In for a penny, in for a pound: strategic site-selection as a key element for on-farm research that aims to trigger sustainable agricultural intensification in West Africa.

2009 ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
M. E. A. Schreurs ◽  
A. Maatman ◽  
C. Dangbégnon
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Site Selection ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
On Farm

Constructing Locality: The Terroir Approach in West Africa

Africa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Bassett ◽  
Chantal Blanc-Pamard ◽  
Jean Boutrais
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Development Planning ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Government Aid ◽  
Land Privatization ◽  
Alternative Research ◽  
A Site ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Important Shift

AbstractThis article examines the origins and evolution of the terroir approach as an organizing idea in development planning in West Africa. We consider the evolving meaning of the terroir concept in three distinct periods: as a research approach crafted in a French geographical school; as a site for research-development programmes, and, most recently, as a tool for conservation planning, territorial restructuring, and land privatization. An important shift in the meaning of the terroir concept is apparent in its evolving uses. For the terroir school, the terroir came to represent the socio-natural heritage of a group in which its social organization and pattern of resource use became inscribed in the landscape. The concept took on new meaning in the late-1980s as an appropriate location for on-farm research by agricultural development planners. The terroir became both an alternative research site and a setting for mobilizing rural populations to adopt new land management and farming techniques. The meaning of the concept shifted again in the 1990s with the advent of the gestion des terroirs approach. In the hands of conservation and development planners, the terroir was conceived of as a scale of intervention for a host of government, aid donor, and NGO programmes. In summary, a significant change in the meaning of the concept has taken place from one in which the notion of local heritage was dominant to one that emphasizes territory and boundary clarification.

On-farm trials identify adaptive management options for rainfed agriculture in West Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 182 ◽  
pp. 102819
Author(s):  
Jon Eldon ◽  
Graeme Baird ◽  
Saidou Sidibeh ◽  
Daniel Dobasin ◽  
Philippe Rapaport ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Adaptive Management ◽  
Rainfed Agriculture ◽  
Management Options ◽  
On Farm

scholarly journals Cultivation of Cowpea Challenges in West Africa for Food Security: Analysis of Factors Driving Yield Gap in Benin

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1139
Author(s):  
Firmin N. Anago ◽  
Emile C. Agbangba ◽  
Brice T. C. Oussou ◽  
Gustave D. Dagbenonbakin ◽  
Lucien G. Amadji
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Laboratory Data ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Grain Legumes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Grain Yields ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Southern Benin

Feeding the world in 2050 requires us to find ways to boost yields of the main local crops. Among those crops, cowpea is one of the grain legumes that is playing an important role in the livelihood of millions of people in West Africa, especially in Benin. Unfortunately, cowpea on-farm yields are very low. In order to understand the main factors explaining cowpea yield gaps, we collected and analyzed detailed survey data from 298 cowpea fields in Benin during the 2017, 2018 and 2019′s rainy seasons, respectively. Composite soil samples were collected from cowpea fields and analyzed in the laboratory. Data on farm field management practices and field conditions were recorded through interviews with 606 farmers. Average cowpea grain yields were low and seldom surpassed 700 kg ha−1 on farmer’s fields. Significant differences were observed between cowpea grain yields from northern to southern Benin (p < 0.05), and the lowest yields were observed in northern Benin. These low yields are related to crop management practices, soil nutrient contents, and the interaction of both. According to the model of regression tree from northern to southern Benin, the use of mineral fertilizer, insecticide sprays to control pests, and the improvement of phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium (P, N, K) and cation sum content in the topsoil would increase cowpea grain yields. Insect pests, diseases, and soil fertility decline are the largest constraints limiting grain yield in Benin. Future research should focus on formulating site-specific fertilizer recommendations for effective cowpea cultivation in Benin, as well as the control of insect pests and diseases.

Potential Impacts of Agricultural Intensification and Climate Change on the Livelihoods of Farmers in Nioro, Senegal, West Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-31
Author(s):  
Dilys S. MacCarthy ◽  
Ibrahima Hathie ◽  
Bright S. Freduah ◽  
Mouhamed Ly ◽  
Myriam Adam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Agricultural Intensification

A Multi-Criteria GIS Site Selection for Sustainable Cocoa Development in West Africa

2013 ◽  
pp. 912-925
Author(s):  
Tunrayo Alabi ◽  
Kai Sonder ◽  
Olusoji Oduwole ◽  
Christopher Okafor
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Site Selection ◽  
Farming System ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Land Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Technique ◽  
Family Farms ◽  
The World ◽  
Administrative Units ◽  
World Supply

Cocoa occupies 6 million hectares in humid coastal West Africa where 70% of the world supply is grown, 90% of which is produced on 2 million family farms of 2 hectares or less. Here, at least 16 million people depend on cocoa but earn only $100/person/year from the crop. There is need to optimize the farming system, minimize the environmental impact of technologies, and improve socio-economic dynamics. This study identifies areas with potential for intensified cocoa farming and where maximum impact to household income could be achieved without deforestation. The selection involves defining suitability criteria, preparing an inventory of available data, determining suitability based on identified criteria, and combining suitability into hierarchical preferences based on weights proposed by local experts. GIS and Multi-Criteria land Evaluation technique using biophysical, socioeconomic, and demographic variables were employed in selection. Nineteen administrative units were selected in Nigeria where the intervention project could be implemented.

scholarly journals A Bayesian Belief Network approach to evaluating complex effects of irrigation-driven agricultural intensification scenarios on future aquatic environmental and economic values in a New Zealand catchment

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 460 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Quinn ◽  
Ross M. Monaghan ◽  
Vincent J. Bidwell ◽  
Simon R. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
Land Development ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Bayesian Belief Networks ◽  
Economic Values ◽  
Development Scenarios ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
On Farm

Agricultural intensification often has complex effects on a wide range of environmental and economic values, presenting planners with challenging decisions for optimising sustainable benefits. Bayesian Belief Networks (BBNs) can be used as a decision-support tool for evaluating the influence of development scenarios across a range of values. A BBN was developed to guide decisions on water abstraction and irrigation-driven land use intensification in the Hurunui River catchment, New Zealand. The BBN examines the combined effects of different irrigation water sources and four land development scenarios, with and without a suite of on-farm mitigations, on ground and surface water quality, key socioeconomic values (i.e. farm earnings and jobs, and contribution to regional gross domestic production (GDP)) and aquatic values (i.e. salmon, birds, waterscape, contact recreation, periphyton and invertebrates). It predicts high farm earnings, jobs and regional GDP with 150% increase in irrigated area, but a range of positive and negative aquatic environmental outcomes, depending on the location of water storage dams and the application of a suite of on-farm mitigations. This BBN synthesis of a complex system enhanced the ability to include aquatic values alongside economic and social values in land-use and water resource planning and decision making, and has influenced objective setting in Hurunui planning processes.

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