Download or read book Characterization of maize producing households in the Northern Region of Ghana written by and published by CIMMYT. This book was released on with total page 33 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Characterization of maize producing households in drought prone Regions of Eastern Africa written by and published by CIMMYT. This book was released on with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Comparative Geographical Analysis of Maize Production in Ghana written by Edwin Akonno Gyasi and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Maize productivity in Ghana written by Ragasa, Catherine and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2014-09-08 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maize is an important food crop in Ghana, accounting for more than 50 percent of the countrys total cereal production. The Ghana Grains Development Project (19791997) and the Food Crops Development Project (20002008) made major investments to improve maize yield. Despite these efforts, the average maize yield in Ghana remains one of the lowest in the world, much lower than the average for Africa south of the Sahara.
Download or read book Characterization of maize production in Southern Africa synthesis of CIMMYT DTMA household level farming system surveys in Angola Malawi Mozambique Zambia and Zimbabwe written by and published by CIMMYT. This book was released on with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Adoption of Modern Farm Practices in African Agriculture written by Zegeye Hailu and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Comparative Analysis of Food Security Status of Farming Households in Eastern and Northern Regions of Ghana written by Gabriella Mamley Djangmah and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Currently, almost 33 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are undernourished and is the only region of the world where hunger is projected to worsen over the next two decades. According to the World Food Program, over 2 million people were most vulnerable of becoming food insecure throughout Ghana in 2012. The issues of food security in northern Ghana has gained a top priority in many areas of policy making. However, the prevalence of food inadequacy as a result of insufficient resources to access food among individual household has led to increasing food insecurity in the country. By using the sixth round of Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS) data conducted from 2012/2013, the study aimed at analysing food security status across farming households in Eastern region and compare it to the Northern region of Ghana. The food security index generated from Cost-of-Calorie method was adopted and the recommended daily requirement was used to determine the household food security status. The factors influencing household food security status was then examined using logistic regression model. The analysis indicates that almost half of the sampled farming households in Eastern region (42.7%) and Northern region (46.0%) were food insecure. The depth of food insecurity indicates that farming households in Eastern region consumed 34% less than their daily calorie requirement while farming households in Northern region consumed 40% less than the requirement. The logistic result shows that monthly household income, off-farm activities and total quantity of own farm production positively and significantly influenced households' food security in Eastern region. It was revealed that household size negatively and significantly affected food security in Eastern region. Further, monthly household income, total quantity of own farm production and dependency ratio positively and significantly affected households' food security in Northern region. The factors that were negatively and significantly affecting household food security in Northern region included the size of households and the number of years spent in education. Policies which targeted to increase income of farmers through the provision of other activities aside farming, to help boost total yields of farming households, and intensive family planning awareness raising programs have key roles to play in these areas in order to improve households' food security in Ghana. The study recommends special training that relate to agriculture so that farmers can utilize whatever knowledge or skills acquired in their production activities to achieve food security in the future." --
Download or read book Quantitative Analysis of Data from Participatory Methods in Plant Breeding written by Mauricio R. Bellon and published by CIMMYT. This book was released on 2002 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Maize revolution in West and Central Africa written by and published by IITA. This book was released on 2003 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Breeding for drought and nitrogen stress tolerance in maize From theory to practice written by M. Bänzinger and published by CIMMYT. This book was released on 2000 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction - why breed for drought and low N tolerance?; Conceptual framework - breeding; Conventional approaches to improving the drought and low N tolerance of maize; Conventional approaches challenged; The challenge of breeding for drought and low N tolerance; Maize under drought and low N stress; Conceptual framework - physiology; Water and the maize plant; Nitrogen and the maize plant; Maize under drought and low N stress - consequences for breeding; Stress management; Drought; Low N stress; Statistical designs and layout of experiments; Increasing the number of replicates; Improved statistical designs; Field layout; Border effects from alleys; Secondary traits; Why use secondary traits?; How do we decide on the value of secondary traits in a drought or low N breeding program?; Secondary traits that help to identify drought tolerance; Secondary traits that help to identify low N tolerance: Selection indices - Combining information on secondary traits with grain yield; Combining information from various experiments; Breeding strategies; Choice of germplasm; Breeding schemes; Biotechnology: potential and constraints for improving drought and low N tolerance; The role of the farmer in selection; What is farmer participatory research and why is it important?; What is new about farmer participatory research?; Participatory methodologies.
Download or read book Sustainable Intensification written by Jules N. Pretty and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-06-25 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Continued population growth, rapidly changing consumption patterns and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are driving limited resources of food, energy, water and materials towards critical thresholds worldwide. These pressures are likely to be substantial across Africa, where countries will have to find innovative ways to boost crop and livestock production to avoid becoming more reliant on imports and food aid. Sustainable agricultural intensification - producing more output from the same area of land while reducing the negative environmental impacts - represents a solution for millions of African farmers. This volume presents the lessons learned from 40 sustainable agricultural intensification programmes in 20 countries across Africa, commissioned as part of the UK Government's Foresight project. Through detailed case studies, the authors of each chapter examine how to develop productive and sustainable agricultural systems and how to scale up these systems to reach many more millions of people in the future. Themes covered include crop improvements, agroforestry and soil conservation, conservation agriculture, integrated pest management, horticulture, livestock and fodder crops, aquaculture, and novel policies and partnerships.
Download or read book Sustainable Intensification and Diversification Options with Grain Legumes for Smallholder Farming Systems in the Guinea Savanna of Ghana written by and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Food security is a critical issue in the Guinea savanna of Ghana where about 60% of the rural population, mostly smallholder farmers are food insecure. Food insecurity results from poor crop yields due to low soil fertility compounded by erratic unimodal rainfall and the inability of households to purchase required supplemental food. Rapid population growth means that the numbers of food insecure people are likely to increase, necessitating sustainable intensification and diversification to increase crop production per unit area of land. This thesis focused on testing spatial and temporal intensification and diversification options suitable for the variable biophysical and socio-economic conditions of smallholder farming systems in the Guinea savanna to increase productivity, mitigate the risk of crop failure, and thus to increase food self-sufficiency. One site in the southern Guinea savanna and one in the northern Guinea savanna were selected which differed in biophysical and socio-economic resources. In each site, field experiments were conducted on three fields differing in soil fertility (fertile, medium fertile, poorly fertile) to quantify: N2-fixation and N contribution to soil fertility by grain legumes in sole and intercropping; impact of replacement intercropping on increasing resource use efficiency and crop productivity; and productivity of relay (additive) intercropping and rotation of grain legumes with maize. Scenario analysis was performed with data from the N2Africa Ghana project supplemented with data from the on-farm experiments and literature to test the impacts of intensification and diversification options on household food self-sufficiency. Sole legumes fixed larger amounts of N2 than under intercropping. The soil N balance was generally positive and similar between intercrops and sole crops suggesting that both systems could be sustainable intensification and diversification options. Poor fields stimulated grain legumes to rely on atmospheric N2 for growth leading to more positive soil N balances than in fertile fields. Consequently, legumes in poor fields were more competitive with maize and led to greater intercrop yield advantage than in fertile fields. Across all fields and sites, intercropping enhanced the efficiency in resource use resulting in a 26% to 46% yield advantage over sole cropping. Intercrops were more efficient and productive in the drier northern Guinea savanna than in the wetter southern Guinea savanna. Yet the absolute larger grain yields achieved in fertile fields and in the southern Guinea savanna with more favourable soil fertility and rainfall resulted in greater net benefits. This suggests that intercropping is beneficial both in poorly fertile and fertile fields though the benefits take different dimensions. Legume-cereal rotation was superior in increasing the yield of maize without N fertiliser ranging from 0.38 t ha-1 in NGS to 1.01 t ha-1 in SGS due to residual N and non-N benefits compared with continuous maize cropping. Sowing cowpea first and relaying maize decreased maize grain yield substantially from 0.29 t ha-1 (14%) in SGS to 0.82 t ha-1 (83%) in NGS, representing 14% and 83% grain yield reductions relative to maize sown at the beginning of the season. These grain yield reductions were due to inadequate rainfall received by the relay maize. When maize was sown from the onset of the season and the cowpea relayed, the cowpea grain yield reduction was relatively smaller compared with that of maize. Such cowpea grain yield decline was similar between the SGS and NGS and ranged from 28% (0.18 t ha-1) to 47% (0.26 t ha-1) relative to the cowpea sown from the onset of the season. The cumulative grain yield of this relay system over two seasons was similar to that of the legume-cereal rotations even with cowpea failing to yield in the first season. The scenario analysis revealed a high incidence of food insufficiency among smallholder farm households in the Guinea savanna of Ghana. This ranged from 56% in the Northern region with relatively favourable rainfall, soil fertility and larger land area cropped per farm to 45% in the Upper East and Upper West regions with comparatively less rainfall, poor soils and smaller land area cropped. In addition, 21% of households in the Northern region and 37% in the Upper East and Upper West regions could only survive on their own food production for six months or less. However, the scenario analysis suggested that through intensification and diversification with grain legumes, the proportion of food self-sufficient households in the Guinea savanna could increase by 25 – 43% and those self-sufficient for a maximum of half a year decreased to 3 – 15%. Households could also generate substantial marketable surpluses to earn income. However, the total size of land cropped by a farm household matters, and improved access to markets and credit are needed to acquire the relevant inputs. Also, multi-year analysis using modelling would be relevant in providing insights on long-term nutrient balances, especially of N and soil organic matter to understand the long-term sustainability of the various options.
Download or read book Technical Efficiency of Rice Farmers in Northern Ghana written by Seidu Al-Hassan and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Advances in Food and Non Food Biomass Production Processing and Use in Sub Saharan Africa written by Daniel Callo-Concha and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2020-05-20 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bioeconomy concept aims to add sustainability to the production, transformation, and trade of biological goods. Though implemented around the world, the development of national bioeconomies is uneven, especially in the global South, where major challenges exist in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this context, the international BiomassWeb project aimed to underpin the bioeconomy concept by applying the value web approach, which seeks to uncover complex interlinked value webs instead of linear value chains. The project also aimed to develop intervention options to strengthen and optimize the synergies and trade-offs among different value chains. The Special Issue “Advances in Food and Non-Food Biomass Production, Processing and Use in Sub-Saharan Africa: Toward a Basis for a Regional Bioeconomy" compiles 23 articles produced in this framework. The articles are grouped in four sections: the value web approach; the production side; processing, transformation and trade; and global views.
Download or read book Working with Smallholders written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2023-11-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Smallholder farmers are the stewards of more than 80 percent of the world's farms. These small family businesses produce about one-third of the world's food. In Africa and Asia, smallholders dominate the production of food crops, as well as export commodities such as cocoa, coffee, and cotton. However, smallholders and farm workers remain among the poorest segments of the population, and they are on the frontline of climate change. Smallholder farmers face constraints in accessing inputs, finance, knowledge, technology, labor, and markets. Raising farm-level productivity in a sustainable way is a key development priority. Agribusinesses are increasingly working with smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries to secure agricultural commodities. More productive smallholders boost rural incomes and economic growth, as well as reduce poverty. Smallholders also represent a growing underserved market for farm inputs, information, and financial services. Working with Smallholders: A Handbook for Firms Building Sustainable Supply Chains (third edition) shows agribusinesses how to engage more effectively with smallholders and to develop sustainable, resilient, and productive supply chains. The book compiles practical solutions and cutting-edge ideas to overcome the challenges facing smallholders. This third edition is substantially revised from the second edition and incorporates new material on the potential for digital technologies and sustainable farming. This handbook is written principally to outline opportunities for the private sector. The content may also be useful to the staffs of governmental or nongovernmental development programs working with smallholders, as well as to academic and research institutions."--
Download or read book Farming Systems of the African Savanna written by A. Ker and published by IDRC. This book was released on 1995 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Farming Systems of the African Savanna: A continent in crisis
Download or read book Crop Evolution Adaptation and Yield written by L. T. Evans and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996-05-02 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this major 1993 work, Lloyd Evans provides an integrated view of the domestication, adaptation and improvement of crop plants, bringing together genetic diversity, plant breeding, physiology and aspects of agronomy. Considerations of yield and maximum yield provide continuity throughout the book. Food, feed, fibre, fuel and pharmaceutical crops are all discussed. Cereals, grain legumes and root crops, both temperate and tropical, provide many of the examples, but pasture plants, oilseeds, leafy crops, fruit trees and others are also considered. After the introductory chapter, the increasing significance of crop yields to the world's food supply is highlighted. The next three chapters consider changes to crop plants over the last ten thousand years, including domestication, adaptation and improvement. Aimed at research workers and advanced students in crop physiology and ecology, agronomy and plant breeding, this book also reaches conclusions of relevance to those concerned with developmental policy, agricultural research and management, environmental quality, resource depletion and human history.
