Small-scale Farmers In sub-Saharan Africa Research Articles

Smart Farming Technologies for Sustainable Agriculture: A Review of the Promotion and Adoption Strategies by Smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa

Small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) need to adopt and consistently practice sustainable agriculture to ensure sustainable livelihoods and food security. However, the adverse effects of climate change are threatening the achievement of this goal. Therefore, farmers within the sub-region need to embrace climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as a means for climate change adaptation and mitigation. This study was conducted to understand, on the one hand, how smart farming technologies are being promoted in sub-Saharan Africa, and on the other hand, how farmers are adopting the prevailing technologies. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) procedures were followed to identify 48 scientific papers in sub-Saharan Africa. It was found that promoters of smart farming technologies in sub-Saharan Africa include CGSpace, FAO, National Research Institutions, individual researchers, local institutions, and private institutions. The approach to the smart farming technology discourse in sub-Saharan Africa starts by building on efforts to sustain CSA practices with a gradual shift towards the fourth agriculture revolution innovations. Even where there are efforts to push beyond conventional CSA practices by the private sector, farmers’ responses are still low. It is recommended that any intervention to promote modern smart farming technologies to smallholders should build on conventional CSA practices.

Identification of yam mosaic virus as the main cause of yam mosaic diseases in Ethiopia

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a staple food crop with cultural, nutritional and economic significance for millions of small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. While various virus-like symptoms such as mosaic and chlorosis are frequently observed in yam fields in Ethiopia, little information is available on the prevalence, distribution, and molecular characteristics of viruses causing these symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and distribution of yam viruses and determine the primary cause of yam mosaic diseases (YMD) in Ethiopia. Both symptomatic (n = 280) and asymptomatic (n = 110) yam leaf samples were collected and tested for potyviruses using ACP‐ELISA. In addition, the symptomatic leaf samples were screened for yam mosaic virus (YMV), yam mild mosaic virus (YMMV), and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) by DAS-ELISA. Subsequently, total RNA was extracted from 130 leaf samples comprising 94 symptomatic and 36 asymptomatic samples representing the different study areas. The representative RT-PCR amplicons (n = 6) were Sanger sequenced. The ACP-ELISA and DAS-ELISA results showed 9.2%, and 12.9% YMV infection, respectively, while the RT-PCR analysis showed 28.5% YMV positivity rate. Both CMV and YMMV were not detected in any of the samples tested. Thus, YMV is confirmed as the primary cause of YMD in Ethiopia. YMV isolates from Ethiopia shared 92–93% nucleotide identity among themselves and 85–99% with other YMV isolates from the GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that YMV isolates from Ethiopia, South America, and west-central Africa have the most recent common ancestor, while isolates from China and Japan are clustered as sister groups. This study enhances our understanding of YMV's genetic diversity and provides valuable information regarding the first report of YMV in Ethiopia.

Effects of the agricultural food security pack programme in Zambia: the case of Mpulungu District

Agricultural food programmes are one of the means to improve household food security for vulnerable small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. In Zambia, household food insecurity is entrenched among small-scale farmers. Despite the implementation of the food security pack programme by the Zambian government, there is scanty scientific information on the performance of the programme. The study reviewed the effects of the food security pack programme on land cultivation and maize crop productivity in Mpulungu district using a mixed-methods design. Using a simple random sampling and Slovin’s Formula, 147 beneficiaries and 152 non-beneficiaries were selected as questionnaire respondents. The study purposely selected two government officials, one traditional leader, and five focus groups for interviews and focus group discussions. Descriptive data were generated using SPSS and content analysis. The study revealed that 66% of the beneficiaries, cultivated between a quarter (0.25) and half (0.50) a hectare compared to the non-beneficiaries, whose 61% cultivated less than a quarter (<0.25) hectare. Similarly, 70.1% of the beneficiaries, harvested more than 20 (50kg) bags of maize grain on average, per 0.25 hectares of land compared to 8% of the non-beneficiaries for three farming seasons reviewed. The land cultivated by the beneficiaries had a larger mean (M ₌ 2.00) than the land cultivated by the non-beneficiaries (M ₌ 1.59). Maize crop productivity by the beneficiaries had a larger mean (M ₌ 4.25) than the non-beneficiaries (M ₌ 2.45). There was a statistically significant difference in land cultivation and maize crop productivity between the beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, with the former having more land cultivated and higher maize crop productivity than the latter. Administrative challenges in programme implementation were noticed. Farming inputs were received late and outside the planting period due to the centralised purchase system despite the beneficiaries performing better than the non-beneficiaries. Funds for the purchase of agricultural inputs were released late by the Zambian government. The study concluded that the food security pack programme had a significant positive effect on land cultivation and maize crop production for benefiting households. The study recommends decentralisation of the supply of farming inputs to the districts for timely delivery to the beneficiaries, increasing the number of beneficiaries, and timely release of funds for the purchase of farming inputs by the Zambian government. Key words: Agriculture, food security, small-scale farmer, empowerment, vulnerable farmers

Asset Portfolios in Climate Change Adaptation and Food Security: Lessons From Gokwe South District, Zimbabwe

Climate variability and change are projected to continue impacting many of the poor and small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to examine how small-scale farmers in the Gokwe South district of Zimbabwe are building their adaptive capacity and resilience against climate change and achieving food security. Primary data was collected using questionnaires both in structured and semi-structured interviews, and participatory observations through a transect walk for physical observations. The study utilised the participatory climate change asset adaptation appraisal (PCCAA), as a methodological and analytical framework, to explore the different ways in which the small-scale farmers in the Gokwe South district of Zimbabwe are building their adaptive capacity and resilience against climate change. The study also explores the factors that influence small-scale farmers’ adoption of climate change adaptation and food security. The small-scale and rural farmers in Zimbabwe are not passive actors but are actively involved in developing innovative local adaptation strategies using an array of available assets. Findings from this study noted that asset absence or its replacement with the ‘wrong’ mix of assets and asset erosion exacerbated the food insecurity in the Gokwe South district.

Determination of performance and associated economic costs of indirect air-cooling combined with evaporative cooling for storage of tomatoes in South Africa

Knowledge of the cost of a storage structure for fruits and vegetables is paramount as a decision tool when farmers consider the return on investment. The performance and economic analysis associated with using a solar-powered indirect air-cooling (IAC) combined with evaporative cooling (EC) storage structure for storage of green harvested tomatoes was investigated. This study investigated the effect of IAC+EC system and period of storage on the quality of tomatoes over a 28 day storage period. The construction, maintenance and operation costs of an IAC+EC system were also studied. Various quality attributes of tomatoes were investigated by monitoring the storage of green harvested tomato fruit over 28 days under both IAC+EC system and ambient conditions with data collated every seven days. Tomatoes stored under IAC+EC conditions had significantly (P<0.01) higher firmness, lower total soluble solids content, lower physiological weight loss and higher average percentage marketability than those under ambient conditions over the storage period. The tomatoes stored in the cold storage conditions were 28.1% more resistant to puncture; had 7,3% less total soluble solids content, had three times less physiological weight loss, than those stored under ambient conditions over the same period. The h° and L* values decreased progressively over the period of storage from 84% at day 0 to 48.31% and 50.43% at day28 under ambient and IAC+EC conditions, respectively. Tomatoes stored under IAC+EC conditions had a higher average percentage marketability (72.4%) than those under ambient conditions (40.9%) over the storage period. The cost of constructing a 53-m3 IAC+EC system integrated with a solar photovoltaic system was US$8,680. The economic analysis that the payback period of the cooling system was less than two years. The results demonstrate that the IAC+EC system could be recommended for small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to maintain a better quality of produce if government and other funding agencies come on board. Key words: marketability, payback period, postharvest losses, small-scale farming, air-cooling

Drought and its impacts on small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa: a review

ABSTRACT Drought frequency is expected to increase in the coming decades due to climate change. Droughts are one of the most devastating natural disasters affecting food production, water resources and causing widespread human and animal mortalities. Sub-Saharan Africa is considered the most vulnerable region to climate change, due to low rainfall, long dry seasons and high levels of poverty. A systematic approach was used to search for published literature from 2008 to 2018 on the impacts of droughts on small-scale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa from Ebscohost, Google Scholar and Web of Science internet search engines. To acquire relevant studies, the following keywords and Boolean operation combinations were used: GIS AND Remote Sensing OR drought OR small-scale farmers OR sub-Saharan Africa and only studies from 2008 to 2018 were selected. The impacts of droughts are far-reaching and affect the environment, societies and the economy of a country. There is limited reliable and comprehensive information on the impacts of droughts, which calls for research aimed at explaining the impacts of effect and how they can be predicted and mitigated. Improving drought preparedness and mitigation is an important precondition reducing the vulnerability of small-scale farmers and rural communities to the impacts of droughts.

English

The aim of this review was to identify the causes of postharvest losses (PHL) in fruit and vegetables in relation to small-scale farming in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The reduction of PHL can improve food security at household level. Farmers involved in small-scale production of fresh produce experience high PHL due to physiological deterioration associated with technical, biological and environmental factors and lack access to postharvest facilities. When these factors are contained, sufficient supplies of fresh produce reach the consumer and improve nutrition, income and food security at household level. This article described the PHL experienced by farmers along the cold chain and explored the advantages and disadvantages of the use of various cooling technologies. There are already existing modern cooling technologies but these are capital intensive and require electricity, which is not always available to small-scale farmers (SSF). This review proposes evaporative cooling as appropriate for SSF in SSA as it has proven to be effective under hot and dry areas and is a simpler and cheaper technology. The review recommends that with the incorporation of a desiccating unit, evaporative cooling could be extended to hot and humid areas. Solar and wind energy can be used to power the desiccating unit in remote and isolated areas with no access to grid electricity. Therefore, research needs to be carried out on developing or adapting a solar or wind powered evaporative cooling system under both hot-dry and hot-humid conditions. Key words: Fruit and vegetables, low-cost cooling, postharvest technology, renewable energy, small-scale farming. &nbsp

Potential of three enhanced diatomaceous earths against Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky and Prostephanus truncantus (Horn) on stored maize grain

Global health and environmental concerns against synthetic pesticides in stored-grain coupled with high cost, unavailability and inaccessibility of modern non-chemical grain treatment technologies in Africa are driving the need for low-cost and low-dose combination of readily available alternatives. Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the efficacy of non-registered low-dose food grade diatomaceous earths enhanced with natural grain protectants: IBS at 50, 75 and 100 ppm; IPE1 at 200, 300 and 400 ppm; IPE2 at 100, 150 and 200 ppm against Prostephanus truncatus and Sitophilus zeamais adult insects on maize. Adult insect mortality was assessed at 7, 14 and 21 days after treatment (DAT) while progeny emergence was assessed at 49 and 70 DAT for S. zeamais and P. truncatus, respectively. IBS caused significant (p < 0.05) P. truncatus and S. zeamais adult mortality at 14 and 21 DAT, respectively. Except for IPE1 at 400ppm, lower doses of IPE1 and IPE2 showed significantly low adult mortality (p < 0.05) (54-74%) on Sitophilus zeamais compared to IBS and the positive control. All rates of IPE1 and IPE2 were also not effective on P. truncatus adults, with significantly low mortality (p < 0.05) (18–38% compared to positive control). IBS at 75 and 100 ppm were effective on progeny suppression on both S. zeamais and P. truncatus but IPE1 at 400 ppm was effective on S. zeamais only. These results suggest the potential of IBS and IPE1 (at 400 ppm) as effective sustainable alternatives to synthetic grain protectants for small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa who may not afford the modern non-chemical grain protection technologies. Field efficacy of these materials under typical farmer conditions is required.

Identification and molecular characterization of Taro bacilliform virus and Taro bacilliform CH virus from East Africa.

Taro (Colocasia esculenta) and tannia (Xanthosoma sp.) are important root crops cultivated mainly by small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and the South Pacific. Viruses are known to be one of the most important constraints to production, with infections resulting in severe yield reduction. In 2014 and 2015, surveys were conducted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to determine the identity of viruses infecting taro in East Africa. Screening of 392 samples collected from the region using degenerate badnavirus primers revealed an incidence of 58–74% among the four countries surveyed, with sequence analysis identifying both Taro bacilliform virus (TaBV) and Taro bacilliform CH virus (TaBCHV). TaBCHV was identified from all four countries while TaBV was identified in all except Ethiopia. Full-length sequences from representative TaBV and TaBCHV isolates showed that the genome organization of TaBV isolates from East Africa was consistent with previous reports while TaBCHV isolates from East Africa were found to encode only four ORFs, distinct from a previous report from China. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all East African TaBV isolates form a single subgroup within known TaBV isolates, while TaBCHV isolates form at least two distinct subgroups. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report describing the occurrence and genome organization of TaBV and TaBCHV isolates from East Africa and the first full-length sequence of the two viruses from tannia.

“Employment until the end of the world”: Exploring the role of manipulation in a Mozambican land deal

In recent years, there has been considerable controversy over the poverty and livelihood impacts of large-scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) on small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. However, while much of the concern over LSLAs has stemmed from the phenomenon of coercive expulsion of farmers from their lands, far less attention has been paid to the mechanism of manipulation, which is arguably a subtler and more pervasive form of influence over smallholders when they are incorporated into major land deals. This article addresses this theoretical and empirical gap through a case study of a LSLA implemented by an international paper and pulp company for the development of an extensive eucalyptus plantation in central Mozambique. The findings highlight the roles of three forms of manipulative influence – namely deception, pressure to acquiesce and playing upon people’s emotions – that were evident during company-smallholder negotiations and the impacts that these had on farmers’ livelihoods. The article concludes that, in the study of LSLAs, a much wider range of influences should be taken into consideration during the implementation of land deals than is currently the case. This is particularly important when external investors seek to develop new markets for land in which small-scale landholders can engage on a supposedly voluntary basis in search of jobs and income.

At the Mid of Polarity: Rethinking Medium Farms as Solution to Vulnerability for Small-scale Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Strategies to increase agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa have mostly been thought to occur through one of the two predominant pathways: large-scale commercial production or intensification of small holder plots. Considerable efforts have been made to further each of these two strategies. It is clear, therefore, that the efforts to go beyond such polarized academic debate on the key challenges to farm size in relation to food productivity is still wanting. Such polarization of the debate presents the obvious problem of limiting solutions by obscuring those that fall in the middle. It is in such a context that the argument for the expansion of medium-scale farming is lost. This article brings alive the lost in the debate about the expansion of medium scale farmers. Arguing from transitional model, the article reimagine medium farms as solution to vulnerability of small scale farmers and their food productivity.

Farmer innovation driven by needs and understanding: building the capacities of farmer groups for improved cooking stove construction and continued adaptation

Enhancing food security is one of the main goals of subsistence farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigates the implementation of improved loam-made cooking stoves and its contribution to coping and livelihood strategies. Controlled combustion, air as well as smoke flue, and heat insulation facilitate the more efficient fuel consumption of improved cooking stoves compared to traditional stoves—namely three stone fires. Although the majority of small-scale farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa rely on the free public good of firewood, the increasing time needed for collecting firewood implies high opportunity costs for productive members of the family. The primary outcomes for users of improved stoves are reduced fuel consumption, greater safety, saved time, and reduced smoke in the kitchen.The paper illustrates part of the output, outcome, and impact of a participatory action research approach for implementing improved cooking stoves. Special emphasis was put on enabling the villagers to construct their stoves without external support, hence having locally manufactured stoves made of mud, bricks, and dried grass. The impact pathway of improved cooking stoves followed the training-of-trainers concept, where members of the initially established farmer groups were trained to construct stoves on their own. Special focus was given to knowledge exchange and knowledge transfer in order to increase firewood efficiency and overall satisfaction of users of improved cook stoves. Encouraging the members to further adapt the stoves enabled them to scale-up the construction of improved cooked stoves into a business model and increase dissemination while creating income. Although many important benefits, like time and knowledge gain, were identified by the farmers after adoption of the new technology, we found adoption rates differed significantly between regions.

Grain yield performance and flowering synchrony of CIMMYT’s tropical maize (Zea mays L.) parental inbred lines and single crosses

AbstractMaize production constraints in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are being addressed by CIMMYT and partners through an array of projects, focusing on developing and evaluating parental inbred lines and single-crosses as well as formulating, evaluating and releasing high-yielding and stress resilient hybrids adapted to different agro-ecologies. The objectives of the present study were to (1) evaluate the grain yield performance of parental elite inbred lines developed over the years, and single crosses; and (2) ascertain the flowering synchrony among inbred lines and single-cross hybrid parents. Parental inbred lines and single-crosses were evaluated at seven locations in two countries in 2014. Combined analysis of variance revealed differences (P &lt; 0.01) among genotypes for grain yield (GY) and among different years/era of release of the inbred lines. The improvement in GY of inbred lines was estimated to be 1.4 % per year. Under irrigated conditions GY of some single-cross hybrids was over 16 t ha−1. Some single-cross and inbred line parents showed acceptable flowering synchrony, good producibility, and stable performance across testing environments, suggesting that these have high potential for seed production. Further research is needed to determine the physiological and morphological characteristics that contributed to the GY improvement in the parental inbred lines. Information generated from this study will enhance the use of CIMMYT’s tropical mid-altitude parental germplasm by breeders working in both private and public breeding programs for developing and deploying high-yielding maize hybrids for the benefit of small-scale farmers in SSA.

Modelling agricultural production of small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa: A case study in western Kenya

Abstract Small-scale farmers are known to produce the greater proportion of food consumed in the Third World, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The various national and international agricultural research centres located in these parts of the world have developed agricultural packages which have been proven, at experimental levels, to be highly productive. However, small-scale farmers in these areas continue to produce at levels far below the capacities of these packages as predicted from experimental results. Consequently, these farmers, despite their relatively large number, could not produce enough to feed themselves let alone the general population. To improve the quality of life of these farmers in particular, and the population of the Third World in general, there is a need to study the various factors responsible for low agricultural production at the household level. Models relating production to the various factors need to be formulated to improve our understanding of the functional relationships. This in turn could lead to relevant national and international policies with respect to small-scale farmers in the Third World. In this paper, we develop models to predict production given these factors. For simplicity, the parameters of the models are limited to land size (or herd size), environmental effect and management effect. A statistical examination of our model fitted to a set of survey data on this subject revealed that improving the farmers' management level could greatly enhance their production. Further statistical analysis of the data set showed that the various factors constituting the farmers' management level could broadly be classified into three groups: resources (labour and farm implements), personal characteristics (educational level and age) and external assistance (contact with extension agents/assistance) in that order of importance. We discuss the importance of these findings in the formulation of policies concerning small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.