Weather shocks affect smallholder farmers and pastoralists in Sub-Saharan Africa unequally. Agricultural insurance has emerged as a safety net option to protect farmers’ welfare. However, in comparison to other regions, fewer African farmers and pastoralists have adopted agricultural insurance. This review synthesises broad recent literature on why insurance take-up has remained low and highlights six key themes, including: (1) product quality, (2) product design, (3) affordability, (4) information and education, (5) behavioural and sociocultural factors, and (6) the role of government in enabling markets. We shed light on how insurance uptake can be encouraged.
Intensive urban agriculture is expanding in Cameroon, which increases the risks of environmental pollution, particularly in the lowlands. This study assessed the seasonal characteristics of some potentially toxic elements and their ecological risks during the dry and wet seasons in urban agricultural soils in four lowlands in Yaoundé. The area and seasonal variation of some potentially toxic elements (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, and Ni) were evaluated using mixed-effects modeling. The pollution status of these elements in the soil was evaluated and interpreted using parameters such as the single pollution (SPI) and Nemerow composite pollution (NCPI) indices. In addition, the effect of these metals in the environment was assessed using the potential ecological risk index (PERI). The distribution of all the studied elements showed an area effect, while a seasonal effect was only noticeable for Cu. The concentration of Cu, Pb, and Zn was higher than the recommended threshold values in one of the areas sampled, while Cr exceeded these threshold values in all areas during both seasons. Cr exhibited the highest SPI among all studied elements during the dry and wet seasons in all areas. Except for the NCPI in one area, where grade V (strong) soil pollution was recorded during the wet season, the soil from all the study areas exhibited a slight pollution level (grade III) with a mean NCPI between 1 and 2. The PERI value of all areas was below the reference values during both seasons, suggesting an overall low potential contamination risk of the soil biota. The results indicate that preventive action to limit the heavy metal contamination in the lowlands of Yaoundé needs to be taken, for instance, through the promotion of more sustainable use of agrochemicals like pesticides and mineral fertilizers.
Active reclamation is often necessary to ensure a transformation of mining waste into Technosols-"soils dominated or strongly influenced by human-made material"and restore its utility and environmental value. The objective of this study is to assess the spatial variation of the physicochemical properties relevant for reclamation and Technosol formation on dredged-sediment landfills left by alluvial gold mining in a chronosequence of reclamation (0, 4, 8, and 12 years). We hypothesize a higher spatial dependency of most soil properties with increasing time of Technosol formation and an overall homogenization of the soil resulting from pedogenetic processes. Our results show early signs of Technosol pedogenesis with strong physicochemical changes after only few years of formation. We observed that older Technosols (>4 years) are more acidic, have less nutrient and organic matter content, higher exchangeable cations, and less signs of compaction than nonrevegetated landfills.The content of organic matter, phosphorus, and exchangeable cations show the highest spatial variability in Technosols of all ages. In older Technosols, most soil properties showed less spatial variability than in younger Technosols. A multivariate geostatistical approach allowed the delineation of zones with distinctive physicochemical properties within areas of the chronosequence. The results show that reclamation and Technosol formation lead to spatially dependent fragmentation processes reflected in more and smaller clustered zones in Technosols after 12 years of formation. From the perspective of reclamation management, understanding the spatial variability of highly heterogeneous Technosols where substantial changes can be observed within small distances can support the development of site-specific reclamation strategies suitable to the characteristics of each field as well as the determination of its potential uses.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.