Soil health and ecosystem services: Lessons from sub-Sahara Africa (SSA)

Kihara, Job; Bolo, Peter; Kinyua, Michael; Nyawira, Sylvia S.; Sommer, Rolf

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114342

Cited by 67 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 125 publications

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“…Studies that consider these systems therefore focus on how different cropping systems or stock density affect soil properties. Examples include the role of beans and other staple crops in soil nitrogen fixation (Mthembu et al, 2018;Muoni et al, 2019;Namatsheve et al, 2020), micronutrient provision within soils as a result of specific crop types and practices (Nziguheba et al, 2016;Kihara et al, 2020a), relationships between agricultural yield and soil fertility (Tan et al, 2005;Lal, 2009;Soropa et al, 2019), the role of additions of fertilizer and manure in food production (Vlek, 1990;Mafongoya et al, 2006), the relationship of soils to ecosystems and biodiversity in agricultural systems (Agegnehu and Amede, 2017;Kamau et al, 2019;Kihara et al, 2020b), and the role of different agronomy practices such as intercropping and livestock/arable combinations on soil fertility and agricultural yield (Gowing et al, 2020;Hoffmann et al, 2020;Reetsch et al, 2020). These studies on soil and food systems highlight the critical role of human activity in changing the nature of the land surface (vegetation, soil A-horizon, input of water/fertilizer) that then has impacts on soil properties.…”

Section: The Soil-food-water Nexusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Services: A New Approach Toward Addressing Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

Knight¹

2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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The physical environment provides resources and specific types of environmental services relevant to the maintenance of human livelihoods globally and with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa, including soils, food, and water systems. Previous studies on the shared nexus of such resources commonly view these as self-contained systems operating independent of their physical contexts provided by landscape-scale geomorphology and its related processes. This study critically examines the viewpoints adopted by such nexus studies with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa, arguing that these studies are reductive, considering only the shared disciplinary overlap (nexus) and not their wider contexts, and are based on only a limited understanding of the workings of physical systems. This study argues that considering the attributes of the physical landscape and its provision of environmental services provides a broader and scientifically-informed context for understanding of interlinked issues such as relationships between soil–food–water systems. Framing such “nexus” studies in this wider context can derive a better understanding of the connections between different elements such as soil, food, and water, amongst others, and with respect to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The concept of environmental services is therefore a more powerful tool to examine both the connections between physical and human environmental processes and properties in sub-Saharan Africa, and to address overarching environmental issues such as land degradation, soil erosion loss, water scarcity, and impacts of climate change.

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Section: The Soil-food-water Nexusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Services: A New Approach Toward Addressing Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

Knight¹

2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…This approach considers the soil as a dynamic system in which different aspects of the soil are in balance (or not). A well-balanced (healthy) soil will be able to deliver the maximum amount of ecosystem services [23], while a poorly managed unhealthy soil can be attributed to the deficit of overall ecosystem service supply. Locally balanced and healthy soil can also facilitate the local spillovers and synergies among the ecosystem functions and eventually improve the overall supportive functions of the ecosystem components; for example, a healthy soil can store larger volumes of water for a longer period of time after heavy rainfall, resulting in less waterlogging problems downstream.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of soils in regulation and provision of blue and green water

Keesstra

Sannigrahi

López‐Vicente

et al. 2021

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims for clean water and sanitation for all by 2030, through eight subgoals dealing with four themes: (i) water quantity and availability, (ii) water quality, (iii) finding sustainable solutions and (iv) policy and governance. In this opinion paper, we assess how soils and associated land and water management can help achieve this goal, considering soils at two scales: local soil health and healthy landscapes. The merging of these two viewpoints shows the interlinked importance of the two scales. Soil health reflects the capacity of a soil to provide ecosystem services at a specific location, taking into account local climate and soil conditions. Soil is also an important component of a healthy and sustainable landscape, and they are connected by the water that flows through the soil and the transported sediments. Soils are linked to water in two ways: through plant-available water in the soil (green water) and through water in surface bodies or available as groundwater (blue water). In addition, water connects the soil scale and the landscape scale by flowing through both. Nature-based solutions at both soil health and landscape-scale can help achieve sustainable future development but need to be embedded in good governance, social acceptance and economic viability. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The role of soils in delivering Nature's Contributions to People’.

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“…Several soil nutrient management technologies that enhance crop productivity have been developed, tested, and promoted in Africa's low-input farming systems (Kihara et al, 2020). However, there is little information on yam's input intensification technologies (Enesi et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Soil Nutrient Tolerance and Mineral Fertilizer Response in White Guinea Yam (Dioscorea rotundata) Genotypes

et al. 2021

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Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a major food security crop for millions of resource-poor farmers, particularly in West Africa. Soil mineral deficiency is the main challenge in yam production, especially with the dwindling of fallow lands for the indigenous nutrient supply. Cultivars tolerant to available low soil nutrients and responsive to added nutrient supply are viable components of an integrated soil fertility management strategy for sustainable and productive yam farming systems in West Africa. This study’s objective was to identify white Guinea yam (D. rotundata) genotypes adapted to available low soil nutrients and responsive to externally added nutrient supply. Twenty advanced breeding lines and a local variety (Amula) were evaluated under contrasting soil fertility, low to expose the crop to available low soil nutrient supply and high to assess the crop response to added mineral fertilizer (NPK) input at Ibadan, Nigeria. The genotypes expressed differential yield response to low soil fertility (LF) stress and added fertilizer input. Soil fertility susceptibility index (SFSI) ranged from 0.64 to 1.34 for tuber yield and 0.60 to 1.30 for shoot dry weight. The genotypes R034, R041, R050, R052, R060, R100, and R125 combined lower SFSI with a low rate of reduction in tuber yield were identified as tolerant to LF stress related to the soil mineral deficiency. Likewise, the genotypes R109, R119, and R131 showed high susceptibility to soil fertility level and/or fertilizer response. Genotypes R025 and R034 had the tuber yielding potential twice of that the local variety under low soil nutrient conditions. Shoot dry weight and tuber yield showed a positive correlation both under low and high soil fertility conditions (r = 0.69 and 0.75, respectively), indicating the vigor biomass may be a morphological marker for selecting genotypes of white Guinea yam for higher tuber yield. Our results highlight genotypic variation in the tolerance to low soil nutrients and mineral fertilizer response in white Guinea yam to exploit through breeding and genetic studies to develop improved genotypes for low and high input production systems in West Africa.

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Soil health and ecosystem services: Lessons from sub-Sahara Africa (SSA)

Cited by 67 publications

References 125 publications

Environmental Services: A New Approach Toward Addressing Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

Environmental Services: A New Approach Toward Addressing Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa

The role of soils in regulation and provision of blue and green water

Low Soil Nutrient Tolerance and Mineral Fertilizer Response in White Guinea Yam (Dioscorea rotundata) Genotypes

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