scholarly journals Pearl millet genomic vulnerability to climate change in West Africa highlights the need for regional collaboration

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bénédicte Rhoné ◽  
Dimitri Defrance ◽  
Cécile Berthouly-Salazar ◽  
Cédric Mariac ◽  
Philippe Cubry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Pearl Millet ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Genomic Diversity ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Regional Collaboration

Abstract Climate change is already affecting agro-ecosystems and threatening food security by reducing crop productivity and increasing harvest uncertainty. Mobilizing crop diversity could be an efficient way to mitigate its impact. We test this hypothesis in pearl millet, a nutritious staple cereal cultivated in arid and low-fertility soils in sub-Saharan Africa. We analyze the genomic diversity of 173 landraces collected in West Africa together with an extensive climate dataset composed of metrics of agronomic importance. Mapping the pearl millet genomic vulnerability at the 2050 horizon based on the current genomic-climate relationships, we identify the northern edge of the current areas of cultivation of both early and late flowering varieties as being the most vulnerable to climate change. We predict that the most vulnerable areas will benefit from using landraces that already grow in equivalent climate conditions today. However, such seed-exchange scenarios will require long distance and trans-frontier assisted migrations. Leveraging genetic diversity as a climate mitigation strategy in West Africa will thus require regional collaboration.

Assessing ambitious nature conservation strategies within a 2 degree warmer and food-secure world

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel T.J. Kok ◽  
Johan R. Meijer ◽  
Willem-Jan van Zeist ◽  
Jelle P. Hilbers ◽  
Marco Immovilli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Security Risks ◽  
Global Conservation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Global Biodiversity

AbstractGlobal biodiversity is projected to further decline under a wide range of future socio-economic development pathways, even in sustainability oriented scenarios. This raises the question how biodiversity can be put on a path to recovery, the core challenge for the CBD post-2020 global biodiversity framework. We designed two contrasting, ambitious global conservation strategies, ‘Half Earth’ (HE) and ‘Sharing the Planet’ (SP), and evaluated their ability to restore terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity and to provide ecosystem services while also mitigating climate change and ensuring food security. We applied the integrated assessment framework IMAGE with the GLOBIO biodiversity model, using the ‘Middle of the Road’ Shared Socio-economic Pathway (SSP2) with its projected human population growth as baseline.We found that both conservation strategies result in a reduction in the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services globally, but without additional measures to achieve effective climate mitigation they will be insufficient to restore biodiversity. The HE strategy performs better for terrestrial biodiversity protection (biodiversity intactness (MSA), Red List Index, geometric mean abundance) in currently still natural regions, reflecting global conservation priorities. The SP strategy yields more improvements for biodiversity in human-used areas, aquatic biodiversity and for regulating ecosystem services (pest control, pollination, erosion control), reflecting regional priorities. However, ‘conservation only’ scenarios show a considerable increase in food security risks (especially in Sub-Saharan Africa) compared to the baseline and limited reduction of global temperature increase. Only when conservation strategies are combined with climate change mitigation efforts and additional actions especially in the agricultural and energy system into a portfolio of ‘integrated sustainability measures’, both conservation strategies result in restoring biodiversity to current values or even some improvement, while keeping global warming below two degrees and keeping food security risks below baseline. Minimizing food wastes and reducing consumption of animal products will be crucial.

scholarly journals Identifying migration routes and non-breeding staging sites of adult males of the globally threatened Aquatic WarblerAcrocephalus paludicola

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
VOLKER SALEWSKI ◽  
MARTIN FLADE ◽  
SIMEON LISOVSKI ◽  
ANATOLII POLUDA ◽  
OLEKSANDER ILIUKHA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Migration Route ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
North West ◽  
Aquatic Warbler ◽  
Sub Saharan

SummaryBirds that are long-distance migrants partition their annual cycle among a number of locations over a large spatial range. The conservation of these species is particularly complex because it requires attention to a number of different and distant habitats based on knowledge of migratory phenology, routes and staging areas. In the case of the globally threatened Aquatic WarblerAcrocephalus paludicola, a habitat specialist that breeds in Europe and spends the boreal winter in sub-Saharan Africa, non-breeding staging areas were widely unknown until recently. We applied light-level geolocators to adult male Aquatic Warblers at breeding sites in Belarus and Ukraine. Data from eight retrieved geolocators confirmed a south-west and then westward migration route through Europe via the northern Mediterranean with staging sites on the Iberian Peninsula and occasionally France and north-west Africa. In sub-Saharan Africa, final staging areas were in Mali, either in the Inner Niger Delta or at (presumably) small water bodies in the desert, with one bird most likely staying in the north of Ivory Coast south of the previously assumed range. The birds probably stayed in the final staging areas for most of the non-breeding season, but the logger on only one bird provided data throughout the entire migration cycle. Pre-nuptial migration of the latter was by a more easterly route than the southward migration. Our study suggests that conservation strategies for Aquatic Warbler north of the Sahara should include consideration of unknown staging sites in the northern Mediterranean as well as on the Iberian Peninsula and in north-west Africa. South of the Sahara, our study demonstrates the importance of the Sahel for the conservation of the Aquatic Warbler, including both the major floodplains of the Niger River and small Sahelian wetlands that are under pressure from human development.

scholarly journals Archaeobotanical evidence for pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) in sub-Saharan West Africa

Antiquity ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (288) ◽  
pp. 341-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. D'Andrea ◽  
M. Klee ◽  
J. Casey
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Tropical Forest ◽  
Pearl Millet ◽  
Pennisetum Glaucum ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Cultural Complex ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Forest Habitats

The remains of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) dating to 3460±200 and 2960±370 BP have been recovered at the archaeological site of Birimi, northern Ghana, associated with the Kintampo cultural complex. This finding represents the earliest known occurrence of pearl millet in sub-Saharan Africa. Results indicate that Kintampo peoples developed effective subsistence adaptations to savannas as well as tropical forest habitats.

Faith Tabernacle Congregation, the 1918–19 Influenza Pandemic and Classical Pentecostalism in Colonial West Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 219-238
Author(s):  
Adam Mohr
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Influenza Pandemic ◽  
Assemblies Of God ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Orthodox Medicine ◽  
Massive Growth ◽  
Small Branch ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Apostolic Church

The 1918–19 influenza pandemic killed between 30 and 50 million people worldwide. In Sub-Saharan Africa, as Terence Ranger points out, the pandemic left an indelible mark, including the unforeseen emergence of anti-medical religious movements. None were as significant as Faith Tabernacle Congregation, the Philadelphia-based divine-healing church that spurred a massive revival in West Africa – and a network stretching from Ivory Coast to Nigeria – without ever sending missionaries. They evangelised through personal letters exchanged across the Atlantic, and Faith Tabernacle literature sent from Philadelphia to various leaders in West Africa. The 1918–19 influenza pandemic was the spark that led to the church's massive growth, from one small branch before the pandemic began in 1918 to 10,500 members and nearly 250 branches of Faith Tabernacle in West Africa at its zenith in 1926. After the church's rapid demise between 1926 and 1929, leaders of Faith Tabernacle established most of the oldest Pentecostal Churches in the Gold Coast and Nigeria – such as the Apostolic Faith, the Apostolic Church, the Christ Apostolic Church and the Assemblies of God (Nigeria). Classical Pentecostalism, therefore, is Faith Tabernacle's legacy in West Africa, while abstinence from orthodox medicine continued to be debated within these Pentecostal circles.

Green Sukuk, Energy Poverty, and Climate Change: A Roadmap for Sub-Saharan Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalal Aassouli ◽  
Mehmet Asutay ◽  
Mahmoud Mohieldin ◽  
Tochukwu Chiara Nwokike
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Sub Saharan

Climate change and food security in tropical West Africa – a dynamic-statistical modelling approach

Erdkunde ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heiko Paeth ◽  
Arcade Capo-Chichi ◽  
Wilfried Endlicher
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Statistical Modelling ◽  
Modelling Approach

Managing African Urbanization in the Context of Environmental Change

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuaib Lwasa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Urbanization Rate ◽  
Development And Management

Africa’s urbanization rate has increased steadily over the past three decades and is reported to be faster than in any other region in the world . It is estimated that by 2030, over half of the African population will be living in urban areas . But the nature of Africa’s urbanization and subsequent form of cities is yet to be critically analyzed in the context of city authorities’ readiness to address the challenges . Evidence is also suggesting that urbanization in African countries is increasingly associated with the high economic growth that has been observed in the last two decades . Both underlying and proximate drivers are responsible for the urbanization, and these include population dynamics, economic growth, legislative designation, increasing densities in rural centers, as well as the growth of mega cities such as Lagos, Cairo and Kinshasa, that are extending to form urban corridors . With the opportunities of urbanization in Sub–Saharan Africa, there are also challenges in the development and management of these cities . Those challenges include provision of social services, sustainable economic development, housing development, urban governance, spatial development guidance and environmental management, climate change adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction . The challenge involves dealing with the development and infrastructure deficit, in addition to required adaption to and mitigation of climate change . This paper examines the current state of urban management in Africa .

scholarly journals Complete genomes of two extinct New Zealand passerines show responses to climate fluctuations but no evidence for genomic erosion prior to extinction

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (9) ◽  
pp. 20190491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Dussex ◽  
Johanna von Seth ◽  
Michael Knapp ◽  
Olga Kardailsky ◽  
Bruce C. Robertson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Oceanic Islands ◽  
Genomic Diversity ◽  
Climate Fluctuations ◽  
Forest Clearing ◽  
Mammalian Predators ◽  
Demographic Trajectories ◽  
Human Climate

Human intervention, pre-human climate change (or a combination of both), as well as genetic effects, contribute to species extinctions. While many species from oceanic islands have gone extinct due to direct human impacts, the effects of pre-human climate change and human settlement on the genomic diversity of insular species and the role that loss of genomic diversity played in their extinctions remains largely unexplored. To address this question, we sequenced whole genomes of two extinct New Zealand passerines, the huia ( Heteralocha acutirostris ) and South Island kōkako ( Callaeas cinereus ). Both species showed similar demographic trajectories throughout the Pleistocene. However, the South Island kōkako continued to decline after the last glaciation, while the huia experienced some recovery. Moreover, there was no indication of inbreeding resulting from recent mating among closely related individuals in either species. This latter result indicates that population fragmentation associated with forest clearing by Maōri may not have been strong enough to lead to an increase in inbreeding and exposure to genomic erosion. While genomic erosion may not have directly contributed to their extinctions, further habitat fragmentation and the introduction of mammalian predators by Europeans may have been an important driver of extinction in huia and South Island kōkako.

scholarly journals Tackling G × E × M interactions to close on-farm yield-gaps: creating novel pathways for crop improvement by predicting contributions of genetics and management to crop productivity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Cooper ◽  
Kai P. Voss-Fels ◽  
Carlos D. Messina ◽  
Tom Tang ◽  
Graeme L. Hammer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Global Food Security ◽  
Genotype By Environment ◽  
Improvement Strategies ◽  
Yield Gaps ◽  
On Farm

Abstract Key message Climate change and Genotype-by-Environment-by-Management interactions together challenge our strategies for crop improvement. Research to advance prediction methods for breeding and agronomy is opening new opportunities to tackle these challenges and overcome on-farm crop productivity yield-gaps through design of responsive crop improvement strategies. Abstract Genotype-by-Environment-by-Management (G × E × M) interactions underpin many aspects of crop productivity. An important question for crop improvement is “How can breeders and agronomists effectively explore the diverse opportunities within the high dimensionality of the complex G × E × M factorial to achieve sustainable improvements in crop productivity?” Whenever G × E × M interactions make important contributions to attainment of crop productivity, we should consider how to design crop improvement strategies that can explore the potential space of G × E × M possibilities, reveal the interesting Genotype–Management (G–M) technology opportunities for the Target Population of Environments (TPE), and enable the practical exploitation of the associated improved levels of crop productivity under on-farm conditions. Climate change adds additional layers of complexity and uncertainty to this challenge, by introducing directional changes in the environmental dimension of the G × E × M factorial. These directional changes have the potential to create further conditional changes in the contributions of the genetic and management dimensions to future crop productivity. Therefore, in the presence of G × E × M interactions and climate change, the challenge for both breeders and agronomists is to co-design new G–M technologies for a non-stationary TPE. Understanding these conditional changes in crop productivity through the relevant sciences for each dimension, Genotype, Environment, and Management, creates opportunities to predict novel G–M technology combinations suitable to achieve sustainable crop productivity and global food security targets for the likely climate change scenarios. Here we consider critical foundations required for any prediction framework that aims to move us from the current unprepared state of describing G × E × M outcomes to a future responsive state equipped to predict the crop productivity consequences of G–M technology combinations for the range of environmental conditions expected for a complex, non-stationary TPE under the influences of climate change.

scholarly journals Climate Change and Health Preparedness in Africa: Analysing Trends in Six African Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4672
Author(s):  
Samuel Kwasi Opoku ◽  
Walter Leal Filho ◽  
Fudjumdjum Hubert ◽  
Oluwabunmi Adejumo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Basic Knowledge ◽  
African Countries

Climate change is a global problem, which affects the various geographical regions at different levels. It is also associated with a wide range of human health problems, which pose a burden to health systems, especially in regions such as Africa. Indeed, across the African continent public health systems are under severe pressure, partly due to their fragile socioeconomic conditions. This paper reports on a cross-sectional study in six African countries (Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Namibia, Ethiopia, and Kenya) aimed at assessing their vulnerabilities to climate change, focusing on its impacts on human health. The study evaluated the levels of information, knowledge, and perceptions of public health professionals. It also examined the health systems’ preparedness to cope with these health hazards, the available resources, and those needed to build resilience to the country’s vulnerable population, as perceived by health professionals. The results revealed that 63.1% of the total respondents reported that climate change had been extensively experienced in the past years, while 32% claimed that the sampled countries had experienced them to some extent. Nigerian respondents recorded the highest levels (67.7%), followed by Kenya with 66.6%. South Africa had the lowest level of impact as perceived by the respondents (50.0%) when compared with the other sampled countries. All respondents from Ghana and Namibia reported that health problems caused by climate change are common in the two countries. As perceived by the health professionals, the inadequate resources reiterate the need for infrastructural resources, medical equipment, emergency response resources, and technical support. The study’s recommendations include the need to improve current policies at all levels (i.e., national, regional, and local) on climate change and public health and to strengthen health professionals’ skills. Improving the basic knowledge of health institutions to better respond to a changing climate is also recommended. The study provides valuable insights which may be helpful to other nations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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