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

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.

scholarly journals Within-Season Changes in Land-Use Impact Pest Abundance in Smallholder African Cassava Production Systems

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Kalyebi ◽  
Sarina Macfadyen ◽  
Andrew Hulthen ◽  
Patrick Ocitti ◽  
Frances Jacomb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Bemisia Tabaci ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Manihot Esculenta Crantz

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), an important commercial and food security crop in East and Central Africa, continues to be adversely affected by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. In Uganda, changes in smallholder farming landscapes due to crop rotations can impact pest populations but how these changes affect pest outbreak risk is unknown. We investigated how seasonal changes in land-use have affected B. tabaci population dynamics and its parasitoids. We used a large-scale field experiment to standardize the focal field in terms of cassava age and cultivar, then measured how Bemisia populations responded to surrounding land-use change. Bemisia tabaci Sub-Saharan Africa 1 (SSA1) was identified using molecular diagnostics as the most prevalent species and the same species was also found on surrounding soybean, groundnut, and sesame crops. We found that an increase in the area of cassava in the 3–7-month age range in the landscape resulted in an increase in the abundance of the B. tabaci SSA1 on cassava. There was a negative relationship between the extent of non-crop vegetation in the landscape and parasitism of nymphs suggesting that these parasitoids do not rely on resources in the non-crop patches. The highest abundance of B. tabaci SSA1 nymphs in cassava fields occurred at times when landscapes had large areas of weeds, low to moderate areas of maize, and low areas of banana. Our results can guide the development of land-use strategies that smallholder farmers can employ to manage these pests.

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

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

scholarly journals A Review of Climate-Smart Agriculture Technology Adoption by Farming Households in Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 12130
Author(s):  
Richard Kombat ◽  
Paolo Sarfatti ◽  
Oluwole Abiodun Fatunbi
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Food And Nutrition ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
Farming Households

Climate change is a major constraint to the progress of Africa’s agriculture, food, and nutrition security; its effect is tied to geographical position and driven by the limited adaptive capacity of the agricultural households. The most vulnerable stakeholder group are the smallholder farming households with limited resources and knowledge of adaptation and mitigation techniques. Sub-Saharan Africa owns more than 60% of the world’s arable land with over 85% of the farmers being smallholder farmers, who are predisposed to various risks. This paper analyzes the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) processes and technologies by smallholder farming households in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study used mixed methods and an integrative literature review. This review indicated that the knowledge of CSA technologies by smallholder farmers in Africa is increasing and, thus, concerted efforts to continuously generate CSA technology would contribute to the desired positive outcome. To accelerate the pace of adoption and use of the technologies, the linkage of farmers, researchers, and extension practitioners is needed. Measures should also be put in place to ensure that CSA actions are implemented using bottom-up approaches.

scholarly journals Context Specificity and Time Dependency in Classifying Sub-Saharan Africa Dairy Cattle Farmers for Targeted Extension Farm Advice: The Case of Uganda

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 836
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Ahikiriza ◽  
Joshua Wesana ◽  
Xavier Gellynck ◽  
Guido Van Huylenbroeck ◽  
Ludwig Lauwers
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
Extension Services ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Productive Systems

Despite the huge potential for milk production, interventions to improve productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are barely based on specified farm classifications. This study aimed to develop robust and context-specific farm typologies to guide content of extension farm advice/services in Uganda. From a sample of 482 dairy farmers, we collected data on farmer socio-demographics, farm management practices, ownership of farm tools and facilities, willingness to pay for extension services, milk production, and marketing. Farm typologies were obtained based on principal component and cluster analyses. Thereby, of the three dairy production systems that emerged, small-scale, largely subsistence yet extensive and low productive farms were more prominent (82.6%). Farms that were classified as large-scale, less commercialized yet extensive with modest productive systems were more than the medium-scale commercial farms with intensive and highly productive systems. However, the later were considered to potentially transform dairy farming in Uganda. It was also predicted that the validity of our farm classification may persist until half of the farms have moved between clusters. The study gives new insights on dairy production systems in Uganda, which can be used to organize more targeted research on farmers’ extension needs for facilitating delivery of relevant and effective extension services and designing appropriate extension policies.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs): The potential for enhancing the dissemination of agricultural information and services to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 026666692110648
Author(s):  
Obvious Mapiye ◽  
Godswill Makombe ◽  
Annelin Molotsi ◽  
Kennedy Dzama ◽  
Cletos Mapiye
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Timely Access ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Sub Saharan

The transformation of smallholder farming is poised to be one of the key drivers of achieving the dual objectives of food security and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Smallholder farmers account for between 60–80% of the food produced in the region but face many challenges that impede their productivity. Such challenges include a lack of timely access to appropriate agricultural information and services, which results in poor decision-making, particularly in addressing challenges and responding effectively to opportunities. In that context, the effective use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in improving accessibility to appropriate agricultural information and services presents substantial prospects for transforming the productivity and livelihoods of the farmers. Currently, the region experiences massive penetration and propagation of mobile and web-based applications. However, there is a dearth of compelling, comprehensive reviews evaluating their importance in enhancing agricultural information and services dissemination to smallholder farmers. Therefore, the current review explores the potential of enhancing agricultural information and services dissemination to smallholder farmers through ICTs and highlights gaps in their development and deployment in SSA. Five existing mobile applications used to disseminate agricultural information and services to smallholder farmers were identified, and their advantages, limitations, and opportunities were discussed. These were Esoko, iCow, Community Knowledge Workers, WeFarm and DigiFarm. The development and deployment of user-driven mobile applications that provide curated skill-sharing platforms, encourage farmers to give feedback to extension systems in real-time and promote the participation of women and youth in agriculture are recommended.

scholarly journals Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN), an Emerging Threat to Maize-Based Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (7) ◽  
pp. 956-965 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Mahuku ◽  
Benham E. Lockhart ◽  
Bramwel Wanjala ◽  
Mark W. Jones ◽  
Janet Njeri Kimunye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Chlorotic Mottle Virus ◽  
Maize Chlorotic Mottle Virus ◽  
Chlorotic Mottle ◽  
Sub Saharan

In sub-Saharan Africa, maize is a staple food and key determinant of food security for smallholder farming communities. Pest and disease outbreaks are key constraints to maize productivity. In September 2011, a serious disease outbreak, later diagnosed as maize lethal necrosis (MLN), was reported on maize in Kenya. The disease has since been confirmed in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and similar symptoms have been reported in Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. In 2012, yield losses of up to 90% resulted in an estimated grain loss of 126,000 metric tons valued at $52 million in Kenya alone. In eastern Africa, MLN was found to result from coinfection of maize with Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV), although MCMV alone appears to cause significant crop losses. We summarize here the results of collaborative research undertaken to understand the biology and epidemiology of MLN in East Africa and to develop disease management strategies, including identification of MLN-tolerant maize germplasm. We discuss recent progress, identify major issues requiring further research, and discuss the possible next steps for effective management of MLN.

scholarly journals Micro-livestock in smallholder farming systems: the role, challenges and opportunities for cavies in South Kivu, eastern DR Congo

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 1167-1177
Author(s):  
Charlotte J. Klapwijk ◽  
Marc Schut ◽  
Piet J. A. van Asten ◽  
Bernard Vanlauwe ◽  
Ken E. Giller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Herd Size ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Dr Congo ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Mixed Crop ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
South Kivu ◽  
Sub Saharan

AbstractLivestock play multiple roles for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Mixed crop-livestock systems are common in South Kivu, eastern DR Congo, but herd sizes are small and numbers of large livestock (i.e. cattle) have declined, due to high population density, recent conflicts and extreme poverty. Over half of the farmers keep cavies, a type of micro-livestock fitting the circumstances of smallholders and a valuable asset especially for the poorest households. To characterize cavy husbandry practices, detailed monthly on-farm data on cavy numbers, weights, herd dynamics and feeding practices were collected over 15 months and from households in two contrasting sites in South Kivu. Cavy herds contained on average 10 animals and strongly varied in size over time and between households. The main reasons for keeping cavies were meat consumption, especially for children, and the opportunity to generate petty cash. A large difference was observed in adult cavy live weights between the sites (an average of 0.6 and 1.0 kg per animal in Kabamba and Lurhala, respectively) and attributed to differences in cavy husbandry and genetics. In both sites, quantities of fresh fodder on offer were larger than fodder demand by 50–100%, but no correlation was found between amount of fodder on offer and cavy weight. Farmers faced several constraints to cavy production, including substantial declines in cavy herd size due to predation or theft and a lack of knowledge regarding breeding and feeding. Hence, the introduction of cages to limit mortality and fodder cultivation to improve feed quality were opportunities for improving cavy production. Overall, micro-livestock present a promising entry-point for development initiatives, also outside DR Congo, because of their potential to decrease poverty and improve human nutrition.

scholarly journals A Model-Based Estimation of Resource Use Efficiencies in Maize Production in Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 5114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lopez ◽  
Kolem ◽  
Srivastava ◽  
Gaiser ◽  
Ewert
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Resource Use ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
The South ◽  
Maize Production ◽  
The North ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Sub Saharan

Food security is an increasingly serious problem worldwide, and especially in sub-Saharan Africa. As land and resources are limited and environmental problems caused by agriculture are worsening, more efficient ways to use the resources available must be found. The objective of this study was to display the spatial variability in crop yield and resource use efficiencies across Nigeria and to give recommendations for improvement. Based on simulations from the crop model LINTUL5 we analyzed the influence of fertilizer application on the parameters Water Use Efficiency (WUE), Fertilizer Use Efficiency (FUE), and Radiation Use Efficiency (RUE) in maize. High spatial variability was observed, especially between the north and the south of the country. The highest potential for yield improvement was found in the south. While WUE and RUE increased with higher rates of fertilizer application, FUE decreased with higher rates. In order to improve these resource use efficiencies, we suggest optimizing management strategies, demand-oriented fertilizer application, and breeding for efficient traits.

scholarly journals Facing climate variability in sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of climate-smart agriculture opportunities to manage climate-related risks

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 34001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. Zougmoré ◽  
Samuel T. Partey ◽  
Mathieu Ouédraogo ◽  
Emmanuel Torquebiau ◽  
Bruce M. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Farm Productivity ◽  
Climate Change And Variability ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Smart Agriculture

In the literature, a lot of information is available about climate change perceptions and impacts in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is limited attention in the region to emerging initiatives, technologies and policies that are tailored to building the adaptive capacity of agricultural systems to climate change and variability. In this paper, we discuss the prospects for climate-smart agriculture technologies and enabling policies in dealing with climate change and variability at different sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa to sustain farm productivity and livelihoods of agrarian communities. The review provides substantial information suggesting that without appropriate interventions, climate change and variability will affect agricultural yields, food security and add to the presently unaceptable levels of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Although some of them were already existing, the past decades have seen the development and promotion of climate-smart agriculture innovations such as the use of high yielding drought tolerant crop varieties, climate information services, agricultural insurance, agroforestry, water harvesting techniques, integrated soil fertility management practices, etc. In the context of climate change, this appears as a stepping up approach to sustainably improving farm productivity, rural livelihoods and adaptive capacity of farmers and production systems while contributing to mitigation. The development of regional, sub-regional and national climate change policies and plans targeted at mitigating climate change and improving adaptive capacity of the African people have also been developed to enable mainstreaming of climate-smart agriculture into agricultural development plans. Financial commitments from governments and development agencies will be crucial for improving large scale adoption of climate-smart agriculture.

Hyper-resolution hydrological modelling to assess water and food security in Malawi

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Anghileri ◽  
Noemi Vergopolan ◽  
Solomon Gebrechorkos ◽  
Justin Sheffield
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Hydrological Variability ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Water And Food Security

<p>Agriculture is a key sector in fighting hunger in Sub Saharan Africa. Almost 95% of the agriculture in Africa is rain-fed and smallholder farmers play a crucial role as they produce most of the food consumed by local populations. These characteristics make the SSA agricultural landscape very diverse and particularly vulnerable to weather extremes. The ability of forecasting hydrological variability has increased in recent years due to advancements in the understanding of hydro-climatic processes, growing availability of high-resolution remote sensing datasets, and the increase of computational power, which has promoted the development of high-quality computer-based hydrological models. When adopted in data scarce regions, these models provide new insight into the hydrological budget and in characterizing the hydrological variability of these areas. In this work, we combine the hyper-resolution hydrological model HydroBlocks and the river routing model RAPID to simulate the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the land surface processes in Malawi at 30 m resolution. The model simulations show high variability of the hydrological variables, particularly soil moisture, across the country. We use these results to further analyse water and food security indicators in the transboundary catchment of Lake Chilwa shared between Malawi and Mozambique. The start and duration of the maize cropping season and the lake level show a large interannual variability which allow us to quantify the weather-related vulnerability of the local smallholder farming system. This work is part of the research activities of the UKRI-GCRF funded project “Building research capacity for sustainable water and food security in drylands of sub-Saharan Africa” (BRECcIA - http://www.gcrf-breccia.com/).</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document