Soil erosion hazard in tropical Africa is a serious threat towards sustained productivity. The available basic research information on soil, climate, and land use is rather sketchy and indicates that the severity of the erosion hazard may be attributed to soil characteristics, low soil loss tolerance, and climatic factors that lead to accelerated soil erosion following a change in land use. Researchers in the tropics have yet to establish appropriate methods for monitoring and estimating, precisely ...

Cowpea farming practices have been ongoing for millennia and have always faced various challenges including diseases, insects, and weeds, that lower its yield to no more than 200 kg/ha. This economically and nutritionally important crop has been a major research focus of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and of several national agricultural research systems (NARS) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and partner universities. Researchers have begun to develop sustainable solutions ...

A field study was conducted to determine the rate of genetic improvement in grain and fodder yields of cowpea genotypes developed in the Nigerian Sudan savannas from 1970 to 2004. Results showed that grain yield ranged from 568 kg/ha for an old variety TVX3236 to 1851 kg/ha for a recently released variety IT04K-321-2. The average rate of increase has been 28 kg/ha/year, which corresponds to a genetic gain of 3.6%. Fodder yield ranged from 1363 kg/ha for a variety released in 1976 (TVX1836-0131) ...

The coffee growing regions on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro have become progressively warmer and drier over the past 48 years. The minimum temperature is the predominant climatic variable which influences coffee yields over longer-term climatic change. In contrast, the amounts of rainfall and in particular the timing of rainfall at specific growth periods are the most important climatic variables governing coffee yields on the micro-climatic scale. The predicted increase in climate change (temperature) ...

Cowpea is a key cash crop and also a staple food for millions of people in West and Central Africa. Cowpea trade is severely hampered by storage insects especially the cowpea weevil. The Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) project was started in Nigeria in 2008 on a pilot basis in the states of Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, and Plateau. It has since June 2009 been extended to all 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory. The PICS project has introduced hermetic storage in triple layer sacks ...

Based on experiences in the Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA) project, this paper examines emerging issues and lessons for adding value to cassava, one of Africa's widely cultivated staples in ways that contribute to the global market environment as well as bring benefits to small holders on the continent. The main issues discussed include: competiveness in the supply of raw material, assisting smallholders to produce value-added products sustainably and competitively, ensuring and maintaining ...

Cassava is an ideal vehicle for delivering provitamin A carotenoids to human populations affected by deficiency of this important micronutrient. Rapid cycling recurrent selection has proven to be very effective increasing carotenoids levels in cassava. The maximum level of total carotenoids increased by about 3 μg / g of fresh root each year. As breeding populations evolve large populations are developed and the selection among them becomes increasingly difficult because most genotypes show intense ...

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is the main starchy staple in many parts of Cameroon, with 80% of rural and urban households consuming cassava and cassava derived products on a daily basis. Cassava products are commercialized mostly to supply household consumer markets with a total estimated equivalent of 1.1 million ton fresh cassava consumed in 2002 mainly because processing rely highly on family labour. Because of the smallholder nature of farming systems and the low density of producers in ...