Rangelands, Drylands & Pastoralism

Black soldier fly frass fertilizer (BSFFF) is increasingly gaining momentum worldwide as organic fertilizer. However, research on its performance on crop production remains largely unknown. Here, we evaluate the comparative performance of BSFFF and commercial organic fertilizer (SAFI) on maize (H513) production.

This study evaluated the poverty reduction impact of the adoption of cropping system intensification (CSI) technologies using the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model in the Great Lakes region of Africa that comprises Burundi, eastern DR Congo, and Rwanda. The study data came from a household survey of 1,495 sample households interviewed between October and December 2014.

Sigatoka leaf diseases are a major constraint to banana production. A survey was conducted in Tanzania and Uganda to assess the distribution of Pseudocercospora species and severity of Sigatoka leaf diseases. Pseudocercospora species were identified using species‐specific primers.

In a country of about 200 million people, the government has over the years constituted various initiatives to address the issue of unemployment, food security, and youth involvement in agriculture. However, the impact of these initiatives has been minimal due to the inconsistency in government policies, changes in government, inadequate implementation mechanism amongst others.

The rapid assessment of maize yields in a smallholder farming system is important for understanding its spatial and temporal variability and for timely agronomic decision-support. We assessed the predictability of maize grain yield using unmanned aerial/air vehicle (UAV)-derived vegetation indices (VI) with (out) biophysical variables on smallholder farms.

Pests and diseases greatly contribute to the decline in banana yields, food and income insecurity in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Understanding people’s role in pest and disease spread at landscape level is crucial for effective pest and disease management.

Extreme weather events cause considerable damage to livelihoods of smallholder farmers globally. Whilst index insurance can help farmers cope with the financial consequences of extreme weather, a major challenge for index insurance is basis risk, where insurance payouts correlate poorly with actual crop losses.

Vegetables are rich in vitamins and other micronutrients and are important crops for healthy diets and diversification of the food system, and many traditional (also termed underutilized or indigenous) species may play a role. The current study analyzed 35 vegetables with a European

Drawing insight from work in Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya and Niger to scale land restoration across the drylands in Africa, the brief defines and describes the Nested Communities of Practice (CoPs) approach and how this project implemented these with key stakeholders (farmers, community facilitators, NGOs, government and researchers) to foster co-learning and sharing with evidence in East Africa and

Domestication of indigenous Son tra or H’mong apple fruits has resulted in higher yields of superior, more marketable fruits while helping in soil conservation efforts in the North-West region of Vietnam. FTA supported partnerships, helped develop and scale adoption of superior son tra genotypes by smallholder farmers and government-led land restoration initiatives.

The North Central Province (NCP) is situated in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka. Average annual rainfall in the province is less than 1,750 mm, of which very little occurs between May and September (dry season).