Recent trends and future demographic projections suggest that the need to produce more food and fibre will necessitate effective utilization of salt-affected land and saline water resources. Currently at least 20 per cent of the world's irrigated land is salt affected and/or irrigated with waters containing elevated levels of salts. Several major irrigation schemes have suffered from the problems of salinity and sodicity, reducing their agricultural productivity and sustainability. Productivity enhancement of salt-affected land and saline water resources through crop-based management has the potential to transform them from environmental burdens into economic opportunities. Research efforts have led to the identification of a number of field crops, forage grasses and shrubs, aromatic and medicinal species, bio-fuel crops, and fruit tree and agroforestry systems, which are profitable and suit a variety of salt-affected environments. Several of these species have agricultural significance in terms of their local utilization on the farm. Therefore, crop diversification systems based on salt-tolerant plant species are likely to be the key to future agricultural and economic growth in regions where salt-affected soils exist, saline drainage waters are generated, and/or saline aquifers are pumped for irrigation. However, such systems will need to consider three issues: improving the productivity per unit of salt-affected land and saline water resources, protecting the environment and involving farmers in the most suitable and sustainable crop diversifying systems to mitigate any perceived risks. This review covers different aspects of salt-affected land and saline water resources, synthesizes research knowledge on salinity/sodicity tolerances in different plant species, and highlights promising examples of crop diversification and management to improve and maximize benefits from these resources.

Background: Inappropriate complementary feeding is a major contributor to child malnutrition. Previous studies have described complementary feeding practice using single indicators but a combination of indicators is needed to better explain the role of complementary feeding practices in child growth. To adequately quantify appropriate complementary feeding, we used a composite indicator comprising three of the World Health Organization (WHO) core infant and young child feeding (IYCF) indicators that relate closely to complementary feeding. Methods: A community-based cross sectional cluster survey was carried out in November 2013. The study population comprised mothers/primary caregivers and their children selected using a two-stage cluster sampling procedure. A total of 778 children aged 6-23 months were involved. Results: Of the children aged 6-23 months; 57.3 % met the minimum meal frequency, 35.3 % received minimum dietary diversity (≥4 food groups), 25.2 % had received minimum acceptable diet and only 14.3 % received appropriate complementary feeding. Multivariable logistic regression adjusted for cluster sampling showed that children aged 12-23 months were 26.6 times more likely [AOR 26.57;)] to receive appropriate complementary feeding compared to children aged 6-8 months. Children who were not bottled-fed were 2.5 times more likely to have been appropriately fed [AOR 2.51;)] compared to children who were bottle-fed in the last 24 h prior to study. Conclusions:Findings from this study demonstrate appropriate complementary feeding and caring practices by caregivers remain a challenge for most households in Northern Ghana.

Fodder scarcity is a perennial problem for many smallholder farmers in developing countries. This paper discusses how fodder technologies and knowledge have been introduced and integrated in diverse livestock production systems in Ethiopia, Syria and Vietnam. A synthesis of lessons learnt shows that fodder innovation is triggered and diffused by actors interacting and learning in networks, and on farms. Fodder innovation, being only one element of livestock value chains, is sustainably enhanced when linked to other innovations and market-oriented activities that optimize productivity gains. Yet innovating smallholder farmers face systemic constraints to access markets, and need to organize in groups to exploit opportunities. The paper concludes that rather than treating innovation systems and value chain approaches to agricultural development as separate tools, the integration of their complementary features enhances smallholders' innovation and market success.

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Background. Information regarding how dietary diversity is related to haematological status of the pregnant women in rural areas of Northern Ghana is limited. This study therefore evaluated maternal dietary intake and how it relates to the nutritional status of pregnant women belonging to different socioeconomic conditions in Northern Ghana. Methods. This study was cross-sectional in design involving 400 pregnant women. Midupper arm circumference (MUAC) and anaemia status were used to assess the nutritional status of pregnant women. Results. The mean dietary diversity score (DDS) of the study population from ten food groups was 4.2 ± 1.5 (95% CI: 4.08 to 4.37). Of the 400 women, 46.1% (95% CI: 40.0 to 52.2) met the new minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W). The mean haemoglobin concentration among the pregnant women studied was 10.1 g/dl ± 1.40 (95% CI: 9.8 to 10.3). The independent predictors of haemoglobin concentration were maternal educational attainment, gestational age, frequency of antenatal care (ANC) attendance, number of under-five children in the household, size of MUAC, and maternal height. Conclusions. Irrespective of the socioeconomic status, women minimum dietary diversity (MDD-W) was not associated with anaemia among pregnant women resident in the rural areas of Northern Ghana.

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BackgroundPoor nutritional status during childhood and its long-term impact on economic growth and wellbeing is well known. This study assessed the nutritional status of children in selected communities in northern Ghana, to serve as baseline data for the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) project that sought to improve farm-household nutrition through agriculture.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among children 0–59 months in selected communities in the Northern (Tibali and Cheyohi No. 2), Upper West (Goli and Zanko) and Upper East (Bonia and Sambulgu) regions of northern Ghana. A pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on background characteristics of caregivers and children. Weight and height were measured for children following World Health Organization (WHO) procedures and transformed into z-scores using the WHO Anthro.ResultsAll the caregivers (522) were females; majority (73.4 %) had no formal education, 82.7 % were married and 70.5 % engaged in farming. In all, 533 children were recruited: Northern region (38.6 %), Upper West (33.4 %) and Upper East (28.0 %). Majority (52.5 %) of the children were males. The mean age was 32 ± 19 months. Levels of stunting, underweight and wasting were 27.2, 17.6 and 8.2 % respectively. Stunting, underweight and wasting levels increased within the first two years of life. Overall, 33.8 % of the children in northern Ghana were malnourished; 20.2 % were from the Northern region, 7.0 and 6.8 % were from Upper East and Upper West respectively.ConclusionDifferent forms of malnutrition still exist as a public health problem in various communities in northern Ghana and need to be curtailed using effective agriculture-nutrition sensitive interventions.

Liveweight (LW) of does and bucks of the native Creole goat breed and crosses of Creole does and Nubian bucks, aged 1.5-5 years, were recorded and body traits including: head length (HL), head width (HW), body length (BL), trunk length (TL), chest girth (CG), abdominal perimeter (AP), rump length (RL), and height at withers (HW) were measured to develop equations for predicting LW from the body measurements. Weight, sex, breed and kidding date of 354 kids were recorded at birth, and LW of the kids was measured monthly for one year to determine the effect of kidding season on growth rate. Bucks had higher (p < 0.05) body measurements than the does (HL 15.1 +/- 0.1 vs 16.6 +/- 0.2 cm; BL 97.6 +/- 0.4 vs 104.6 +/- 1.2 cm; CG 78.8 +/- 0.4 vs 79.9 +/- 1.0 cm; AP 82.4 +/- 0.5 vs 87.2 +/- 1.1 cm; HW 62.7 +/- 0.4 vs 70.1 +/- 0.8 cm). With the exception of TL, F2 does had higher (p < 0.05) body measurements and LW (28.8 +/- 1.5 vs 27.7 +/- 0.5 kg) than Creole does. The body traits of the F1 does were similar (p > 0.05) to those of Creole does with the exception of HL, BL and HR. The F2 kids were heavier (p < 0.05) at birth (3.31 +/- 0.1 vs 2.60 +/- 0.1 kg) and grew faster than the Creole kids. Male kids were heavier (p < 0.05) at birth (3.21 +/- 0.10 vs 2.73 +/- 0.13 kg), and grew faster than female kids. Season had a significant effect on birth weight. The results showed that LW of Creole goats and Creole x Nubian does could be estimated in the field using body traits. Birth weight and growth rate of kids could be improved by management practices that affect season of kidding.