Mapping vulnerability of smallholder agriculture in Africa: Vulnerability assessment of food crop farming and climate change adaptation in Ghana

Derbile, Emmanuel Kanchebe; Bonye, Samuel Ziem; Yiridomoh, Gordon Yenglier

doi:10.1016/j.envc.2022.100537

Cited by 28 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…There are, however, several challenges hampering food production in SSA, as with other parts of the globe. Up until recently, agriculture in SSA advanced under relatively stable climatic conditions; however, changing climate, primarily due to rising temperatures and erratic rainfall is jeopardizing the productivity and resilience of the agricultural and food systems (3)(4)(5). The rising population of the many low-and middle-income countries of SSA will worsen the diet-related environmental pressures (6).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertilizers for food and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa: An overview of soil health implications

et al. 2023

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Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces chronic food insecurity associated with soil degradation and the peculiar aftermath of climate change and exacerbated by rising population and historically poor agricultural practices. Notably, use of mineral fertilizers has the potential to counteract soil degradation in SSA; it drives an increased agricultural production required to feed the rising population while sustaining the quality and health of soils. However, limited financial resources deprive SSA of the promise of fertilizers, wherein application rates are historically low, and regimes are characterized by unbalanced nutrient composition and poor fertilizer quality. Although current global fertilizer use is generally characterized by low efficiency, SSA is most affected due to the already low usage and the quality of available fertilizer products. About 70% of fertilizer-nitrogen is lost through unregulated transformation to ammonia, nitrous oxide, and nitrate that are either volatilized or emitted into the atmosphere or leached into water bodies. Similarly, the preponderance of fertilizer-phosphorus is lost via run-off and leaching, unavailing it to plants while overloading streams and rivers and, together with nitrate, causing eutrophication. These environmental problems are accentuated in SSA where fertilizer quantity and quality issues are already a limiting factor. Notably, recent advances happening outside of SSA indicate that nutrients, when strategically formulated, such as by nano packaging, (bio)polymer encapsulation, and tunable to respond to environmental cues, can provide multiple outcomes, particularly, healthy soils with higher productivity. Therefore, presumably, a proper synthesis of the gamut of soil properties influencing plant nutrient release and availability, options for plant exposure and uptake is critical for realizing these benefits in SSA. Despite these possibilities, there is a lack of deeper context on fertilizer-related issues as they affect food and nutrition security and the health of soils in SSA. This paper provides an overview of the fertilizer-nutrient and associated agronomic, food insecurity and soil environmental challenges and opportunities, which though not exclusive to SSA per se, can be reasoned with the peculiarity of the region. This provides the impetus to increase fertilizer use efficiency, improve soil and environmental health, sustainable crop production, and food and nutrition security in SSA.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fertilizers for food and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa: An overview of soil health implications

et al. 2023

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“…The major attribute of the small-scale system is that 90 percent of agricultural holdings are less than 2 hectares in size and are produced under rain-fed conditions (Etwire et al, 2013;Chamberlin, 2008;Asuming-Brempong et al, 2004). Climate change has impacted agricultural dependent activities, and the extent of the impacts is directly related to the level of vulnerability or exposure of farmers to these impacts (Derbile et al, 2022). The arid and semi-arid areas of Ghana have predominantly mixed crop-livestock and rain-fed systems and are recognised as high-risk areas needing urgent and sustained research and development activities (Wossen and Berger, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The arid and semi-arid areas of Ghana have predominantly mixed crop-livestock and rain-fed systems and are recognised as high-risk areas needing urgent and sustained research and development activities (Wossen and Berger, 2015). In response to the impacts of climate change on the agriculture sector, the climate smart agriculture (CSA) concept has been promoted as a viable, integrative and practical tool to addressing these interconnected issues of food security and climate change (Derbile et al, 2022). FAO (2013) defines CSA as "an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support the development and ensure food security in a changing climate".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FAO (2013) defines CSA as "an approach that helps to guide actions needed to transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support the development and ensure food security in a changing climate". The introduction and implementation of CSA is a promising solution, and the absence of CSA will imply a reduction in the resilience of agriculture and food systems as well as the promotion of food insecurity in vulnerable areas (Derbile et al, 2022;Lipper et al, 2014). At the local level, CSA has been perceived as a set of practices that have been assessed for local viability or suitability and primarily aimed at improving a farmer's capacity to adapt to climate change, increasing the potential of carbon sequestration and ultimately meeting or exceeding food security goals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies among Smallholder Farmers in Semi-Arid Ghana

Odoom¹,

Afful²,

Mensah³

et al. 2023

JSD

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The evidence of climate change and variability in semi-arid Ghana is glaring and the adverse impact is being felt mostly by smallholder farmers because of their over dependence on agriculture for livelihood and subsistence. As a solution to building the resilience of the smallholder farmers, the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) concept was introduced a decade ago by the Food and Agriculture Organization, guided by three key principles of adaptation to climate change, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and promotion of food security. The paper sought to assess the level of awareness of climate smart agriculture practices and the respective rate of adoption of these practices. Moreso, this paper established how Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) affects the adoption rate of CSA practices or technologies. The study employed the explanatory sequential mixed research methods. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 300 smallholder farmers and 16 focus group discussions were conducted, with a total of 180 persons taking part in the focus group discussions. Key informant interviews were also conducted for 11 relevant stakeholders from governmental and non-governmental institutions. Findings from this study reveal that CSA practices such as intercropping, manure management and mulching had a 100% adoption rate, and the least adopted practice was irrigation followed by dry season gardening. The NDWI and LST analysis concluded that Nandom is the most viable among the two municipals to support irrigation projects since it has more capacity to retain surface water during the dry and wet seasons.

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“…The Middle East has long been recognized by experts as a semi-arid-to-arid region, with millions of people facing a lack of access to water for domestic use and water depletion becoming a serious and deteriorating ecological problem in the region [21][22][23][24][25][26]. In Africa, more than 785 million people live in conditions of extreme water scarcity [27][28][29][30][31]. Water resources are also becoming increasingly scarce in some European countries, with a negative impact on local economic development [32][33][34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal Water Resources Allocation in the Yinma River Basin in Jilin Province, China, Using Fuzzy Programming

Yang

et al. 2022

Water

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Being one of the most important sources of water in the Jilin Province in China, the Yinma River Basin (YRB) is facing problems of water scarcity in low economic areas and low utilization in richer areas mainly caused by the irrational allocation of water, excessive pursuit of economic benefits, and neglect of environmental problems. Restricting watershed development involves potential decision-making risks. Some scholars have used the interval two-stage stochastic planning method to adjust water resource allocation in the Drinking Horse River Basin, but the method uses historical statistics for projection and does not take into account the ambiguity and uncertainty in real planning situations. Therefore, this study addresses the problems prevalent in the allocation of water resources in the YRB through optimization using stochastic programming methods, interval and two-stage, and introduces the fuzzy mathematical programming method, with the aim of coordinating the water balance of various water-consuming sectors in the YRB, so as to reconfigure the water allocation. The goal is to solve the existing problems of irrational water allocation, reduce system risks posed by excessive economic development, mitigate water shortages in the water-consuming sectors, and alleviate potential decision-making risks and vague uncertainties associated with the allocation of water resources. Additionally, optimization of the pollution-holding capacity improvement project was carried out. The interval fuzzy two-stage model simulation developed in this study shows that the distribution of water across the different administrative regions can be reduced by up to 30% compared with the original model, effectively reducing the problem of water wastage. Post-optimization, the impact of water shortage in the water resources allocation scheme is alleviated to a significant degree, and there is no water shortage in some areas. At the same time, the eco-environmental sector has gradually taken the leading role in the distribution of water reuse among the different water-consuming sectors. The pollution-holding capacity has been enhanced, and the discharge and river entry chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen, two typical pollutants, have been reduced. The membership interval in the interval fuzzy two-stage model reflects the relationship between the possible level of the target value and the risk level. This study provides a guideline for decision makers for balancing the relationship between benefits and risks and proposes a planning scheme that is more conducive to the development of the river basin.

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Mapping vulnerability of smallholder agriculture in Africa: Vulnerability assessment of food crop farming and climate change adaptation in Ghana

Cited by 28 publications

References 28 publications

Fertilizers for food and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa: An overview of soil health implications

Fertilizers for food and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa: An overview of soil health implications

Adoption of Climate Smart Agricultural Technologies among Smallholder Farmers in Semi-Arid Ghana

Optimal Water Resources Allocation in the Yinma River Basin in Jilin Province, China, Using Fuzzy Programming

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