Bridging the Gap between Farmers and Researchers through Collaborative Experimentation. Cost and Labour Reduction in Soybean Production in South-Nyanza, Kenya

The Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of the International Centre of Tropical Agriculture (TSBF-CIAT) introduced dual purpose soybean varieties in south-west Kenya both to improve soil fertility by nitrogen fixation and to provide a source of better food and income. Since the start of the project in 2005, the Uriri Farmer Cooperative Society was successful in spreading the seeds over the district. Nevertheless, farmers still had problems with soybean agronomy. We therefore started a Collaborative Experiment (CE) Approach in March 2006 to make soybean production more accessible to farmers. The approach consisted of four stages: 1) information sessions; 2) participatory rural appraisal; 3) collaboration in the whole process of experimentation, from problem identification, to the design and analysis; 4) handing over to farmers. In this case study, farmers identified two main constraints to the recommended soybean production methods: 1) high labour requirement 2) lack of income to purchase the inputs. The results and discussions with farmers during the field days allowed demonstrating that the CE approach had been successful on two main aspects. First, CE was successful in defining problems and yield enhancing treatments which are accessible to deprived people. During field days, all farmers felt there was at least one of the treatments accessible to them. The second main success of the CE process was the increased awareness and interest about soybean. After less than a year of collaboration, farmers saw that soybean can bring a better life, cash for school fees and better health. The number of farmers registered in the soybean cooperative also increased from a few hundreds to 4500 that year. Several farmers started their own experiments to further adapt the recommendations to their own needs. The CE approach was thus successful in bridging the power-relations and knowledge gap between researchers and farmers and in designing appropriate technologies.Collaborative research, soybean, participation, Crop Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Trader-supplier Coordination in the Agrifood Supply Chains in Northern Ethiopia

There exists a huge agrifood potential in Ethiopia. However, the country's agrifood supply chains are underdeveloped to deliver quality supply to traders and supplement household livelihoods from the sector. The key factors that determine the proper functioning of supplier-trader chains were not rigorously investigated, at least in the case study area. This paper aims at examining the key determinants in choosing vertical coordination for agrifood products in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Structured questionnaires were administered to 247 traders in 10 towns in Tigray. Probit model was employed to identify the key determinants of vertical coordination. Model results show that market information, product characteristics, firm characteristics, and product quality were found significant factors in determining the adoption of vertical coordination. An interesting finding is that traders tend to vertically coordinate so as to get credit from suppliers. Based on our findings we suggest that strengthening quality assurance and contract enforcement institutions appears to be an important intervention area to improve the agrifood chain in the study area. Moreover, providing financial support to encourage the private sector to operate in agro-processing is among the efforts that need to be focused so that it facilitates the rural development process in the region.vertical coordination, trader, supplier, agrifood, supply chain, Probit Model, Agribusiness,

Contingent valuation analysis of rural households’ willingness to pay for frankincense forest conservation

Frankincense from Boswellia papyrifera forest (BPF) is a traded non timber forest product (NTFP) used in pharmaceutical, food, cosmetic and chemical industries. However, the resource in northeastern Africa is under continuous degradation and requires conservation measures. Data from a discrete choice contingent valuation study are used to assess the factors influencing rural households’ willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to contribute labor (WTCL) for BPF conservation in Ethiopia. The standard probit, bivariate probit and interval data models were used for modeling respondents’ WTP and WTCL. We found household income as the most important factor affecting WTP whereas number of household labor is the most important factor affecting WTCL. Mean lower bound annual WTP of US$ 4.68 and WTCL of 7.03 days per household were estimated. This study indicated that despite Ethiopia is a low income country, people are willing to contribute for conservation of the resource.Willingness to pay, Boswellia papyrifera, Conservation, Contingent valuation, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Richard S. Smith v. Rocky Mountain Helicopters : Brief of Respondent

BRIEF OF RESPONDENT AND CROSS APPELLANT Appeal from the Fourth Judicial District Court Of Utah County Honorable Boyd L. Park, District Judg

Argillipedoturbation and the development of rock fragment covers on Vertisols in the Ethiopian Highlands

The rock fragment cover of Vertisols and soils with vertic properties in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands is clearly in a stage of development. On a Vertisol near Enda Maryam Korar (Tigray), the rapid appearance at the surface of new rock fragments after field clearing has been monitored. This paper analyses the phenomenon of the upsqueezing of rock fragments in relation to the active polygonal structures of the Vertisols. Rock fragments, appearing yearly at the top of the Vertisol are shown to belong lithologically to deposits underlying the Vertisols. Given this stratigraphic situation and the activity of Vertisols in the study area, the rock fragment covers are thought to be squeezed up as a consequence of argillipedoturbation accompanying swell-shrink cycles in the Vertic horizon. The spatial distribution of upsqueezed rock fragments closely follows the polygonal pattern of crack bundles on top of the Vertisol. Based on yearly measurements of rock fragments appearing at the surface of a 78.5 m² cleared area, it is estimated that, on average, one rock fragment (0.11 kg) is squeezed up to the surface per m² per year. The mechanisms of this vertical transport come under discussion and have to explain why subvertical desiccation cracks are the loci of rock fragment appearance at the surface.La couverture pierreuse des vertisols et autres sols aux propriétés vertiques sur les Hauts Plateaux du nord de l’Ethiopie se développe activement. Nous avons mesuré l’apparition rapide de nouvelles pierres après le nettoyage de la surface d’un vertisol près d’Enda Maryam Korar (Tigré). Cet article analyse le phénomène du transport vertical de pierres vers la surface en relation avec les structures polygonales actives des vertisols. La lithologie des pierres qui apparaissent annuellement à la surface du vertisol correspond aux dépôts sous-jacents à ce dernier. Au vu de cette situation stratigraphique et de l’activité des vertisols dans la région d’étude, on estime que les couvertures pierreuses résultent de l’argillipédoturbation qui accompagne les cycles d’humidification et de dessèchement dans l’horizon vertique. La distribution spatiale des pierres correspond étroitement à la trame polygonale des faisceaux de fissures à la surface du vertisol. Sur base de relevés annuels de pierres apparaissant à la surface d’une aire de 78.5 m², nettoyée au préalable, on estime qu’en moyenne une pierre (0.11 kg) apparaît à la surface par m² par an. Prenant en compte le fait que les fissures de dessiccation subverticales soient les lieux d’apparition des pierres à la surface, les mécanismes de ce transport vertical sont discutés

Land use determinants of small mammals abundance and distribution in a plague endemic area of Lushoto District, Tanzania

Small mammals are considered to be involved in the transmission cycle of bubonic plague, still occurring in different parts of the world, including the Lushoto district in Tanzania. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between land use types and practices and small mammal abundance and distribution. A field survey was used to collect data in three landscapes differing in plague incidences. Data collection was done both in the wet season (April-June 2012) and dry season (August-October 2012). Analysis of variance and Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) modelling technique were used to establish the relationship between land use and small mammal abundance and distribution. Significant variations (p ≤ 0.05) of small mammal abundance among land use types were identified. Plantation forest with farming, natural forest and fallow had higher populations of small mammals than the other aggregated land use types. The influence of individual land use types on small mammal abundance level showed that, in both dry and wet seasons, miraba and fallow tended to favour small mammals’ habitation whereas land tillage practices had the opposite effect. In addition, during the wet season crop types such as potato and maize appeared to positively influence the distribution and abundance of small mammals which was attributed to both shelter and food availability. Based on the findings from this study it is recommended that future efforts to predict and map spatial and temporal human plague infection risk at fine scale should consider the role played by land use and associated human activities on small mammal abundance and distribution

Letter to the editor on "World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB), IUSS endorsement, World-Wide Testing, and Validation"

status: publishe

Geochemical and mineralogical study of a site severely polluted with heavy metals (Maatheide, Lommel, Belgium)

The former zinc smelter site ‘de Maatheide’ in Lommel (Belgium) was severely polluted with heavy metals and the pollution spread into the surroundings by rain water leaching and wind transportation. This study focuses on the processes of immobilization and natural attenuation that took place on the site. Three important factors were found. Firstly, the high pH values (pH 7–8) in the topsoil influence the mobility of heavy metals. Secondly, the spodic horizons below the polluted top layer seem to accumulate heavy metals, thereby slowing down their release into the environment. Finally, the glassy phases and iron oxi/hydroxides that are present can encapsulate heavy metals during their formation/recrystallization, thereby immobilizing them. An additional shielding effect results from the reaction rims of goethite around the contaminant phases, which partially inhibit the weathering process and release of contaminants. This shielding effect is an important factor to take into account when modelling contaminant release.status: publishe