Poverty Decomposition For High And Low Users of Climate Smart Agricultural Techniques in Northwest Nigeria (Published)
Climate change projections estimate that developing countries who are least prepared for the changes in climate will be the most affected. Meanwhile, the already existing poverty in Nigeria is alarming and climate change threatens food security and poverty to a large extent. It was on this note that the study measured poverty levels for high and low users of climate smart agricultural practices of small holder farming households in North-West Nigeria. The study employed primary data using questionnaire instruments and focus group discussion in the North West region of Nigeria. The FGT Index model, Equally Distributed Equivalent (EDE) FGT, watts index, Sen, Shorrocks and Thon index were employed to decompose the monetary dimensions of poverty while Chakravarty et al (1998) technique, extended watts, extended FGT and Alkire and Foster were employed to decompose the non-monetary dimension. The findings show that poverty rate was higher for low-users of climate smart agricultural practices than for high-users for all dimensions under consideration and for all the decomposition techniques. This implies that farmers should make conscious efforts to practice climate smart agriculture regardless of their poverty status due to the fact that poverty resides more with low-users. It could be as a result of the fact that high-users make their production sustainable by practicing CSA and consequently high yields that might in turn reduce their poverty status. There is need for significant empowerment of the farmers, given that some of the climate smart agricultural practices have cost implications and require extra money to fund.
Keywords: Agriculture, Climate, Nigeria, Northwest, Poverty
Eco-Friendly Utilization of Fly Ash in Agriculture: A Review (Published)
Among all the treatments, application of fly ash at 120-180 t ha-1 levels were found beneficial for the plant growth and fresh weight of edible part. However, level higher than 180 t ha-1 was found to reduce growth and other parameters of brinjal. Study shows that the available nutrients present in fly ash are beneficial if fly ash is mixed at certain levels for a particular plant species. Findings of the study, reported, in terms of growth and fresh weight accumulation indicates the beneficial use of fly ash as an eco-friendly nonconventional fertilizer at 120 and 180 t ha-1 levels respectively, and address the problem of land utilization for fly ash disposal. Similarly, 5 to 10% fly ash-soil blending concentrations were found beneficial for the growth and yield of chilli plant. That means fly ash acts as an excellent soil modifier, conditioner and a source of essential nutrients for appreciably improving the texture and fertility with significant increase in crop yield over the control at a particular concentration only and is supportive to plant growth.
Keywords: Agriculture, Eco-Friendly Utilization, Fly Ash
REVIEW OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND REUSE IN THE MOROCCO: ASPECTS AND PERSPECTIVES (Published)
Wastewater reuse in agriculture has been identified as a way to alleviate water scarcity, improve crop productivity and improve environmental sustainability. Since the sixties, Morocco has largely contributed to the mobilization of its hydraulic capacities in order to face the demographic increase and sustain its social and economic development. Nonetheless, and in addition to the continuation of the efforts directed to mobilization, and the control of the demand, the limited hydraulic potential requires the resort to unconventional resources. The use of treated wastewater in irrigation is necessity for a better water resources economy. The present article deals with the experiences carried out in Morocco in this domain. In spite of the progress that has been achieved in the last decade on technical, institutional, financial and legislative levels as regards the development of the process “sewage network-treatment-reuse”, obstacles still hinder the deployment of the re-use of treated wastewater. In the current state of affairs, no project integrating the three components has been realized. This paradoxical situation is due to several constraints
Keywords: Agriculture, Effluent Quality, Morocco, Technical, Wastewater Reuse, Wastewater Treatment