This page has only limited features, please log in for full access.

Dr. Ben Sonneveld
Amsterdam Centre for World Food Studies/Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Basic Info

Basic Info is private.

Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Environmental Impact Assessment
0 Environmental Modeling
0 Sustainable Development
0 environment
0 Land-use management

Fingerprints

environment

Honors and Awards

The user has no records in this section


Career Timeline

The user has no records in this section.


Short Biography

Ben Sonneveld (1957) is the deputy director of the Amsterdam Centre for World Food Studies (ACWFS) of the VU University of Amsterdam. He holds an M.Sc. from Wageningen University, Netherlands, with majors in tropical crop science, soil science and plant physiology. He worked from 1985 to 1987 in Indonesia for the International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement and from 1987 to 1992 for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in land and water development projects in Latin America. In 1992, he joined the VU University where he has been involved in food security projects in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Benin, Jordan River Basin, Palestinian Territories and Senegal. For his Ph.D., he received the AIID/World Bank Thesis Award. Sonneveld publishes in leading natural resource management and ecological economic journals. A central topic of his research is the modelling of the impact of land and water degradation on the agricultural production and eco-services.

Following
Followers
Co Authors
The list of users this user is following is empty.
Following: 0 users

Feed

Journal article
Published: 30 June 2021 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

A Rapid Food Security Appraisal among 240 rural and urban dwellers in southern Benin was conducted, using univariate and bivariate analyses, to evaluate the effects of the imposed COVID-19 ‘cordon sanitaire’ on food consumption patterns. As this is one of the first empirical studies on the COVID-19 food security nexus, we found that the raging pandemic has affected the food security pillars (availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability) in both rural and urban areas, within and outside the cordon sanitaire. The steepest decline was observed among respondents who live inside the cordon sanitaire, where rural producers and urban inhabitants without access to allotment gardens were hit hard. Increased food prices, disruptions in food logistics, and inability to work due to movement restrictions were most frequently indicated as reasons for the decline. Access to allotment gardens effectively supported households in mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food crisis.

ACS Style

Mawuna Houessou; Annemijn Cassee; Ben Sonneveld. The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Security in Rural and Urban Settlements in Benin: Do Allotment Gardens Soften the Blow? Sustainability 2021, 13, 7313 .

AMA Style

Mawuna Houessou, Annemijn Cassee, Ben Sonneveld. The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Security in Rural and Urban Settlements in Benin: Do Allotment Gardens Soften the Blow? Sustainability. 2021; 13 (13):7313.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mawuna Houessou; Annemijn Cassee; Ben Sonneveld. 2021. "The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Security in Rural and Urban Settlements in Benin: Do Allotment Gardens Soften the Blow?" Sustainability 13, no. 13: 7313.

Journal article
Published: 19 March 2021 in Land
Reads 0
Downloads 0

In the context of rapid urbanization, poorer residents in cities across low- and middle-income countries increasingly experience food and nutrition deficiencies. The United Nations has highlighted urban agriculture (UA) as a viable solution to food insecurity, by empowering the urban poor to produce their own fresh foods and make some profit from surplus production. Despite its potential role in reducing poverty and food insecurity, there appears to be little political will to support urban agriculture. This is seen in unclear political mandates that are sustained by information gaps on selection criteria for UA sites. The research reported here addresses this issue in the form of a decision-making support tool that assesses the suitability of cadastral units and informal plots for allotment gardens in urban and peri-urban areas. The tool was developed and tested for three rapidly expanding cities in Benin, a low-income country in West Africa, based on an ordered logit model that relates a set of 300 expert assessments on site suitability to georeferenced information on biophysical and socio-economic characteristics. Soil, land use, groundwater depth, vicinity to market and women’s safety were significant factors in the assessment. Scaled up across all cadastral units and informal sites, the tool generated detailed baseline maps on site suitability and availability of areas. Its capacity to support policymakers in selecting appropriate sites comes to the fore by reporting changes in site suitability under scenarios of improved soil fertility and enhanced safety for women.

ACS Style

B. Sonneveld; M. Houessou; G. Van Den Boom; A. Aoudji. Where Do I Allocate My Urban Allotment Gardens? Development of a Site Selection Tool for Three Cities in Benin. Land 2021, 10, 318 .

AMA Style

B. Sonneveld, M. Houessou, G. Van Den Boom, A. Aoudji. Where Do I Allocate My Urban Allotment Gardens? Development of a Site Selection Tool for Three Cities in Benin. Land. 2021; 10 (3):318.

Chicago/Turabian Style

B. Sonneveld; M. Houessou; G. Van Den Boom; A. Aoudji. 2021. "Where Do I Allocate My Urban Allotment Gardens? Development of a Site Selection Tool for Three Cities in Benin." Land 10, no. 3: 318.

Journal article
Published: 16 March 2021 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The Nyangatom, in South Omo, Ethiopia, are a group of agro-pastoralists whose access to land is affected by large-scale sugarcane development projects. An informed selection of appropriate livestock management measures by local communities requires a spatially explicit representation of prevailing and changing supply–demand relationships for livestock herds among the Nyangatom. This study addresses this caveat and identifies seasonal and location-specific ‘hotspots’ in Nyangatom, where fodder demand exceeds supply. Assessments of fodder production are based on primary data collected through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observations. Overall, annual fodder availability is estimated at 508,967 tonnes against the requirement of 584,205 tons, resulting in a deficit of 12.9% annually after out-migration. Under the implementation of the Omo-V sugarcane project and climate change, the fodder supply deficit will worsen to 219,977 tonnes annually. The most critical dry matter hotspots are found in the western and central parts of Nyangatom near the Kibish River, which shows the highest livestock density. In contrast, better fodder supply is estimated around the southwestern and northeastern parts. Change in policy, the frequency of droughts, conflict, and the large-scale irrigation schemes-induced reduction of the Omo River floods are accounted for the changes. Thus, there are strong signals to the local community and government to collaborate to reduce the potential constraints that affect sustainable rangeland management and food security and ensure sufficient attention to the interest of the agro-pastoralists.

ACS Style

Adane Gebeyehu; Ben Sonneveld; Denyse Snelder. Identifying Hotspots of Overgrazing in Pastoral Areas: Livestock Mobility and Fodder Supply–Demand Balances in Nyangatom, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia. Sustainability 2021, 13, 3260 .

AMA Style

Adane Gebeyehu, Ben Sonneveld, Denyse Snelder. Identifying Hotspots of Overgrazing in Pastoral Areas: Livestock Mobility and Fodder Supply–Demand Balances in Nyangatom, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (6):3260.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Adane Gebeyehu; Ben Sonneveld; Denyse Snelder. 2021. "Identifying Hotspots of Overgrazing in Pastoral Areas: Livestock Mobility and Fodder Supply–Demand Balances in Nyangatom, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia." Sustainability 13, no. 6: 3260.

Journal article
Published: 04 November 2020 in International Journal of Health Geographics
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Background The impact of diet diversity—defined as the number of different foods or food groups consumed over a given reference period—on child nutrition outcomes strongly interacts with agro-ecological, institutional, and socio-economic drivers of child food and nutrition security. Yet, the literature on the impact of diet diversity typically estimates average treatment effects, largely ignoring impact heterogeneity among different groups. Methods In this paper, we introduce a new method of profiling to identify groups of treatment units that stand to gain the most from a given intervention. We start from the ‘polling approach’ which provides a fully flexible (non-parametric) method to profile vulnerability patterns (patterns in ‘needs’) across highly heterogeneous environments [35]. Here we combine this polling methodology with matching techniques to identify ‘impact profiles’ showing how impact varies across non-parametric profiles. We use this method to explore the potential for improving child nutrition outcomes, in particular stunting, through targeted improvements in dietary diversity in a physically and socio-economically diverse country, namely Zimbabwe. Complex interaction effects with agro-ecological, institutional and socio-economic conditions are accounted for. Finally, we analyze whether targeting interventions at the neediest (as identified by the polling approach) will also create the largest benefits. Results The dominant profile for stunted children is that they are young (6–12 months), live in poorer/poorest households, in rural areas characterized by significant sloping of the terrain and with one-sided emphasis on maize cultivation and medium dry conditions. When moving from “need” to “maximal impact”, we calculate both the coverage in “need” as well as the impact coverage, and find that targeting on need does not always provide the largest impact. Conclusions Policy-makers need to remain alert that targeting on need is not always the same as targeting on impact. Estimation of heterogeneous treatment effects allows for more efficient targeting. It also enhances the external validity of the estimated impact findings, as the impact of child diet diversity on stunting depends on various agro-ecological variables, and policy-makers can relate these findings to areas outside our study area with similar agro-ecological conditions.

ACS Style

Remco Oostendorp; Lia Van Wesenbeeck; Ben Sonneveld; Precious Zikhali. Who lacks and who benefits from diet diversity: evidence from (impact) profiling for children in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Health Geographics 2020, 19, 1 -15.

AMA Style

Remco Oostendorp, Lia Van Wesenbeeck, Ben Sonneveld, Precious Zikhali. Who lacks and who benefits from diet diversity: evidence from (impact) profiling for children in Zimbabwe. International Journal of Health Geographics. 2020; 19 (1):1-15.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Remco Oostendorp; Lia Van Wesenbeeck; Ben Sonneveld; Precious Zikhali. 2020. "Who lacks and who benefits from diet diversity: evidence from (impact) profiling for children in Zimbabwe." International Journal of Health Geographics 19, no. 1: 1-15.

Journal article
Published: 21 October 2020 in ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The majority of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa face myriad challenges to participating in agribusiness markets. However, how the spatially explicit factors interact to influence household decision choices at the local level is not well understood. This paper’s objective is to identify, map, and analyze spatial dependency and heterogeneity in factors that impede poor smallholders from participating in agribusiness markets. Using the researcher-administered survey questionnaires, we collected geo-referenced data from 392 households in Western Kenya. We used three spatial geostatistics methods in Geographic Information System to analyze data—Global Moran’s I, Cluster and Outliers Analysis, and geographically weighted regression. Results show that factors impeding smallholder farmers exhibited local spatial autocorrelation that was linked to the local context. We identified distinct local spatial clusters (hot spots and cold spots clusters) that were spatially and statistically significant. Results affirm that spatially explicit factors play a crucial role in influencing the farming decisions of smallholder households. The paper has demonstrated that geospatial analysis using geographically disaggregated data and methods could help in the identification of resource-poor households and neighborhoods. To improve poor smallholders’ participation in agribusiness, we recommend policymakers to design spatially targeted interventions that are embedded in the local context and informed by locally expressed needs.

ACS Style

Mwehe Mathenge; Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld; Jacqueline E. W. Broerse. A Spatially Explicit Approach for Targeting Resource-Poor Smallholders to Improve their Participation in Agribusiness: A Case of Nyando and Vihiga County in Western Kenya. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 2020, 9, 612 .

AMA Style

Mwehe Mathenge, Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld, Jacqueline E. W. Broerse. A Spatially Explicit Approach for Targeting Resource-Poor Smallholders to Improve their Participation in Agribusiness: A Case of Nyando and Vihiga County in Western Kenya. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2020; 9 (10):612.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mwehe Mathenge; Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld; Jacqueline E. W. Broerse. 2020. "A Spatially Explicit Approach for Targeting Resource-Poor Smallholders to Improve their Participation in Agribusiness: A Case of Nyando and Vihiga County in Western Kenya." ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 9, no. 10: 612.

Journal article
Published: 17 July 2020 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Propelled by rapid urbanization, city administrations in low- and middle-income countries face a raft of challenges to secure food and nutrition for its poor urban dwellers. Urban agriculture (UA) seems a viable intervention to address urban food insecurity, however, experience has shown that urban gardens do not expand at the expected rate. Tackling this issue requires a deeper understanding of the main constraints that block UA expansion. Benin is not an exception; the country witnesses a breathtaking growth of its main cities that is in synchronization with a mounting food insecurity. Our research aims, therefore, to identify the main constraints for the expansion of UA in Benin, and adopt a three-pronged approach combined with a systematic literature review, a survey held among experienced urban gardeners, and in-depth interviews with stakeholders. Altogether, the synthesis shows a predominance of five main constraints: lack of land and tenure insecurity, insufficient government support, restricted market access, limited access to productive factors, and inequality issues. Specifically, while the review showed that most barriers are linked and could be tackled together, the survey indicated a political unwillingness which in our in-depth interviews is explained by the unperceived benefits of investing in UA and the lack of enforcement of urban development plans. We suggest that Beninese authorities and academics move in synchronization where the former coordinates the planning of urban gardens and the latter provides evidence to trigger public and private investments in UA. The findings could be the basis for further research on UA in West Africa and the wider continent.

ACS Style

Mawuna Houessou; Mirte Van De Louw; Ben Sonneveld. What Constraints the Expansion of Urban Agriculture in Benin? Sustainability 2020, 12, 5774 .

AMA Style

Mawuna Houessou, Mirte Van De Louw, Ben Sonneveld. What Constraints the Expansion of Urban Agriculture in Benin? Sustainability. 2020; 12 (14):5774.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mawuna Houessou; Mirte Van De Louw; Ben Sonneveld. 2020. "What Constraints the Expansion of Urban Agriculture in Benin?" Sustainability 12, no. 14: 5774.

Journal article
Published: 21 August 2019 in Sustainability
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Urban gardening offers a viable option to improve diet diversity for the urban poor. Yet, its success rate is particularly dependent on the managerial capacities of urban gardeners to coordinate and organize collective actions for the successful exploitation of the gardens. The calls from governments to organize cooperative structures among farmers seem justified and merits a high priority on agricultural policy agendas. Although principles of cooperative structures exist, there is no blueprint available that indicates how to start a gardeners’ cooperation. Moreover, these collaborations need to ally with and build on existing social structures of the urban gardeners involved. Our research can contribute to this alignment process by exploring and comparing international standards of prevailing organizations and their functioning among 261 gardeners in two cities in Benin. We found that a vast majority of urban gardeners are members of a cooperation. Nevertheless, their membership is largely titular because gardeners mostly behave semi-autonomously and few decisions are taken collectively. The obvious economic advantages of leveraging bargaining power, reducing transaction costs, and increasing possibilities for loans are seriously underutilized. We suggest that capacity building can help to develop cooperation among urban gardeners to reach their full potential which, congruently, should also improve the livelihoods of the urban poor.

ACS Style

Donald M. Houessou; Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld; Augustin K. N. Aoudji; Frejus S. Thoto; Smith A. R. Dossou; Denyse J. R. M. Snelder; Anselme A. Adegbidi; Tjard De Cock Buning. How to Transition from Cooperations to Cooperatives: A Case Study of the Factors Impacting the Organization of Urban Gardeners in Benin. Sustainability 2019, 11, 4528 .

AMA Style

Donald M. Houessou, Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld, Augustin K. N. Aoudji, Frejus S. Thoto, Smith A. R. Dossou, Denyse J. R. M. Snelder, Anselme A. Adegbidi, Tjard De Cock Buning. How to Transition from Cooperations to Cooperatives: A Case Study of the Factors Impacting the Organization of Urban Gardeners in Benin. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (17):4528.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Donald M. Houessou; Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld; Augustin K. N. Aoudji; Frejus S. Thoto; Smith A. R. Dossou; Denyse J. R. M. Snelder; Anselme A. Adegbidi; Tjard De Cock Buning. 2019. "How to Transition from Cooperations to Cooperatives: A Case Study of the Factors Impacting the Organization of Urban Gardeners in Benin." Sustainability 11, no. 17: 4528.

Journal article
Published: 25 April 2019 in International Journal of the Commons
Reads 0
Downloads 0
ACS Style

Ben Sonneveld; Frejus Thoto; Donald Houessou; C.F.A. van Wesenbeeck. Tragedy of the inland lakes. International Journal of the Commons 2019, 13, 609 .

AMA Style

Ben Sonneveld, Frejus Thoto, Donald Houessou, C.F.A. van Wesenbeeck. Tragedy of the inland lakes. International Journal of the Commons. 2019; 13 (1):609.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ben Sonneveld; Frejus Thoto; Donald Houessou; C.F.A. van Wesenbeeck. 2019. "Tragedy of the inland lakes." International Journal of the Commons 13, no. 1: 609.

Original article
Published: 29 June 2018 in Applied Water Science
Reads 0
Downloads 0

High water consumption and specific soil requirements warrant a long-term planning for date palm cultivation. Hence, this study presents a detailed procedure to calculate water and land balances that assess the suitability for date palm cultivation in three districts of the West Bank. It applies crop response functions to relate spatially explicit land suitability and salinity levels to net revenues. Furthermore, it compares net present values and benefit–cost ratios under various discount rates and salinity levels to assess economic feasibility. Date palm cultivation in Jericho-Al Ghoor is economically achievable, but additional land amendments are required for expansion in Nablus and Tubas districts. Prevailing average salinity levels have minor negative influence on future date palm developments.

ACS Style

B. G. J. S. Sonneveld; A. Marei; Max Merbis; A. Alfarra. The future of date palm cultivation in the Lower Jordan Valley of the West Bank. Applied Water Science 2018, 8, 1 -12.

AMA Style

B. G. J. S. Sonneveld, A. Marei, Max Merbis, A. Alfarra. The future of date palm cultivation in the Lower Jordan Valley of the West Bank. Applied Water Science. 2018; 8 (4):1-12.

Chicago/Turabian Style

B. G. J. S. Sonneveld; A. Marei; Max Merbis; A. Alfarra. 2018. "The future of date palm cultivation in the Lower Jordan Valley of the West Bank." Applied Water Science 8, no. 4: 1-12.

Journal article
Published: 18 November 2017 in Land
Reads 0
Downloads 0

This study develops a methodology to identify hot spots of critical forage supply in nomadic pastoralist areas, using the Afar Region, Ethiopia, as a special case. It addresses two main problems. First, it makes a spatially explicit assessment of fodder supply and demand extracted from a data poor environment. Fodder supply is assessed by combining rainfall-based production functions and rule-based assessment for prevailing land use. Fodder demand is based on a data consistency check of livestock statistics concerning herd size, composition and geographical distribution. Second, individual herd movements have to be evaluated jointly in concurrent migration patterns to assess local pressures on fodder resources. We, therefore, apply a transition model that relates stock levels to seasonal migration routings for all Afar sub-clans jointly so as to localize the hot spots where feed demand exceeds forage supply. Critical areas come to the fore, especially, near fringes of Highlands and in the southern part of the Afar. A sensitivity test shows that ‘Baseline’ scenario is close to the ‘Best’ but under ‘Worst’, the Afar region would fall into despair. We conclude that the model is a useful tool to inform policy makers on critical areas in the Afar region.

ACS Style

B. G. J. S. Sonneveld; C. F. A. Van Wesenbeeck; M. A. Keyzer; F. Beyene; K. Georgis; F. Urbano; M. Meroni; O. Leo; M. K. Yimer; M. Abdullatif. Identifying Hot Spots of Critical Forage Supply in Dryland Nomadic Pastoralist Areas: A Case Study for the Afar Region, Ethiopia. Land 2017, 6, 82 .

AMA Style

B. G. J. S. Sonneveld, C. F. A. Van Wesenbeeck, M. A. Keyzer, F. Beyene, K. Georgis, F. Urbano, M. Meroni, O. Leo, M. K. Yimer, M. Abdullatif. Identifying Hot Spots of Critical Forage Supply in Dryland Nomadic Pastoralist Areas: A Case Study for the Afar Region, Ethiopia. Land. 2017; 6 (4):82.

Chicago/Turabian Style

B. G. J. S. Sonneveld; C. F. A. Van Wesenbeeck; M. A. Keyzer; F. Beyene; K. Georgis; F. Urbano; M. Meroni; O. Leo; M. K. Yimer; M. Abdullatif. 2017. "Identifying Hot Spots of Critical Forage Supply in Dryland Nomadic Pastoralist Areas: A Case Study for the Afar Region, Ethiopia." Land 6, no. 4: 82.

Journal article
Published: 16 August 2016 in Land Degradation & Development
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Rangeland restoration is a multilayered process aimed at improving land condition, often parallel to utilization. To ensure the long-term progress that restoration programs are expected to deliver, they must be designed, implemented and maintained in partnership with local stakeholders. Each program should have clear goals, followed up by measurable ecological and/or socio-economic objectives, to facilitate their evaluation in the long run. In this research, we examine if a large-scale rangeland restoration program in Iceland had contributed to the expected attitudinal and behavioral changes among the participating sheep farmers, as described in the initial objectives of the program. A survey, based on a questionnaire on sheep farmers’ attitude and behavior related to rangeland restoration and land management practices, was used to gauge the perception of participating farmers, in comparison to non-participating farmers. Our results show that participating farmers are more aware of the potential of rangeland restoration and are more motivated to engage in further collaboration, when compared to non-participating farmers. Nevertheless, our results indicate that, despite of extensive areas of degraded land already successfully treated within the restoration program, the program has not facilitated other anticipated attitudinal and behavioral changes among its participants as expected. Furthermore, it seems that the direct incentives provided by the program are pushing participating farmers towards favoring agronomic instead of ecological approaches in their restoration activities, when compared to the non-participating farmers. Our results also point to several organizational errors embedded in the program management that might be halting its further progress. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

ACS Style

Thorunn Petursdottir; Asa L. Aradottir; Susan Baker; Gudmundur Halldorsson; Ben Sonneveld. Successes and Failures in Rangeland Restoration: An Icelandic Case Study. Land Degradation & Development 2016, 28, 34 -45.

AMA Style

Thorunn Petursdottir, Asa L. Aradottir, Susan Baker, Gudmundur Halldorsson, Ben Sonneveld. Successes and Failures in Rangeland Restoration: An Icelandic Case Study. Land Degradation & Development. 2016; 28 (1):34-45.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Thorunn Petursdottir; Asa L. Aradottir; Susan Baker; Gudmundur Halldorsson; Ben Sonneveld. 2016. "Successes and Failures in Rangeland Restoration: An Icelandic Case Study." Land Degradation & Development 28, no. 1: 34-45.

Journal article
Published: 26 January 2016 in Journal of Sustainable Development
Reads 0
Downloads 0

This paper investigates if farmers’ asset values have a predictive power to asses land quality. A rich sustainable livelihood literature describes small farmers’ biophysical and socio-economic environment through asset values, which closely adheres to the required information for an integrated quality appraisal of the natural resource base. For our analysis we use an in-depth survey held among 50 famers’ households in three rural areas of Senegal. Farmers gave scores for their livelihood assets (human, physical, natural, financial and social) and judgments on the state and trend of the quality of their natural resource base (crop land, rangeland, forest and water resources). As our observational data are dominated by unobserved heterogeneity, we refrain from causal statistical analysis and seek associative patterns between asset values and state and trend of natural resource quality using data visualization techniques and descriptive statistics. We compare categorical data on state and trend of land qualities with asset value classes in a frequency distributions evaluation (Chi-square) and with continuous asset value scores in an analysis of variance (ANOVA). For state of forest we found consistent but counterintuitive differences for various asset values with higher asset values for ‘degraded’ classes and lower values for ‘good’ quality of the forests. There is some evidence that trend of forest quality can be derived from asset value scores which were in agreement with our premise of lower scores for low quality and higher scores for better quality. Yet, overall we have to conclude that asset values do not correlate straightforward and unequivocally with state and trend of natural resource quality.

ACS Style

Ben Sonneveld; Sally Bunning; Riccardo Biancalani; D. Ndiaye; Freddy Nachtergaele. Do Farmers’ Asset Values Correlate with Land Quality? Journal of Sustainable Development 2016, 9, 268 .

AMA Style

Ben Sonneveld, Sally Bunning, Riccardo Biancalani, D. Ndiaye, Freddy Nachtergaele. Do Farmers’ Asset Values Correlate with Land Quality? Journal of Sustainable Development. 2016; 9 (1):268.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ben Sonneveld; Sally Bunning; Riccardo Biancalani; D. Ndiaye; Freddy Nachtergaele. 2016. "Do Farmers’ Asset Values Correlate with Land Quality?" Journal of Sustainable Development 9, no. 1: 268.

Journal article
Published: 21 January 2016 in Solid Earth
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Land degradation has been a persistent problem in Senegal for more than a century and by now has become a serious impediment to long-term development. In this paper, we quantify the impact of land degradation on crop yields using the results of a nationwide land degradation assessment. For this, the study needs to address two issues. First, the land degradation assessment comprises qualitative expert judgements that have to be converted into more objective, quantitative terms. We propose a land degradation index and assess its plausibility. Second, observational data on soils, land use, and rainfall do not provide sufficient information to isolate the impact of land degradation. We, therefore, design a pseudo-experiment that for sites with otherwise similar circumstances compares the yield of a site with and one without land degradation. This pairing exercise is conducted under a gradual refining of the classification of circumstances, until a more or less stable response to land degradation is obtained. In this way, we hope to have controlled sufficiently for confounding variables that will bias the estimation of the impact of land degradation on crop yields. A small number of shared characteristics reveal tendencies of "severe" land degradation levels being associated with declining yields as compared to similar sites with "low" degradation levels. However, as we zoom in at more detail some exceptions come to the fore, in particular in areas without fertilizer application. Yet, our overall conclusion is that yield reduction is associated with higher levels of land degradation, irrespective of whether fertilizer is being applied or not.

ACS Style

B. G. J. S. Sonneveld; M. A. Keyzer; D. Ndiaye. Quantifying the impact of land degradation on crop production: the case of Senegal. Solid Earth 2016, 7, 93 -103.

AMA Style

B. G. J. S. Sonneveld, M. A. Keyzer, D. Ndiaye. Quantifying the impact of land degradation on crop production: the case of Senegal. Solid Earth. 2016; 7 (1):93-103.

Chicago/Turabian Style

B. G. J. S. Sonneveld; M. A. Keyzer; D. Ndiaye. 2016. "Quantifying the impact of land degradation on crop production: the case of Senegal." Solid Earth 7, no. 1: 93-103.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2016 in Applied Geography
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Future climate change potentially can have a strong impact on the African continent. Of special concern are the effects on food security and the restricted adaptive capacity of Africa's poverty stricken population. Targeted policy interventions are, therefore, of vital importance. While there is a broad consensus on selection of climate and agricultural indicators, a coherent spatial representation of the populations' vulnerability is still subject to debate, basically because important drivers at household and institutional level are captured at the coarser (sub)-national level only. This paper aims to address this shortcoming by capitalizing on available spatially explicit information on households, food security institutions and natural resources to identify and characterize vulnerable groups in climate change prone areas of East and West Africa. First, we identify and localize groups with varying degrees of vulnerability, using food security and health indicators from georeferenced household surveys. Second, we characterize these vulnerable groups using statistical techniques that report on the frequency of occurrence of household characteristics, social bonding, remittances and agro-ecological endowments. Third we localize areas where climate change conditions affect production of major staple crops even after a maximum adaptation of crop rotations. Fourth, we characterize the vulnerable groups in the climate change affected areas and compare their profiles with the overall assessment to elucidate whether generic or climate change targeted policies are required. Since climate change will impact predominantly on agricultural production, our analysis focuses on the rural areas. For West Africa, we find that vulnerable groups in areas likely to be affected by climate change do not fundamentally differ from vulnerable groups in the study area in general. However, in East Africa there are remarkable differences between these groups which leads to the conclusion that in this part of Africa, poverty reducing strategies for climate change affected areas should differ from generic ones

ACS Style

C.F.A. van Wesenbeeck; Ben Sonneveld; Roelf L. Voortman. Localization and characterization of populations vulnerable to climate change: Two case studies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Applied Geography 2016, 66, 81 -91.

AMA Style

C.F.A. van Wesenbeeck, Ben Sonneveld, Roelf L. Voortman. Localization and characterization of populations vulnerable to climate change: Two case studies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Applied Geography. 2016; 66 ():81-91.

Chicago/Turabian Style

C.F.A. van Wesenbeeck; Ben Sonneveld; Roelf L. Voortman. 2016. "Localization and characterization of populations vulnerable to climate change: Two case studies in Sub-Saharan Africa." Applied Geography 66, no. : 81-91.

Comparative study
Published: 01 April 2013 in Journal of Environmental Management
Reads 0
Downloads 0

The identification of dryland areas is crucial for guiding policy aimed at intervening in water-stressed areas and addressing the perennial livelihood or food insecurity of these areas. However, the prevailing aridity indices (such as UNEP aridity index) have methodological limitations that restrict their use in delineating drylands and may be insufficient for decision-making frameworks. In this study, we propose a new aridity index based on based on 3 decades of soil moisture time series by accounting for site-specific soil and vegetation that partitions precipitation into the competing demands of evaporation and runoff. Our proposed aridity index is the frequency at which the dominant soil moisture value at a location is not exceeded by the dominant soil moisture values in all of the other locations. To represent the dominant spatial template of the soil moisture conditions, we extract the first eigenfunction from the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis from 3 GLDAS land surface models (LSMs): VIC, MOSAIC and NOAH at 1 × 1 degree spatial resolution. The EOF analysis reveals that the first eigenfunction explains 33%, 43% and 47% of the VIC, NOAH and MOSAIC models, respectively. We compare each LSM aridity indices with the UNEP aridity index, which is created based on LSM data forcings. The VIC aridity index displays a pattern most closely resembling that of UNEP, although all of the LSM-based indices accurately isolate the dominant dryland areas. The UNEP classification identifies portions of south-central Africa, southeastern United States and eastern India as drier than predicted by all of the LSMs. The NOAH and MOSAIC LSMs categorize portions of southwestern Africa as drier than the other two classifications, while all of the LSMs classify portions of central India as wetter than the UNEP classification. We compare all aridity maps with the long-term average NDVI values. Results show that vegetation cover in areas that the UNEP index classifies as drier than the other three LSMs (NDVI values are mostly greater than 0). Finally, the unsupervised clustering of global land surface based on long-term mean temperature and precipitation, soil texture and land slope reveals that areas classified as dry by the UNEP index but not by the LSMs do not have dry region characteristics. The dominant cluster for these areas has high water holding capacity. We conclude that the LSM-based aridity index may identify dryland areas more effectively than the UNEP aridity index because the former incorporates the role of vegetation and soil in the partitioning of precipitation into evaporation, runoff and infiltration.

ACS Style

Sadegh Ghazanfari; Saket Pande; Mehdy Hashemy; Ben Sonneveld. Diagnosis of GLDAS LSM based aridity index and dryland identification. Journal of Environmental Management 2013, 119, 162 -172.

AMA Style

Sadegh Ghazanfari, Saket Pande, Mehdy Hashemy, Ben Sonneveld. Diagnosis of GLDAS LSM based aridity index and dryland identification. Journal of Environmental Management. 2013; 119 ():162-172.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sadegh Ghazanfari; Saket Pande; Mehdy Hashemy; Ben Sonneveld. 2013. "Diagnosis of GLDAS LSM based aridity index and dryland identification." Journal of Environmental Management 119, no. : 162-172.

Journal article
Published: 22 November 2012 in Soil Use and Management
Reads 0
Downloads 0
ACS Style

Ben Sonneveld; D. McGarry; D. Ndiaye. Using the VS-Fast methodology for soil degradation assessment: a case study from Senegal. Soil Use and Management 2012, 28, 625 -634.

AMA Style

Ben Sonneveld, D. McGarry, D. Ndiaye. Using the VS-Fast methodology for soil degradation assessment: a case study from Senegal. Soil Use and Management. 2012; 28 (4):625-634.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ben Sonneveld; D. McGarry; D. Ndiaye. 2012. "Using the VS-Fast methodology for soil degradation assessment: a case study from Senegal." Soil Use and Management 28, no. 4: 625-634.

Journal article
Published: 09 July 2012 in Journal of Sustainable Development
Reads 0
Downloads 0

This study compares the results of two nationwide land degradation assessments for Senegal. The first approach is based on expert judgments, the second on trend analyses of Rainfall Use Efficiency (RUE). The comparison yields some interpretable results for extreme negative RUE slope values with maximum degrees of land degradation as indicated by experts, yet, overall, the correlation between both approaches proves to be low and without clear sign. As RUE trend analysis suffers from several inherent methodological problems and expert judgments are found to be consistent we consider expert opinions as the preferable option for a nation-wide land degradation assessment in Senegal. Yet, we argue that methodological improvements would increase the explanatory power of the expert approach and consolidate its position in a policy making framework.

ACS Style

Ben Sonneveld; Zhanguo Bai; Déthié Soumaré Ndiaye; Prem S. Bindraban. Comparing Rainfall Use Efficiency Trends with Expert Judgments for Nation-Wide Land Degradation Assessments: The Case of Senegal. Journal of Sustainable Development 2012, 5, 116 .

AMA Style

Ben Sonneveld, Zhanguo Bai, Déthié Soumaré Ndiaye, Prem S. Bindraban. Comparing Rainfall Use Efficiency Trends with Expert Judgments for Nation-Wide Land Degradation Assessments: The Case of Senegal. Journal of Sustainable Development. 2012; 5 (8):116.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ben Sonneveld; Zhanguo Bai; Déthié Soumaré Ndiaye; Prem S. Bindraban. 2012. "Comparing Rainfall Use Efficiency Trends with Expert Judgments for Nation-Wide Land Degradation Assessments: The Case of Senegal." Journal of Sustainable Development 5, no. 8: 116.

Journal article
Published: 30 March 2012 in Journal of Agricultural Science and Applications
Reads 0
Downloads 0
ACS Style

Amani Alfarra; Eric Kemp- Benedict; Heinz Hötzl; Nayif Sader; Ben Sonneveld. Modeling Water Supply and Demand for Effective Water Management Allocation in the Jordan Valley. Journal of Agricultural Science and Applications 2012, 1, 1 -7.

AMA Style

Amani Alfarra, Eric Kemp- Benedict, Heinz Hötzl, Nayif Sader, Ben Sonneveld. Modeling Water Supply and Demand for Effective Water Management Allocation in the Jordan Valley. Journal of Agricultural Science and Applications. 2012; 1 (1):1-7.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Amani Alfarra; Eric Kemp- Benedict; Heinz Hötzl; Nayif Sader; Ben Sonneveld. 2012. "Modeling Water Supply and Demand for Effective Water Management Allocation in the Jordan Valley." Journal of Agricultural Science and Applications 1, no. 1: 1-7.

Journal article
Published: 31 October 2011 in Environmental Modelling & Software
Reads 0
Downloads 0

This paper tests the candidacy of one qualitative response model and two quantitative models for a nationwide water erosion hazard assessment in Ethiopia. After a descriptive comparison of model characteristics the study conducts a statistical comparison to evaluate the explanatory power of the models, using an Ethiopian soil erosion data set as reference. The study, therefore, introduces a generic transformation procedure, whereby qualitative models reproduce quantitative results, while the outcomes of quantitative models are mapped on an ordered (qualitative) classification. The evaluation yields the following results. Application of the USLE model in Ethiopia is restricted by data paucity, while it ranks lowest in the statistical evaluation. However, it provides reliable results in areas where water erosion incidence is low. The Expert model, based on easily available data and expert judgements, covers a wide variability of the explanatory variables, which makes it suitable for a nationwide assessment. It is the second-best model in the statistical evaluation. Yet, its qualitative output complicates the assessment of the dynamic changes in soil productivity characteristics, while the postulated additive form of the logit model is not appropriate to assess erosion hazard. The quantitative AccDat model has the highest predictive power and is based on easily available data, but has a frail empirical basis and its application at a nationwide scale requires a careful interpretation. The varying performances in the different areas of the data domain justify the selection of a combination of models for a nationwide erosion assessment, rather than a single ‘best’ model.

ACS Style

Ben Sonneveld; M.A. Keyzer; L. Stroosnijder. Evaluating quantitative and qualitative models: An application for nationwide water erosion assessment in Ethiopia. Environmental Modelling & Software 2011, 26, 1161 -1170.

AMA Style

Ben Sonneveld, M.A. Keyzer, L. Stroosnijder. Evaluating quantitative and qualitative models: An application for nationwide water erosion assessment in Ethiopia. Environmental Modelling & Software. 2011; 26 (10):1161-1170.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ben Sonneveld; M.A. Keyzer; L. Stroosnijder. 2011. "Evaluating quantitative and qualitative models: An application for nationwide water erosion assessment in Ethiopia." Environmental Modelling & Software 26, no. 10: 1161-1170.

Journal article
Published: 20 October 2011 in Water Resources Management
Reads 0
Downloads 0

Climate change studies for West Africa tend to predict a reduced potential for farming that will affect the food security situation of an already impoverished population. However, these studies largely ignore farmers’ adaptations and market adjustments that mitigate predicted negative effects. The paper attempts to fill some of this gap through a spatially explicit evaluation of the impact of climate change on farm income in the Oueme River Basin (ORB), Benin. The ORB is in many respects representative for the middle belt of West Africa where the predominantly sparse occupation leaves potential for migration from more densely populated areas. We apply a number of structural, spatially explicit relationships estimated for the whole territory of Benin to simulate conditions in the ORB proper that are similar to those currently prevailing in the drier North, and the more humid South. Our scenario results factor out for the main crops cultivated the constituent effects on yields, area, and revenue per ton. We find that under average climate change conditions the current low yields are not reduced, provided that cropping patterns are adjusted, while price increases partly compensate for the remaining adverse effects on farmer income. Consequently, without any policy intervention, farm incomes remain relatively stable, albeit at low levels and with increased occurrence of crop failures after extreme droughts. Scenario simulations show that there are also beneficial aspects that can, with adequate interventions, even turn losses into gains. Main channel for improvement would be the reduction of fallow, which is particularly promising because it requires few adjustments in prevailing farming practices, exploits the potential of uncultivated land and improves the water use efficiency. It also enables the Basin's capacity to absorb future migrant flows from more severely affected neighboring Sahelian areas.

ACS Style

Ben Sonneveld; M. A. Keyzer; P. Adegbola; S. Pande. The Impact of Climate Change on Crop Production in West Africa: An Assessment for the Oueme River Basin in Benin. Water Resources Management 2011, 26, 553 -579.

AMA Style

Ben Sonneveld, M. A. Keyzer, P. Adegbola, S. Pande. The Impact of Climate Change on Crop Production in West Africa: An Assessment for the Oueme River Basin in Benin. Water Resources Management. 2011; 26 (2):553-579.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ben Sonneveld; M. A. Keyzer; P. Adegbola; S. Pande. 2011. "The Impact of Climate Change on Crop Production in West Africa: An Assessment for the Oueme River Basin in Benin." Water Resources Management 26, no. 2: 553-579.