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How to predict and map soils within smallholder farms in fragile landscapes of Malawi? randomForest and sentinel imagery improves mapping of SOC and NPK farm level. SOC predicted by bare soil reflectance, N: vegetation, P: topography, K is indiscrete. Map reveal SOC & NPK stoichiometric thresholds at scale for small-farm management.
Powell Mponela; Sieglinde Snapp; Grace B. Villamor; Lulseged Tamene; Quang Bao Le; Christian Borgemeister. Digital soil mapping of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon and their crop response thresholds in smallholder managed escarpments of Malawi. Applied Geography 2020, 124, 102299 .
AMA StylePowell Mponela, Sieglinde Snapp, Grace B. Villamor, Lulseged Tamene, Quang Bao Le, Christian Borgemeister. Digital soil mapping of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon and their crop response thresholds in smallholder managed escarpments of Malawi. Applied Geography. 2020; 124 ():102299.
Chicago/Turabian StylePowell Mponela; Sieglinde Snapp; Grace B. Villamor; Lulseged Tamene; Quang Bao Le; Christian Borgemeister. 2020. "Digital soil mapping of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon and their crop response thresholds in smallholder managed escarpments of Malawi." Applied Geography 124, no. : 102299.
This paper explores the role of women empowerment and labour on enabling farmers to cross two hurdles: adopt and intensify soil fertility management (SFM), coming after six decades of SFM research that disseminated several technologies. Despite the assertion that productivity gains cannot be realised unless drivers of soil degradation are addressed, SFM usage is low. We collected data from a systematically drawn random sample of 238 farmers, representing 30% of farming households in five villages in Malawi’s Rift Valley escarpments and analysed using a double‐hurdle model. Descriptive results show that 90% of the respondents used inorganic fertilizers, 72% planted legumes and 57% applied organic manure. The empirical analysis shows that one percentage point increase in dependency ratio reduces probability to apply organic amendments by 0.4 percentage‐points and erodes the positive influence of increasing labour on application of inorganic fertilizer. As women become increasingly empowered in decision‐making, there are significant trade‐offs: a percentage‐point increase in women empowerment in agriculture index (WEAI) potentially leads to a one‐third percentage‐point increase in the area allocated to legumes but reduces the amount of organic manure applied with higher elasticity of two percentage‐points. Considering the trade‐offs, sustainable intensification could be achieved by harnessing the positive influences while concurrently reducing the negative ones over a decision space. Notably, addressing the negative effect associated with women empowerment on manuring could unlock potentials for integrated SFM as women are already engaged in legume cropping.
Powell Mponela; Grace B. Villamor; Sieglinde Snapp; Lulseged Tamene; Quang B. Le; Christian Borgemeister. The role of women empowerment and labour dependency on adoption of integrated soil fertility management in Malawi. Soil Use and Management 2020, 37, 390 -402.
AMA StylePowell Mponela, Grace B. Villamor, Sieglinde Snapp, Lulseged Tamene, Quang B. Le, Christian Borgemeister. The role of women empowerment and labour dependency on adoption of integrated soil fertility management in Malawi. Soil Use and Management. 2020; 37 (2):390-402.
Chicago/Turabian StylePowell Mponela; Grace B. Villamor; Sieglinde Snapp; Lulseged Tamene; Quang B. Le; Christian Borgemeister. 2020. "The role of women empowerment and labour dependency on adoption of integrated soil fertility management in Malawi." Soil Use and Management 37, no. 2: 390-402.
This study concerns the potential impact of the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies on household food security. Our analysis is based on a sample of 312 households in the Chinyanja Triangle using questionnaires. We use Propensity Score Matching to estimate treatment effects of adoption. Results show that the adoption of conservation technologies has significant impact on cereal consumption. The Average Treatment effect on the Treated, based on three matching algorithms, ranges from 222.18 to 320.95 kgs of cereal consumed per year. The results imply that efforts to improve the adoption of these technologies could contribute to food security.
Nelson Mango; Clifton Makate; Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu. Impact of the adoption of conservation practices on cereal consumption in a maize-based farming system in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. Sustainable Futures 2020, 2, 100014 .
AMA StyleNelson Mango, Clifton Makate, Lulseged Tamene, Powell Mponela, Gift Ndengu. Impact of the adoption of conservation practices on cereal consumption in a maize-based farming system in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. Sustainable Futures. 2020; 2 ():100014.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNelson Mango; Clifton Makate; Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu. 2020. "Impact of the adoption of conservation practices on cereal consumption in a maize-based farming system in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa." Sustainable Futures 2, no. : 100014.
While soil degradation is a major threat to food security and carbon sequestration, our knowledge of the spatial extent of the problem and its drivers is very limited in southern Africa. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the risk of soil structural degradation and determine the variation in soil stoichiometry and nutrient limitations with land use categories (LUCs) and climatic zones. Using data on soil clay, silt, organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P) and sulphur (S) concentrations collected from 4468 plots on 29 sites across Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, this study presents novel insights into the variations in soil structural degradation and nutrient limitations. The analysis revealed strikingly consistent stoichiometric coupling of total N, P and S concentrations with SOC across LUCs. The only exception was on crop land where available P was decoupled from SOC. Across sample plots, the probability (φ) of severe soil structural degradation was 0.52. The probability of SOC concentrations falling below the critical value of 1.5% was 0.49. The probabilities of soil total N, available P and S concentrations falling below their critical values were 0.95, 0.70 and 0.83, respectively. N limitation occurred with greater probability in woodland (φ = 0.99) and forestland (φ = 0.97) than in cropland (φ = 0.92) and grassland (φ = 0.90) soils. It is concluded that soil structural degradation, low SOC concentrations and N and S limitations are widespread across southern Africa. Therefore, significant changes in policies and practices in land management are needed to reverse the rate of soil structural degradation and increase soil carbon storage.
Lulseged Tamene; Gudeta W. Sileshi; Gift Ndengu; Powell Mponela; Job Kihara; Andrew Sila; Jérôme Tondoh. Soil structural degradation and nutrient limitations across land use categories and climatic zones in Southern Africa. Land Degradation & Development 2019, 30, 1288 -1299.
AMA StyleLulseged Tamene, Gudeta W. Sileshi, Gift Ndengu, Powell Mponela, Job Kihara, Andrew Sila, Jérôme Tondoh. Soil structural degradation and nutrient limitations across land use categories and climatic zones in Southern Africa. Land Degradation & Development. 2019; 30 (11):1288-1299.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLulseged Tamene; Gudeta W. Sileshi; Gift Ndengu; Powell Mponela; Job Kihara; Andrew Sila; Jérôme Tondoh. 2019. "Soil structural degradation and nutrient limitations across land use categories and climatic zones in Southern Africa." Land Degradation & Development 30, no. 11: 1288-1299.
Empirical scientific evidence indicates that there is still room for increasing food production by improving land productivity. This study aimed at identifying the key determinants that govern farmers’ decisions to adopt multiple components of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) in a maize mixed cropping system of the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. Revealed preferences of ISFM components were collected from 320 randomly selected households and multivariate probit (MVP) model was used to analyse the simultaneous effects on adoption based on biophysical plot and household‐level socioeconomic attributes. The results show that farmers’ choices of a set of ISFM components are determined by a mix of factors that address the trade‐offs and synergies among them. Non‐farm income, moderate land quality perception, and education influence simultaneous technology adoption, while gender and crop loss increase the likelihood of farmers’ decisions to adopt independent options. Having other sources of income supports co‐adoption of inorganic fertilizer, residue incorporation, and crop rotation. Input/output market access, access to information, financial sources, and climate variability also play pivotal role in technology adoption. These results indicate that resource availability, learning costs, finances, and risk aversion need to be considered when designing and promoting ISFM technologies as a package.
Powell Mponela; Girma T. Kassie; Lulseged D. Tamene. Simultaneous adoption of integrated soil fertility management technologies in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. Natural Resources Forum 2018, 42, 172 -184.
AMA StylePowell Mponela, Girma T. Kassie, Lulseged D. Tamene. Simultaneous adoption of integrated soil fertility management technologies in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. Natural Resources Forum. 2018; 42 (3):172-184.
Chicago/Turabian StylePowell Mponela; Girma T. Kassie; Lulseged D. Tamene. 2018. "Simultaneous adoption of integrated soil fertility management technologies in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa." Natural Resources Forum 42, no. 3: 172-184.
This article is concerned with the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on household income in the Chinyanja Triangle. Chinyanja Triangle is a region that is increasingly experiencing mid-season dry spells and an increase in occurrence of drought, which is attributed largely to climate variability and change. This poses high agricultural production risks, which aggravate poverty and food insecurity. For this region, adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice is very important. Through a binary logistic and ordinary least squares regression, this article determines factors that influence the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on income among smallholder farmers. The results show that off-farm employment, access to irrigation equipment, access to reliable water sources and awareness of water conservation practices, such as rainwater harvesting, have a significant influence on the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming. On the other hand, the farmer’s age, distance travelled to the nearest market and nature of employment negatively influence the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming decisions. Ordinary least squares regression results showed that the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice has a significant positive influence on agricultural income. We therefore conclude that to empower smallholder farmers to respond quickly to climate variability and change, practices that will enhance the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming in the Chinyanja Triangle are critical, as this will significantly affect agricultural income. In terms of policy, we recommend that the governments of Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, which cover the Chinyanja Triangle, formulate policies that will enhance the adoption of sustainable small scale-irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice. This will go a long way in mitigating the adverse effects that accompany climate variability and change in the region.
Nelson Mango; Clifton Makate; Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu. Adoption of Small-Scale Irrigation Farming as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Influence on Household Income in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. Land 2018, 7, 49 .
AMA StyleNelson Mango, Clifton Makate, Lulseged Tamene, Powell Mponela, Gift Ndengu. Adoption of Small-Scale Irrigation Farming as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Influence on Household Income in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. Land. 2018; 7 (2):49.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNelson Mango; Clifton Makate; Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu. 2018. "Adoption of Small-Scale Irrigation Farming as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Influence on Household Income in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa." Land 7, no. 2: 49.
This article concerns the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on household income in the Chinyanja Triangle. Chinyanja Triangle is a region that experiences mid-season dry spells and an increase in occurrences of drought due to low and erratic rainfall patterns which is attributed largely to climate variability and change. This poses high agricultural production risks, which aggravate poverty and food insecurity. For this region, adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice is very important. Through a binary logistic and ordinary least squares regression, the article determines factors that influence the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on income among smallholder farmers. The results show that off-farm employment, access to irrigation equipment, access to reliable water sources and awareness of water conservation practices, such as rainwater harvesting have a significant influence on the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming. On the other hand, the farmer’s age, distance travelled to the nearest market and nature of employment negatively influenced the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming decisions. Ordinary least squares regression results showed that the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice has a significant positive influence on agricultural income. We therefore conclude that to empower smallholder farmers to quickly respond to climate variability and change, practices that will enhance adoption of small-scale irrigation farming in the Chinyanja Triangle are critical as this will significantly impact on agricultural income.
Nelson Mango; Clifton Makate; Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu. Adoption of Small-Scale Irrigation Farming as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Influence on Household Income in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. 2018, 1 .
AMA StyleNelson Mango, Clifton Makate, Lulseged Tamene, Powell Mponela, Gift Ndengu. Adoption of Small-Scale Irrigation Farming as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Influence on Household Income in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. . 2018; ():1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNelson Mango; Clifton Makate; Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu. 2018. "Adoption of Small-Scale Irrigation Farming as a Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice and Its Influence on Household Income in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa." , no. : 1.
The promotion of land, soil and water conservation measures has been a widespread development in sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to tackle degradation and improve productivity. As a result, several governments have launched various campaigns on soil, land and water conservation measures. The aim of this study is to determine some of the factors that influence farmers’ awareness (knowledge) and adoption of land, soil and water conservation practices. Data for this study was collected from 312 households using a questionnaire survey in the Chinyanja Triangle of Southern Africa. The study sites were sampled from Tete province of Mozambique, central and southern regions of Malawi and eastern Province of Zambia. We used t-tests to classify adopters and non-adopters of soil, land and water conservation measures and binomial logit models to identify the factors that influence farmers’ knowledge of conservation measures and adoption of land productivity practices. The results show that the household head's age, education, agricultural advice reception and farmer group membership are critical in raising awareness. While the household head's age, education, agricultural advice reception, farmer group membership, pieces of land owned or used in production and land-to-man ratio influenced adoption decisions. The study, therefore, concludes that in order to improve land productivity in the Chinyanja Triangle, there is a need to consider farmers’ heterogeneity in terms of household head's age, level of education, extension services outreach, and socio-economic characteristics. This suggests that governments’ policies in the region should be aimed at improving farmers’ level of education, extension delivery that will target the elderly and the youth, land ownership, credit access, and social capital such as group formation
Nelson Mango; Clifton Makate; Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu. Awareness and adoption of land, soil and water conservation practices in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 2017, 5, 122 -129.
AMA StyleNelson Mango, Clifton Makate, Lulseged Tamene, Powell Mponela, Gift Ndengu. Awareness and adoption of land, soil and water conservation practices in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa. International Soil and Water Conservation Research. 2017; 5 (2):122-129.
Chicago/Turabian StyleNelson Mango; Clifton Makate; Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu. 2017. "Awareness and adoption of land, soil and water conservation practices in the Chinyanja Triangle, Southern Africa." International Soil and Water Conservation Research 5, no. 2: 122-129.
Powell Mponela; Lulseged Tamene; Gift Ndengu; Ruth Magreta; Job Kihara; Nelson Mango. Determinants of integrated soil fertility management technologies adoption by smallholder farmers in the Chinyanja Triangle of Southern Africa. Land Use Policy 2016, 59, 38 -48.
AMA StylePowell Mponela, Lulseged Tamene, Gift Ndengu, Ruth Magreta, Job Kihara, Nelson Mango. Determinants of integrated soil fertility management technologies adoption by smallholder farmers in the Chinyanja Triangle of Southern Africa. Land Use Policy. 2016; 59 ():38-48.
Chicago/Turabian StylePowell Mponela; Lulseged Tamene; Gift Ndengu; Ruth Magreta; Job Kihara; Nelson Mango. 2016. "Determinants of integrated soil fertility management technologies adoption by smallholder farmers in the Chinyanja Triangle of Southern Africa." Land Use Policy 59, no. : 38-48.
Variability in woody plant species, vegetation assemblages and anthropogenic activities derails the efforts to have common approaches for estimating biomass and carbon stocks in Africa. In order to suggest management options, it is important to understand the vegetation dynamics and the major drivers governing the observed conditions. This study uses data from 29 sentinel landscapes (4640 plots) across the southern Africa. We used T-Square distance method to sample trees. Allometric models were used to estimate aboveground tree biomass from which aboveground biomass carbon stock (AGBCS) was derived for each site. Results show average tree density of 502 trees·ha−1 with semi-arid areas having the highest (682 trees·ha−1) and arid regions the lowest (393 trees·ha−1). The overall AGBCS was 56.4 Mg·ha−1. However, significant site to site variability existed across the region. Over 60 fold differences were noted between the lowest AGBCS (2.2 Mg·ha−1) in the Musungwa plains of Zambia and the highest (138.1 Mg·ha−1) in the scrublands of Kenilworth in Zimbabwe. Semi-arid and humid sites had higher carbon stocks than sites in sub-humid and arid regions. Anthropogenic activities also influenced the observed carbon stocks. Repeated measurements would reveal future trends in tree cover and carbon stocks across different systems.
Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gudeta W. Sileshi; Jiehua Chen; Jérôme E. Tondoh. Spatial Variation in Tree Density and Estimated Aboveground Carbon Stocks in Southern Africa. Forests 2016, 7, 57 .
AMA StyleLulseged Tamene, Powell Mponela, Gudeta W. Sileshi, Jiehua Chen, Jérôme E. Tondoh. Spatial Variation in Tree Density and Estimated Aboveground Carbon Stocks in Southern Africa. Forests. 2016; 7 (12):57.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gudeta W. Sileshi; Jiehua Chen; Jérôme E. Tondoh. 2016. "Spatial Variation in Tree Density and Estimated Aboveground Carbon Stocks in Southern Africa." Forests 7, no. 12: 57.
This study explored the effect of soil nutrient status, agronomic practices and socio-economic factors on maize yield attained by smallholder farmers in the Dedza District of Malawi. Results show that maize yield ranged between 0.4 and 12 t ha−1 with a mean value of 4.1 t ha−1. Observed high yields (>8.0 t ha−1) were associated with households using improved varieties combined with improved management practices such as NPK, urea and animal manure. With regards to soil factors, boron (B) and nitrogen (N) which are critically deficient in the area were significantly (β = 21.1, p p −1) than those with the highest rating (2.3 t ha−1). Socio-economic factors such as household wealth, household members with off-farm employment, number of years the household head has been involved in farming decision making, access to agricultural advice and group membership also influenced agronomic practices and resulted in yield gap. Household wealth and off-farm employment contributed to increased yield while household head experience in farming had negative impact. Extension service impacted yield negatively which can be attributed to the low extension worker to farmer ratio. The study demonstrated that closing yield gap in maize mixed farming systems requires integrated approach to addressing agronomic, biophysical and socio-economic constraints.
Lulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu; Job Kihara. Assessment of maize yield gap and major determinant factors between smallholder farmers in the Dedza district of Malawi. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 2015, 105, 291 -308.
AMA StyleLulseged Tamene, Powell Mponela, Gift Ndengu, Job Kihara. Assessment of maize yield gap and major determinant factors between smallholder farmers in the Dedza district of Malawi. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems. 2015; 105 (3):291-308.
Chicago/Turabian StyleLulseged Tamene; Powell Mponela; Gift Ndengu; Job Kihara. 2015. "Assessment of maize yield gap and major determinant factors between smallholder farmers in the Dedza district of Malawi." Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 105, no. 3: 291-308.
Powell Mponela; Charles B.L. Jumbe; Weston F. Mwase. Determinants and extent of land allocation for Jatropha curcas L. cultivation among smallholder farmers in Malawi. Biomass and Bioenergy 2011, 35, 2499 -2505.
AMA StylePowell Mponela, Charles B.L. Jumbe, Weston F. Mwase. Determinants and extent of land allocation for Jatropha curcas L. cultivation among smallholder farmers in Malawi. Biomass and Bioenergy. 2011; 35 (7):2499-2505.
Chicago/Turabian StylePowell Mponela; Charles B.L. Jumbe; Weston F. Mwase. 2011. "Determinants and extent of land allocation for Jatropha curcas L. cultivation among smallholder farmers in Malawi." Biomass and Bioenergy 35, no. 7: 2499-2505.