Using CERES-maize and ENSO as decision support tools to evaluate climate-sensitive farm management practices for maize production in the northern regions of Ghana

Open Access JournalMaize (Zea mays) has traditionally been a major cereal staple in southern Ghana. Through breeding and other crop improvement efforts, the zone of cultivation of maize has now extended to the northern regions of Ghana which, hitherto, were the home to sorghum and millet as the major cereals. Maize yield in the northern Ghana is hampered by three major biophysical constraints, namely, poor soil fertility, low soil water storage capacity and climate variability. In this study we used the DSSAT crop model to assess integrated water and soil management strategies that combined the pre-season El-Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-based weather forecasting in selecting optimal planting time, at four locations in the northern regions of Ghana. It could be shown that the optimum planting date for a given year was predictable based on February-to-April (FMA) Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomaly for the locations with R2 ranging from 0.52 to 0.71. For three out of four locations, the ENSO-predicted optimum planting dates resulted in significantly higher maize yields than the conventional farmer selected planting dates. In Wa for instance, early optimum planting dates were associated with La Nina and El Niño (Julian Days 130-150; early May to late May) whereas late planting (mid June to early July) was associated with the Neutral ENSO phase. It was also observed that the addition of manure and fertilizer improved soil water and nitrogen use efficiency, respectively, and minimized yield variability, especially when combined with weather forecast. The use of ENSO-based targeted planting date choice together with modest fertilizer and manure application has the potential to improve maize yields and also ensure sustainable maize production in parts of northern Ghana

Weather-index based crop insurance as a social adaptation to climate change and variability in the Upper West Region of Ghana: Developing a participatory approach

Climate change and variability are major challenges to rain-fed crop production in Africa. This paper presents a report on a pilot project to test a concept for operationalizing weatherindex crop insurance as a social adaptation to the climate change and variability problem in the Upper West Region of Ghana. An analysis of long-term weather variables showed rising temperature of 1.7 oC over a period of 53 years as well as major shifts in rainfall patterns. Farmers face a new reality that cannot be addressed with their indigenous knowledge alone. The weather-index based crop insurance concept discussed herein was developed by combined effort of University of Ghana, the German International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Ghana National Insurance Commission (NIC) since 2010. This development was carried out via their filial, the Ghana Agricultural Insurance Pool (GAIP). The proposed concept sought to link various agricultural stakeholders such weather technical persons, farmers, agricultural extension officer, input dealers and other aggregators, and financial institutions as well as the insurance industry and focused on a participatory farmer led approach. The piloting of the concept was supported by the Climate Change and Food Security (CCAFs) project and was tested in the years 2012 and 2013 using a theatrical drama sketch in two districts in the Upper West Region of Ghana: Jirapa and Lawra. It was observed that training of farmers in the basic principles of weather (data collection, interpretation, etc.) facilitated the discussions on drought insurance, adding to the body of evidence supporting participatory design tools. The aim of this paper is to record this process and to put the results into recent context, through discussing them through the lens of insurance operations and research in Ghana. Ensuing discussions showed that although all stakeholders considered the participatory design tools to be meritorious, a number of logistical challenges were identified that need to be addressed for effective scaling. The study also highlighted the high spatial variability of rainfall in the Upper West region of Ghana, showing the necessity of satellite-derived rainfall products. Finally, the framework suggested in this report highlights the complexity and the institutional structures required to implement an effective insurance. In effect, our simple study has exposed the complexities and intricacies that must be overcome in establishing a sustainable insurance scheme in Ghana

Climate change impact on the yields of cereals in smallholder settings in West Africa: The case of Nioro, Senegal and Navrongo, Ghana

The production of cereals in West Africa is constraint by several yield limiting factors such as poor soil fertility and erratic rainfall distributions and is largely dominated by smallholder farmers. Projected changes in climate thus poses a threat since crop production is mainly rainfed. In this study, two crop models; Decision Support System for Agro-technological Transfer (DSSAT) and Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) were calibrated, evaluated and used to quantify climate change impact on the yield of maize, sorghum and millet under future production systems in Nioro, Senegal and Navrongo, Ghana. Data on management practices (sowing dates, time and amount of fertilizer) obtained from household surveys, soil data, weather data (historical; 1980-2009 and 5 Global Circulation Models (GCMs); Mid Century time slice 2040 – 2069 for two representative concentration Pathway (RCP); 4.5 and 8.5) were used for the impact assessment. Temperatures were projected to increase in both study areas with higher temperatures for Nioro. Change in total rainfall amounts varied in Nioro with rains in Navrongo to remain same or increase slightly. Ensembled maize yield changes under RAP 4 were between -22 to -1% in Nioro, and -19 to 0 in Navrongo for DSSAT and APSIM respectively. The impact of climate change on sorghum and millet were lower than those of maize. Yield reductions under RAP 5 were generally higher than under RAP 4. The extent of yield loss varied among households due to differences in management practices and soils. There is need to explore potential adaptations to reduce yield loses

Parameterizing LivSim for simulating growth of the Ghana shorthorn cattle

An important component of the farming system in Ghana is livestock production. Livestock, especially cattle production is heavily dependent on rainfall for the production of forages to feed them. Projected increase in temperature and shifts in rainfall patterns due to climate change is expected to affect the level of livestock production and livelihood of the resource poor animal herders in Ghana. To gain insight into the livestock-climate nexus, we conducted a study in Tamale in the Northern region of Ghana to parameterize the LivSim (Livestock Simulator) model for the simulation of growth of the Ghana Shorthorn cattle. The main objective was to quantify milk and calf production by the various smallholder farmers in the community. A survey of 261 households out of which 96 owned livestock was conducted to obtain observed data on milk yield, calving frequencies, among others. Other data required by LivSIM such as the minimum and maximum bodyweights of both male and female Ghana Shorthorn were obtained from the literature. The number of cattle owned by the households interviewed ranged from 2-47 with majority having a herd size less than twelve. The herd composition was estimated to be 72% female and 28% male. Preliminary simulation results showed that the herd dynamics could be well captured for an initial period of 5 years, after which there was divergence between the simulated and the observed. Further current efforts are directed to the improvement in parameter values especially those relating to the potential growth rates and the compensatory growth rate

Climate change impacts on current and future agricultural systems in the semi-arid regions of West Africa

Agriculture in the semi-arid regions of West Africa is mainly rain-fed with a large number of smallholder farmers dependent on it for their livelihoods. Farming systems are dominated by cereals and legumes with livestock playing a significant role in the functioning of the systems. In this paper, we use the AgMIP Regional Integrated Assessment methods, which include a set of mid-century climate projections, biophysical (Decision Support Systems for Agro-technological Transfer; DSSAT and Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator; APSIM) and economic (trade-off analysis model: TOA-MD) models, representative agricultural pathways and global economic model projections to explore the impacts of climate change on the economic vulnerability of farm households in Nioro, Senegal. Our results indicate that most climate scenarios -except the hot-dry had positive impacts on peanuts which is one of the main crops in this production system. The effect of climate change on maize was negative and the impacts on millet were variable but changes are small. In tomorrow's production systems and socio-economic conditions, climate change would have positive impact on Nioro farmers livelihoods in almost all cases simulated. However, with low prices, climate change would have a negative impact of Nioro farmers' livelihoods in most cases. For Senegal, these results have significant policy implications, in particular on international trade and regional prices as peanut is one of the major export commodities

Short-term treatment outcomes in human immunodeficiency virus type-1 and hepatitis B virus co-infections

BACKGROUND: Co-infection of HIV with HBV is common in West Africa but little information is available on the effects of HBV on short-term therapy for HIV patients. A 28 day longitudinal study was conducted to examine short-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) outcomes in HIV infected individuals with HBV co-infection. METHODS: Plasma from 18 HIV infected individuals co-infected with HBV and matched controls with only HIV infection were obtained at initiation, and 7 and 28 days after ART. HIV-1 viral load changes were monitored. Clinical and demographic data were also obtained from patient folders, and HIV-1 drug resistance mutation and subtype analysis performed. RESULTS: The presence of HBV co-infection did not significantly affect HIV-1 viral load changes within 7 or 28 days. The CD4(+) counts on the other hand of patients significantly affected the magnitude of HIV-1 viral load decline after 7 days (ρ = −0.441, p = 0.040), while the pre-ART HIV-1 VL (ρ = 0.844, p = <0.001) and sex (U = 19.0, p = 0.020) also determined HIV-1 viral load outcomes after 28 days of ART. Even though the geometric sensitivity score of HIV-1 strains were influenced by the HIV-1 subtypes (U = 56.00; p = 0.036), it was not a confounder for ART outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: There may be the need to consider the confounder effects of sex, pre-ART CD4(+), and pre-ART HIV-1 viral load in the discourse on HIV and HBV co-infection

Climate change impacts on crop yield in Koutiala, Mali

An integrated modelling framework is used to simulate crop productivity for current and future climate scenarios. Two crop models, Decision Support Systems for Agro-Technological Transfer (DSSAT) and the Agricultural Productions Systems sIMulator (APSIM), were calibrated and evaluated for the study site in Koutiala, Mali, simulating yields of maize, millet, and peanut for 123 households. These crop models are fed by weather data from baseline climate (1980-2009) from observed weather and future climate (2040-2069) from 5 Global Circulation Models (GCMs) were used as inputs to crop models. The models' results differ according to the crop considered. For maize, there is a decrease of grain yield across all GCMs and crop models. For sorghum, there is a slight decrease across GCMs with DSSAT, but the grain yield remains constant on average with APSIM. For peanut and millet, the results are more optimistic and grain yield increases across all cases. These outputs will then be linked to the economical the Trade-Off Analysis-Minimum Data model (TOA-MD) to assess impacts on farmer livelihoods. Further, adaptation strategies (e.g. drought and heat tolerant cultivars) will be simulated to assess their potential impact for the future. (Texte intégral

Developing adaptation packages for West African agriculture while ensuring congruence with climate and RAPs

In the semi-arid region of the Sahel, climate change is already affecting the farming systems and these impacts are expected to heighten in the near to mid-century. Given the complexities and conflicting drivers at play and the foreseeable negative consequences on the livelihoods of the majority of farmers, it is worthwhile designing relevant adaptation packages that will alleviate these effects. In this study, we envision to assess the implications of implementing two adaptation packages within the context of three West African farming systems specifically located in Ghana (Navrongo), Mali (Koutiala) and Senegal (Nioro). The first adaptation package is composed of heat and drought tolerant species along with an economic and policy level intervention through the delivery of subsidies to acquire improved varieties. The second pack builds on the first but adds a fertilizer component (splitting and timing to account for extreme events) and a policy variable in the form of index-based insurance adoption. The design process included interactions with a diverse set of stakeholders. The outcomes of these adaptation options on current and future agricultural systems will shed light on the projected adoption rates of climate adapted-systems and show how these various adaptations affect the impacts of climate change, keeping congruence with the relevant representative agricultural pathways. (Texte intégral

Green roofs: A possible best management practice for enhancing the environmental quality of Ghanaian cities

City expansion typically erodes the natural ability of the locale to perform its ecosystem services. This paper discusses green roofs and their potential benefits for Ghanaian cities in terms of improving environmental quality. Limited analysis shows that daily minimum temperatures of cities like Accra are rising faster than the daily maximum thereby decreasing the comfort index of city dwellers. Electricity consumption is increasing amid challenges in supply while the frequency of flooding after rainstorms is also on the rise. Green roofs have demonstrated reduction of these issues in several parts of the world and could help minimize the magnitudes of these issues in Ghanaian cities if adopted as an urban best management practice. Since this technology is new to Ghana with no local research, this paper also discusses the potential economic gains and associated research opportunities as well as some strategies to consider if the green roof technology is to be pursued. Successful introduction and implementation of green roofs in Ghana will depend on awareness creation, research and development of growing substrate, plant species and other structural components, formulation of guidelines for the industry, government support through legislation and provision of incentives to promote its adoption. We hope this paper will initiate discussion between various stakeholders in sustainable city development in Ghana in this era of climate change and variability.Key words: Green roof, urban, environmental quality, best management practice, ecosystem services

Colourism and identity struggles affect Africans as much as non-white immigrants in the West

Identity struggles are commonplace globally, but these questions are rarely asked of immigrants’ children in Africa. While dark skin can denote acceptance and a sense of belonging to the continent, light skin can raise questions of authenticity and a conflicted sense of identity