Analyzing the Tragedy of Illegal Fishing on the West African Coastal Region

Merem, Edmund C.; Twumasi, Yaw A.; Wesley, J.; Alsarari, M.; Fageir, S.; Crisler, M.; Romorno, C.; Olagbegi, D.; Hines, A.; Ochai, G. S.; Nwagboso, E.; Leggett, S.; Foster, Daniel G.; Purry, V.; Washington, John

doi:10.5923/j.food.20190901.01

Cited by 18 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…By 2008, Montana and Utah stood out as the leading producers with more land areas (64,474-55,302 acres). This exceeds the certified organic grain crop acreages (40,373,33,579,30,610,26,080 acres) for a quartet of states most notably California, Wyoming, Colorado and Oregon (Table 11).…”

Section: The Number Of Certified Operationsmentioning

confidence: 85%

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Analyzing Organic Food Farming Trends in the US Western Region

Merem¹,

Twumasi²,

Wesley³

et al. 2020

phr

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At a time of mounting fears over the risks of tainted food and the environmental health impacts, people are embracing organic farming in record numbers. The way such alternative food items are displayed in grocery stores in every zone in the country gives credence to the growing acceptance. Since its emergence, organic farming has gained formidable foothold in the Western region where California towers above everyone and other parts of the US. Considering the reasons that originally fueled organic farming and the proliferation across the country, access to more varieties of produces are helping supplement output originating from conventional sources. Further along these lines, elements located within the organic farm structure from size of land area, cropland and food types have increased over time. While the surge in organic farmland use stems from socio-economic forces, ecology and policy factors, very little has been done in assessing the changing trends and the state of organic farm operations using a mix scale technique. Added to that, the guiding standards shaping the regulatory components of organic farm produce and the potentials are barely known. For that, this research will fill that void by focusing on organic farming activities in 10 states in the Western region with emphasis on the issues, trends and factors using secondary data under mix scale techniques of GIS and descriptive statistics. The results point to visible changes in farmland indicators from cropland, food types to output volume in organic farm operations coupled with dispersion of emergent spatial patterns highlighting the extent of organic farmland use and the evolution of other indicators across the states using GIS. Realizing that the changes surrounding organic farming activities in the study area emanate from socio-economic and physical elements, the paper offered seven suggestions to strengthen the sector. The recommendations ranged from the need for a periodic tracking of farm operations to the design of a regional organic land use and food index.

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Section: The Number Of Certified Operationsmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…However, in the literature very little has been done in assessing the changing trends in organic farm activities in the Western region of the US using a mix scale technique [26,27,28]. Furthermore, when broken across regional lines, the West still showed noticeable dominance compared to the other parts of the country.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analyzing Organic Food Farming Trends in the US Western Region

Merem¹,

Twumasi²,

Wesley³

et al. 2020

phr

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“…The study area West Africa in Figure 1 as a major cocoa hub in the equator stretches through 15 nations across diverse ecosystems. With a population of more than 288 million in 2016 (Table 1), the greater region has 1/3 of sub-Saharan Africa's population on a land area of 5,112,903 km 2 [30]. Seeing the increasing pace of cocoa farm operations as evidenced in the continent of Asia and Central and South America.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Cocoa Farm Land Use in the West African Region

Merem¹,

Twumasi²,

Wesley³

et al. 2020

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In the last several decades, many nations of the sub Saharan Africa region of West Africa, have remained in the forefront of cocoa production far higher than other areas of the globe. With that has come larger export earnings due to rising demands and the reliance on cocoa in the manufacture of various products driving consumer demands in markets at local, regional and international levels. In as much as current cocoa production practices are shaped partly by pressures from transactions in the marketplace and regulatory frameworks in the West African region and beyond. The growing activities of cocoa farming has in the past several years, left in its wake negative environmental liabilities that are now over stretching the capacity of natural areas in the zone. While there exists widespread use of agrochemicals to boost production along with the associated impacts of water pollution, in some places. The situation is now so critical that the expansion of cocoa plantations into vast forest landscapes known for their services as emission sinks, are now leading to ecosystem disturbances. Other risks from cocoa land use activities in West Africa involves the exposures to soil erosion, the flow of sediment loads onto local streams and the spreading of cocoa plant diseases which has emerged as a major issue to the detriment of communities and the surrounding ecology. Even at that, very little has been done in the literature to assess the environmental impacts of cocoa land use. Considering the economic relevance of cocoa produce in the West African region and the prevailing fiscal, policy, demographic, ecological and global factors shaping production, together with the negation in mainstream analysis. This paper will fill that void by analyzing cocoa land use in selected countries in the study area. Emphasis are on the issues, trends, factors, impacts and the role of institutions. In terms of methods, the paper uses secondary data analyzed with mix scale tools of GIS and descriptive statistics. Besides the preliminary results showing rising changes in land use indicators and degradation of the ecosystem from cocoa farming operations, the GIS mapping reveals the gradual spreading of risks along the cocoa producing areas of the West African region due to several socio-economic and environmental factors located within the larger farming structure. To mitigate the problems, the study proffered solutions ranging from education, ecosystem monitoring, conservation initiatives, the strengthening of policy and the design of a comprehensive regional land use index.

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“…Most nations of the sub-region, except for Cape Verde and Burkina Faso, have more renewable fresh water than other zones in the world [49]. Added to that, the output potential of West Africa's fishery resources is sizable, but processing facilities are inadequate and huge losses are borne by low lying coastal areas threatened by illegal fishing trawlers [6]. On the upsides, West Africa which reduced by 63% the proportion of its citizens suffering from hunger saw declines from 24.2% in 1990-92 to 9% in 2014-16 despite population growth and droughts in the Sahel.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the case of West Africa, known for its abundance of natural and human resources [3], farming not only represents approximately over a third of the region's wealth and more than half of the work force [4], but the sector is essential to attaining food security and rapid economic growth [5]. Being a region where food is a necessity of life, its importance at the household level serves the needs of citizens as basic means of sustenance [6]. Considering its essence [7,1], food abundance makes a nation partly secured, especially when issues of social security are at the forefront.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional Assessment of the Food Security Situation in West Africa with GIS

Merem¹,

Twumasi²,

Wesley³

et al. 2019

fph

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The continent of Africa has tremendous potential in agriculture with more than half of the world's fertile unused land therein. In the case of West Africa known for its abundance of natural and human resources, farming not only represents approximately over a third of the region's wealth and more than half of the work force, but the sector is a major catalyst to attaining food security and rapid economic growth. Yet in the past decades, the gloomy performance in food production remains compounded by the dependence on food imports combined with the threats of famine and declining productivity. Even though food security attainment ranks as a major challenge, food production has increased in the recent past but with little success due to unmet goals in the set targets and the socioeconomic and physical constraints in the larger agricultural structure. At the same time, there exists limited use of mix scale tools of GIS and descriptive statistics in gauging food security and agricultural activities in West Africa. Without it, managers face the grueling task of making the right decisions in critical areas requiring intervention to ensure food security. For that, this paper will fill that void by analyzing the food security situation in West Africa. Emphasis is on the issues, trends, production activities, factors and efforts. With the results showing changes in farm variables made up of various food types, agricultural land and other essential elements in food production coupled with gradual declines in some nations, GIS mapping points to a gradual spreading of food security indicators with firm concentration across different countries. Just as changes in production associated with food security originate from socioeconomic and physical elements, the paper offered various solutions ranging from the need for education and monitoring to the design of regional food information system, efficient policy, storage facilities, precision farming and more use of GIS.

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Analyzing the Tragedy of Illegal Fishing on the West African Coastal Region

Cited by 18 publications

References 10 publications

Analyzing Organic Food Farming Trends in the US Western Region

Analyzing Organic Food Farming Trends in the US Western Region

Exploring Cocoa Farm Land Use in the West African Region

Regional Assessment of the Food Security Situation in West Africa with GIS

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