Harnessing indigenous knowledge and practices for effective adaptation in the Sahel

The Sahel region of West Africa has experienced some of the most severe multidecadal rainfall variability over the past 50 years. Based on recollections of the past and observations of the present, local communities in the Sahel have developed extensive knowledge and understanding of their environment and climate that enables them to harness ecosystem services to support their livelihoods and survive environmental changes. Recent literature indicated that farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of changes in the local climate are largely consistent with observed meteorological data, except for the more heterogeneous precipitation change. This understanding of changes in their environment combined with their indigenous knowledge can be particularly useful in data-sparse regions such as the Sahel. This review highlights the importance of indigenous knowledge in enabling effective adaptation in the Sahel and beyond. It outlines some future research avenues for fostering indigenous knowledge-based adaptation, including addressing barriers to mainstreaming of indigenous knowledge into climate research and policy

The rise in Climate-Smart Agriculture strategies, policies, partnerships and investments across the globe

Since the term ‘climate-smart agriculture’ (CSA) was coined in 2010, a growth in strategies, policies, partnerships and investments in the area has been observed. Here we have summarised key CSA efforts globally and in South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, West Africa, and Latin America. We have interpreted CSA in the broad sense, including efforts which may not mention CSA but implicitly contribute to CSA pillars. We note that many international and regional organisations, and countries, are implementing policies and programmes promoting and upscaling CSA. While the growth in strategies, policies, partnerships and investments is positive and creates a favourable enabling environment for CSA, these need to be complemented with targeted implementation on the ground, sustainable financing, institutional coordination and metrics to measure the efficacy of interventions

Channel signal-to-noise ratio constrained feedback control: performance and robustness

The limitations in performance and robustness imposed by explicitly considering a communication channel in a control loop have received increased attention in recent years. Previous results in the literature have stated these limitations in terms of a minimal transmission data rate necessary for stabilisation. In this paper a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) approach is used to study two specific cases: (i) performance in terms of model matching and (ii) robustness against a multiplicative uncertainty in the plant model. The analysis performed leads to closed-form expressions that allow the quantification of the extra SNR required in both cases

Towards a harmonisation of the soil map of Africa at the continental scale

In the context of major global environmental challenges such as food security, climate change, fresh water scarcity and biodiversity loss, the protection and the sustainable management of soil resources in Africa are of paramount importance. To raise the awareness of the general public, stakeholders, policy makers and the science community to the importance of soil in Africa, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission has produced the Soil Atlas of Africa. To that end, a new harmonised soil map at the continental scale has been produced. The steps of the construction of the new area-class map are presented, the basic information being derived from the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD). We show how the original data were updated and modified according to the World Reference Base for Soil Resources classification system. The corrections concerned boundary issues, areas with no information, soil patterns, river and drainage networks, and dynamic features such as sand dunes, water bodies and coastlines. In comparison to the initial map derived from HWSD, the new map represents a correction of 13% of the soil data for the continent. The map is available for downloading

Decomposition of organic amendment and nutrient release under the zai technique in the Sahel

In the West African Sahel, farmers use the zai technique to reclaim degraded cropland. Although the nutrients released by the decomposition of the amendments are central to the success of the technique, little is known regarding the impact of the zai pits on the decomposition process and whether the nutrient release is synchronized with plant requirements. The decomposition of millet stalks and cattle manure applied in zai pits or at the soil surface was studied in Niger using litterbags, under controlled irrigation on-station in 1999 and on-farm in 1999 and 2000 at two locations (Damari and Kakassi) with contrasting soils. In addition, a satellite trial was conducted in 2000 on-farm at the same locations to study the relative contribution of termites to manure decomposition. Only at Damari did termite presence enhance manure decomposition, by a factor three for surface placement compared to the zai pits. At Damari, zai pits enhanced the decomposition when termite activity was suppressed. Whereas manure decomposition proceeded two to three times faster than that of millet stalks at Damari, the type of amendment had no effect on decomposition rate at Kakassi. Nutrient release followed the trend of organic amendment decomposition except for K. When applied prior to the rainy season, nutrient release rate of organic amendments strongly exceeded plant nutrient uptake, which could lead to important leaching losses during the first 4-6 weeks after sowing, especially for N and to a lesser extent for K. However, at harvest, total nutrient absorption by plants was generally higher than the total amount released. The results indicate a highly site-specific response of amendment decomposition to zai and the need for a better timing of amendment application to reduce potential leaching losses, possibly through a split application

Monitoring and assessment of land degradation and desertification: Towards new conceptual and integrated approaches

The implementation of the UNCCD needs agreed, scientifically sound and practical methodologies for monitoring and assessing the state and trend of land degradation as well as for monitoring the performance of management programs. The lack of sufficient and integrated monitoring and assessment (M&A) has in the past been identified as a major constraint for combating desertification. Implementing efficient M&A programs, however, requires careful analysis of the information needs of the different stakeholders, a clear scientific concept of the processes and drivers of land degradation and an analysis of the theoretical and practical possibilities for adequate M&A. This paper briefly analyses the information needs of diverse stakeholders, reviews existing M&A systems, and highlights key aspects for a scientifically sound approach to monitoring and assessment. Analysis of these approaches shows that in spite of their relevance, standardised procedures for their implementation at operational scales are lacking. This is partly attributable to the lack of agreed and clear definitions, related difficulties in defining and hence in measuring the attributes chosen to represent land degradation and desertification and the varying degrees of paucity of field data. There is also the urgent need to better integrate bio-physical and socio-economic aspects of desertification through a suitably robust scientific framework that links the drivers, processes and symptoms of desertification. This should allow identifying key variables to be monitored and enable better forecasting and assessment of vulnerability, thereby providing highly important information for policy- and decision-making.JRC.DDG.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

An assessment of mobile phone‑based dissemination of weather and market information in the Upper West Region of Ghana

Abstract Background The rapid growth of mobile phones in Ghana has opened up the possibility of delivering timely and useful weather and market information to farmers at costs lower than traditional agricultural extension services. In this paper, we assess the usefulness, constraints, and factors likely to influence farmers’ decisions to patronize mobile phone-based weather and market information. Methods We rely on primary data from 310 farmers in the Upper West Region, an understudied part of Ghana. We subject the data to three types of analysis. First, we model farmers’ decision to patronize mobile phone-based weather and market information by estimating a binary logit model. Second, we use descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing to analyse the level of usefulness of mobile phone-based weather and market information. We disaggregate the analysis by sex, income status, and age group. Finally, we use qualitative analysis to summarize the constraints associated with the utilization of mobile phone-based weather and market information. Results We find that contact with agricultural extension agents and farmer-to-farmer extension services significantly influences farmers’ decision to patronize mobile phone-based weather and market information. Regardless of sex, income status, and age group, farmers generally rate mobile phone-based weather and market information as very useful. We identify inexact information, complex text messages, information that are too costly to implement, and poor infrastructure as the constraints to the utilization of mobile phone-based weather and market information. Conclusion In order to improve the utilization of mobile phone-based weather and market information, disseminators of mobile phone-based information such as Esoko should constantly update and provide client-specific information. Improvements in mobile phone networks and related services will enhance the utilization of mobile phone-based weather and market information

Tillage and fertilizer effect on maize and soybean yields in the Guinea savanna zone of Ghana

Abstract Background The most limiting factors for sustainable maize production in smallholder farming systems of sub-Saharan Africa, especially the savanna agro-ecological zone, are erratic rainfall pattern and low soil fertility. Methods Research was conducted with smallholder farmers in 2013 and 2014 in two communities in the Upper West Region of Ghana to evaluate the effects of NPK mineral fertilizer (64–38–38 kg ha−1 N–P2O5–K2O, respectively) on growth and yield of maize at Bompari, and 375 kg ha−1 of YaraLegume™ fertilizer (0–18–13 NPK + 3 CaO + 2 MgO + 4 S) on growth and yield of soybean at Doggoh, under no-tillage (using pre-plant application of glyphosate) and conventional tillage (using hand hoe). Results Mean grain yields of both maize and soybean were higher in 2014 than 2013. In both years, no-tillage and conventional tillage had similar effect on soybean plant height, pods per plant and aboveground dry matter production. Averaging over fertilizer treatment, grain yield of no-tillage soybean was 51% higher when compared with tilled soybean in 2014 only. Mean grain yield of no-tillage maize was 68% higher than that of tilled maize in 2013 only. Regardless of tillage method, fertilizer application significantly increased maize and soybean grain yields. Application of fertilizer to soybean resulted in 59% (193 kg ha−1) and 54% (474 kg ha−1) increase in grain yields in 2013 and 2014, respectively, over no fertilizer treatment. Mean grain yield of maize was 140 and 252% higher with fertilizer treatment in 2013 and 2014, respectively. No-till system showed cost savings due to reduced labour mainly for weed control. Conclusion The results of these studies showed that no-tillage with fertilizer, whether for maize or soybean, generally resulted in the highest grain yields. No-tillage also gave the highest economic returns. Farmers can get better returns to the money invested in herbicide for producing maize and soybean under no-till than with their traditional practice even on degraded savanna soils with low levels of plant available nutrients

Application of Indicator Systems for Monitoring and Assessment of Desertification from National to Global Scales

Current initiatives of the UNCCD on defining minimum sets of indicators for monitoring and impact assessment of the implementation of the Convention have acknowledged that an important missing element in this process is an approved methodology of defining affected areas, emphasizing the importance of a more uniform identification methodology. Rather than discussing fixed indicator sets, this paper suggests how the UNCCD community progressively can make use of a flexible framework of analytical approaches that have been recently developed by scientific research, allowing a standardized but flexible use of indicator sets adapted to specific objectives or desertification issues relevant for implementing the Convention. Science has made progress in understanding major issues and proximate causes of dryland degradation such that indicator sets can be accordingly selected from the wealth of existing and documented indicator systems. The selection and combination should be guided according to transparent criteria given by existing indicator frameworks adapted to desertification conceptual frameworks such as the Dryland Development Paradigm (DDP). The concept of desertification issues suggested by recent research could be a pragmatic entry level for selecting area- and theme-specific sets of indicators from existing databases. Working on different dryland sub-types through a meaningful stratification is proposed to delimit and characterize affected areas beyond national levels. Such stratification could be achieved by combining existing Land Use information with additional biophysical and socio-economic data sets. This would allow indicator based monitoring and assessment in a framework of specific dryland degradation issues and their impact on key ecosystem services.JRC.DDG.H.7-Land management and natural hazard