food and income for many poor households in rural areas. To curb the flow of bushmeat from rural to urban areas, understanding drivers of demand in city markets, and their impact on hunter revenues remains fundamental. Here, we present a simple econometric model for the trade of a commercially important bushmeat species in Ghana, the grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus). We explore own-price and cross-price elasticity of demand of grasscutter meat relative to commonly consumed alternative meats (goat, beef, poultry and fish) in the Atwemonom market in Kumasi city, Ghana. We show that: 1) grasscutter demand is elastic to its own price, 2) beef has an elastic cross-price elasticity, and 3) grasscutter is a luxury good, highly sensitive to consumer income. The elastic nature of the market suggests that price control policies e.g. “wild meat” tax, could reduce demand. Given that beef is the best substitute in our study area, we suggest that investment in Ghana’s underdeveloped cattle industry may reduce wildlife demand while also supporting herding economies. Critically, our results demonstrated that policies that aim to reduce bushmeat demand are likely to impact hunter revenues. This finding underscores the need for complimentary investments in the rural economy to drive incomes and off-set any revenue losses as a result of a decline in bushmeat demand

Ectoparasite and bacterial population genetics and community structure indicate extent of bat movement across an island chain.

Few studies have examined the genetic population structure of vector-borne microparasites in wildlife, making it unclear how much these systems can reveal about the movement of their associated hosts. This study examined the complex host-vector-microbe interactions in a system of bats, wingless ectoparasitic bat flies (Nycteribiidae), vector-borne microparasitic bacteria (Bartonella), and bacterial endosymbionts of flies (Enterobacterales) across an island chain in the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa. Limited population structure was found in bat flies and Enterobacterales symbionts compared to that of their hosts. Significant isolation by distance was observed in the dissimilarity of Bartonella communities detected in flies from sampled populations of Eidolon helvum bats. These patterns indicate that, while genetic dispersal of bats between islands is limited, some nonreproductive movements may lead to the dispersal of ectoparasites and associated microbes. This study deepens our knowledge of the phylogeography of African fruit bats, their ectoparasites, and associated bacteria. The results presented could inform models of pathogen transmission in these bat populations and increase our theoretical understanding of community ecology in host-microbe systems.fals

Manipulating vector transmission reveals local processes in bacterial communities of batss

Infectious diseases result from multiple interactions among microbes and hosts, but community ecology approaches are rarely applied. Manipulation of vector populations provides a unique opportunity to test the importance of vectors in infection cycles while also observing changes in pathogen community diversity and species interactions. Yet for many vector-borne infections in wildlife, a biological vector has not been experimentally verified and few manipulative studies have been performed. Using a captive colony of fruit bats in Ghana, we observed changes in the community of Bartonella bacteria over time after the decline and subsequent reintroduction of bat flies. With reduced transmission, community changes were attributed to ecological drift and potential selection through interspecies competition mediated by host immunity. This work demonstrated that forces maintaining diversity in communities of free-living macroorganisms act in similar ways in communities of symbiotic microorganisms, both within and among hosts. Additionally, this study is the first to experimentally test the role of bat flies as vectors of Bartonella species

Risks to Birds Traded for African Traditional Medicine: A Quantitative Assessment

Few regional or continent-wide assessments of bird use for traditional medicine have been attempted anywhere in the world. Africa has the highest known diversity of bird species used for this purpose. This study assesses the vulnerability of 354 bird species used for traditional medicine in 25 African countries, from 205 genera, 70 families, and 25 orders. The orders most represented were Passeriformes (107 species), Falconiformes (45 species), and Coraciiformes (24 species), and the families Accipitridae (37 species), Ardeidae (15 species), and Bucerotidae (12 species). The Barn owl (Tyto alba) was the most widely sold species (seven countries). The similarity of avifaunal orders traded is high (analogous to ‘‘morphospecies’’, and using Sørensen’s index), which suggests opportunities for a common understanding of cultural factors driving demand. The highest similarity was between bird orders sold in markets of Benin vs. Burkina Faso (90%), but even bird orders sold in two geographically separated countries (Benin vs. South Africa and Nigeria vs. South Africa) were 87% and 81% similar, respectively. Rabinowitz’s ‘‘7 forms of rarity’’ model, used to group species according to commonness or rarity, indicated that 24% of traded bird species are very common, locally abundant in several habitats, and occur over a large geographical area, but 10% are rare, occur in low numbers in specific habitats, and over a small geographical area. The order with the highest proportion of rare species was the Musophagiformes. An analysis of species mass (as a proxy for size) indicated that large and/or conspicuous species tend to be targeted by harvesters for the traditional medicine trade. Furthermore, based on cluster analyses for species groups of similar risk, vultures, hornbills, and other large avifauna, such as bustards, are most threatened by selective harvesting and should be prioritised for conservation action.University of the Witwatersrand SPARC Prestigious and URC Postdoctoral Fellowships; National Research Foundatio

A framework for the study of zoonotic disease emergence and its drivers: spillover of bat pathogens as a case study

Many serious emerging zoonotic infections have recently arisen from bats, including Ebola, Marburg, SARS-coronavirus, Hendra, Nipah, and a number of rabies and rabies-related viruses, consistent with the overall observation that wildlife are an important source of emerging zoonoses for the human population. Mechanisms underlying the recognized association between ecosystem health and human health remain poorly understood and responding appropriately to the ecological, social and economic conditions that facilitate disease emergence and transmission represents a substantial societal challenge. In the context of disease emergence from wildlife, wildlife and habitat should be conserved, which in turn will preserve vital ecosystem structure and function, which has broader implications for human wellbeing and environmental sustainability, while simultaneously minimizing the spillover of pathogens from wild animals into human beings. In this review, we propose a novel framework for the holistic and interdisciplinary investigation of zoonotic disease emergence and its drivers, using the spillover of bat pathogens as a case study. This study has been developed to gain a detailed interdisciplinary understanding, and it combines cutting-edge perspectives from both natural and social sciences, linked to policy impacts on public health, land use and conservation

A framework for the study of zoonotic disease emergence and its drivers: spillover of bat pathogens as a case study

Many serious emerging zoonotic infections have recently arisen from bats, including Ebola, Marburg, SARS-coronavirus, Hendra, Nipah, and a number of rabies and rabies-related viruses, consistent with the overall observation that wildlife are an important source of emerging zoonoses for the human population. Mechanisms underlying the recognized association between ecosystem health and human health remain poorly understood and responding appropriately to the ecological, social and economic conditions that facilitate disease emergence and transmission represents a substantial societal challenge. In the context of disease emergence from wildlife, wildlife and habitat should be conserved, which in turn will preserve vital ecosystem structure and function, which has broader implications for human wellbeing and environmental sustainability, while simultaneously minimizing the spillover of pathogens from wild animals into human beings. In this review, we propose a novel framework for the holistic and interdisciplinary investigation of zoonotic disease emergence and its drivers, using the spillover of bat pathogens as a case study. This study has been developed to gain a detailed interdisciplinary understanding, and it combines cutting-edge perspectives from both natural and social sciences, linked to policy impacts on public health, land use and conservation