Farm typologies, soil fertility variability and nutrient management in smallholder farming in Sub-Saharan Africa

Integrated nutrient management (INM) is being promoted in Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors examined INM practices among farmers in the savannas of northern Nigeria in the hope of making suggestions to improve the impact of INM practices on soil fertility. The results indicate that, although the various components of INM are available in the farming systems, only a partial integration is occurring with limited impact on soil fertility. The major constraints include: the harsh savanna environment, lack of supportive institutions and labour, high fertilizer prices and inadequate availability of organic manure. Strip cropping of improved sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and dual-purpose cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) and integrated fertility management using neem foliage and half the recommended fertilizer rate have great potential. The study recommends more research, extension and policies to enhance the adoption and impact of INM practices.

Download Full-text

Precision Agriculture for Resource Use Efficiency in Smallholder Farming Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031158 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1158

Author(s):

Cecilia M. Onyango ◽

Justine M. Nyaga ◽

Johanna Wetterlind ◽

Mats Söderström ◽

Kristin Piikki

Keyword(s):

Resource Use ◽

Precision Agriculture ◽

Large Scale ◽

English Language ◽

Management Practices ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Smallholder Farming ◽

Sub Saharan

Opportunities exist for adoption of precision agriculture technologies in all parts of the world. The form of precision agriculture may vary from region to region depending on technologies available, knowledge levels and mindsets. The current review examined research articles in the English language on precision agriculture practices for increased productivity among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 7715 articles were retrieved and after screening 128 were reviewed. The results indicate that a number of precision agriculture technologies have been tested under SSA conditions and show promising results. The most promising precision agriculture technologies identified were the use of soil and plant sensors for nutrient and water management, as well as use of satellite imagery, GIS and crop-soil simulation models for site-specific management. These technologies have been shown to be crucial in attainment of appropriate management strategies in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of resource use in SSA. These technologies are important in supporting sustainable agricultural development. Most of these technologies are, however, at the experimental stage, with only South Africa having applied them mainly in large-scale commercial farms. It is concluded that increased precision in input and management practices among SSA smallholder farmers can significantly improve productivity even without extra use of inputs.

Download Full-text

Development patterns under population pressure: Agricultural development and the cassava-livestock interaction in smallholder farming systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

Agricultural Systems ◽

10.1016/0308-521x(95)93645-t ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 51-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Luc Christiaensen ◽

Eric Tollens ◽

Chuma Ezedinma

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Development ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Population Pressure ◽

Smallholder Farming ◽

Development Patterns ◽

Smallholder Farming Systems ◽

Sub Saharan

Download Full-text

Factors That Matter for Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Sub-Sharan Africa - The Zimbabwe Case

Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies ◽

10.36941/ajis-2021-0152 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 48

Author(s):

David Mhlanga

Keyword(s):

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽

Multinomial Logit Model ◽

Financial Inclusion ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Farm Income ◽

Smallholder Farming ◽

Hand Off ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

The Government

The study intended to investigate the factors that are important in influencing the financial inclusion of smallholder farming households in Sub-Saharan Africa with a specific focus on Zimbabwe. Motivated by the fact that there is an increase in the evidence of the importance of financial inclusion in fighting poverty and the fact that by merely having a bank account, financial inclusion cannot be guaranteed, the study went further to interrogate factors that influence smallholder farmers to have a transaction account, to borrow and to have insurance. Since the dependent variable of financial inclusion had more than two categories, with three unordered categories, transaction account, savings/credit account, and insurance, the multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the determinants of financial inclusion from these three categories of the dependent variable. The multinomial logit model results, with insurance as the reference category, indicated that the size of the household, transaction costs, gender and agricultural extension service were the factors influencing the demand for a household to open a transaction account. On the other hand, off-farm income and age of the household were the only two factors significantly influencing households to borrow. Therefore, it is imperative for, the government of Zimbabwe to come up with more policies that encourage farmers to participate in the formal financial market as financial inclusion can help to fight poverty and the general developments of societies. Received: 28 April 2021 / Accepted: 31 August 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021

Download Full-text

Soil fertility depletion in sub-Saharan Africa: what is the role of organic agriculture?

Global development of organic agriculture: challenges and prospects ◽

10.1079/9781845930783.0215 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 215-240 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

J. Pender ◽

O. Mertz

Keyword(s):

Soil Fertility ◽

Organic Agriculture ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Sub Saharan

Download Full-text

Forty years of soil fertility work in sub-Saharan Africa.

Integrated plant nutrient management in sub-Saharan Africa: from concept to practice ◽

10.1079/9780851995762.0007 ◽

2009 ◽

pp. 7-21

Author(s):

R. Dudal

Keyword(s):

Soil Fertility ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Sub Saharan

Download Full-text

Land and poverty: the role of soil fertility and vegetation quality in poverty reduction

Environment and Development Economics ◽

10.1017/s1355770x20000066 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 315-333

Author(s):

Martin Philipp Heger ◽

Gregor Zens ◽

Mook Bangalore

Keyword(s):

Soil Fertility ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Poverty Reduction ◽

Past Research ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Vegetation Growth ◽

Variable Approach ◽

Quasi Experimental ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Negative Impacts

AbstractThe debate on the land–poverty nexus is inconclusive, with past research unable to identify the causal dynamics. We use a unique global panel dataset that links survey and census derived poverty data with measures of land ecosystems at the subnational level. Rainfall is used to overcome the endogeneity in the land–poverty relationship in an instrumental variable approach. This is the first global study using quasi-experimental methods to uncover the degree to which land improvements matter for poverty reduction. We draw three main conclusions. First, land improvements are important for poverty reduction in rural areas and particularly so for Sub-Saharan Africa. Second, land improvements are pro-poor: poorer areas see larger poverty alleviation effects due to improvements in land. Finally, irrigation plays a major role in breaking the link between bad weather and negative impacts on the poor through reduced vegetation growth and soil fertility.

Download Full-text