Suchergebnisse

Climbing bean is the key staple legume crop in the highlands of East and Central Africa. We assessed the impact of interactions between soil fertility characteristics, crop management and socio-economic factors, such as household resource endowment and gender of the farmer, on climbing bean productivity and yield responses to basal P fertiliser in northern Rwanda. Through a combination of detailed characterisations of 12 farms and on-farm demonstration trials at 110 sites, we evaluated variability in grain yields and responses to fertiliser. Grain yields varied between 0.14 and 6.9 t ha−1 with an overall average of 1.69 t ha−1. Household resource endowment and gender of the farmer was strongly associated with climbing bean yield, even though these were partly confounded with Sector. Poorer households and women farmers achieved lower yields than wealthier households and male farmers. Household resource endowment and gender were likely to act as proxies for a range of agronomic and crop management factors that determine crop productivity, such as soil fertility, current and past access to organic manure and mineral fertiliser, access to sufficient quality staking material, ability to conduct crop management operation on time, but we found evidence for only some of these relationships. Poorer households and female farmers grew beans on soils with poorer soil fertility. Moreover, poorer households had a lower density of stakes, while stake density was strongly correlated with yield. Diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser application led to a substantial increase in the average grain yield (0.66 t ha−1), but a large variability in responses implied that its use would be economically worthwhile for roughly half of the farmers. For the sake of targeting agricultural innovations to those households that are most likely to adopt, the Ubudehe household typology – a Rwandan government system of wealth categorisation – could be a useful and easily available tool to structure rural households within regions of Rwanda that are relatively uniform in agro-ecology.

Agro-ecological intensification of farming systems in the East and Central African highlands / Bernard Vanlauwe, Guy Blomme and Piet van Asten -- Agricultural intensification and the food security challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa / Brian A. Keating, Peter S. Carberry and John Dixon -- The agro-ecological solution?! : food security and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on the East African highlands / Henk Breman -- pt. 1. Systems components. CIALCA interventions for productivity increase of cropping system components in the African Great Lakes zone / Pieter Pypers et al. -- Exploring the scope of fertilizer use in the East African region / Lydia Wairegi and Piet van Asten -- The 4R nutrient stewardship in the context of smallholder agriculture in Africa / Shamie Zingore and Adrian Johnston -- Mitigating the impact of biotic constraints to build resilient banana systems in Central and Eastern Africa / Rony Swennen et al. -- Challenges for the improvement of seed systems for vegetatively propagated crops in Eastern Africa / Julian Smith, Daniel Coyne and Elmar Schulte-Geldermann -- pt. 2. System integration. CIALCA's efforts on integrating farming system components and exploring related trade-offs / Piet van Asten et al. -- Towards ecologically intensive smallholder farming systems : design, scales and trade-offs evaluation / Pablo Tittonell -- Using the 'livestock ladder' as a means for poor crop/livestock farmers to exit poverty in Sud-Kivu Province, eastern DR Congo / Brigitte L. Maass et al. -- N2Africa : putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa / Ken E. Giller et al. -- Integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation in East African coffee ecosystems / Henk van Rikxoort et al. -- pt. 3. Drivers for adoption. Agricultural technology diffusion and adoption in banana and legume based systems of Central Africa / Emily Ouma et al. -- Supply and demand drivers of the sustainable intensification of farming systems through grain legumes in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa / Joseph Rusike et al. -- Assessing and improving the nutritional diversity of cropping systems / Roseline Remans et al. -- Disseminating agroforestry innovations in Cameroon : are relay organizations effective? / Ann Degrande et al. -- Participatory re-introduction of Vicia faba beans in resource-poor farming systems : adoption of a farmer-led initiative / Erik Karltun et al. -- pt. 4. Communicating and disseminating complex knowledge. Walking the impact pathway : CIALCA's efforts to mobilize agricultural knowledge for the African Great Lakes region / Boudy van Schagen et al. -- Scalability and farmer heterogeneity : implications for research on sustainable intensification / John Lynam -- Integrated agricultural research for development (IAR4D) : an approach to enhance the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the Lake Kivu region / Robin Buruchara et al. -- Communication channels used in dissemination of soil fertility management practices in the central highlands of Kenya / Sarah W. Kimaru-Muchai et al. -- Targeting farmers' priorities for effective agricultural intensification in the humid highlands of Eastern Africa / Jeremias Mowo et al.

Open Access Journal; Published online: 22 Aug 2021 ; Plantain is a key staple food in Central and West Africa, but there is limited understanding of its market in Africa. In addition, the cooking methods for enhancing the nutritional value, consumer preference, and willingness to pay for plantain and plantain-based products are not well understood. The knowledge gaps in the market and consumer dimension of the food chain need to be known to increase plantain utilization and guide breeding efforts. This research contributes by examining the cooking methods, consumer preference, and willingness to pay for plantain and plantain-based products in Cameroon and Nigeria. A household survey sample of 454 Cameroonian consumers in four divisions of Central Region and 418 Nigerian consumers in seven government areas of Oyo State in southwest Nigeria was the basis for the analysis. The results showed some levels of similarity and difference in the consumption and cooking of boiled, roasted, and fried plantain in both countries. The trend in consumption of all plantain-based products was constant in Cameroon but increased in Nigeria. The most important factor influencing Cameroonian consumers' choice of plantain and its products was taste, while the nutrition trait influenced Nigerian consumers. Both Cameroonian and Nigerian consumers considered packaging, location of produce, and size and quantity as the least important factors. In addition, socioeconomic characteristics were significant determinants of consumers' choices to consume plantain and its products. Gender significantly influenced (p < 0.05) taste, while nutrition was significantly driven (p < 0.05) by education and annual income. Household size played a significant role (p < 0.05) in consumers' choices when the price was considered. These findings serve as a guideline to improve existing products to match the needs of consumers in each country and develop products for different consumer segments and potentially increase production.

Open Access Journal; Published online: 13 May 2022 ; Agricultural intensification and forest conservation are often seen as incompatible. Agricultural interventions can help boost food security for poor rural communities but in certain cases can exacerbate deforestation, known as the rebound effect. We tested whether coupling agricultural interventions with participatory forest zoning could improve food security and promote forest conservation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Simple agricultural interventions led to a >60% increase in cassava yields and a spill-over effect of improved cassava variety uptake in non-intervention zones. Household surveys conducted at the end of the 8 year project implementation period revealed that households that received agricultural interventions had more favorable attitudes toward forest zoning and conservation. The surveys also showed that farmers in the intervention domain practiced less land-intensive field and fallow management strategies compared to those practiced in the non-intervention domain. However, an 18 year time series analysis of Landsat satellite data revealed that agricultural expansion persisted in areas both with and without intervention assistance, and there is risk of a rebound effect. Approximately 70% of the tree cover loss that occurred outside of the agricultural areas was located within a 3 km buffer zone surrounding the outermost edges of the agricultural areas, which suggested that the majority of tree cover loss was caused by agricultural expansion. Within that 3 km buffer, average annual tree cover loss during the post-intervention period was higher in the intervention domain compared to the non-intervention domain (0.17% yr−1 compared to 0.11% yr−1 respectively, p < 0.001), suggesting risk of a rebound effect. The disconnection between household perceptions of zoning adherence and actual behavior indicates the importance of strengthening governance structures for community-based monitoring and enforcement.