As threats facing wildlife and protected areas across Africa increase, demand for innovative and transformational leadership to tackle the challenges remains high. Traditional academic training programmes are playing a critical role in meeting capacity development needs, yet opportunities for strengthening leadership capabilities are limited. This was the rationale behind Mentoring for ENvironmental Training in Outreach and Resource conservation (MENTOR), initiated in 2007 by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service through a collaborative effort with various partners to support conservation leadership and capacity development across sub-Saharan Africa. Five independent programmes were implemented over a decade, each designed to combine rigorous academic and field-based training with mentoring and experiential learning for teams of 8–9 fellows selected through a competitive process. It was envisioned that this approach to leadership and capacity development would strengthen the resolve, capabilities and competences of the fellows and position them as conservation leaders. Using data from interviews and online surveys, we assessed three key aspects of the programmes: strategic relevance and design; progress, effectiveness and impact; and sustainability. Overall, we found that all five programmes successfully delivered the objective of strengthening leadership for conservation in Africa, with the cadre of professionals acquiring new skills and expertise to advance their careers, and developing life-long relationships and networks. We discuss the potential of this approach for developing African conservation leaders.

This study was aimed to assess weed species diversity and composition in cassava monoculture at Crop and Soil Sciences Department research field, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. The experimental design was a randomised complete block design and replicated four times. The treatment factors were six weeding methods (Butachlor (4L/ha) + 2 hoe-weedings, Terbulor (4L/ha) + 2 hoe-weedings, three hoe weedings, three cutlass weedings, weed-free and weedy check) and two cassava varieties (Ampong and Dokuduade). Twenty-five weed species belonging to twelve different families were recorded and overall weed flora was composed of 80% broad-leaved weeds, 12% kinds of grass and 8% sedges. The results revealed that Cyperus rotundus, Spigelia anthelma and Panicum maximum were the three dominant and major weed species. Panicum maximum recorded the highest relative frequency while Spigelia anthelma and Cyperus rotundus showed higher values of relative density, relative abundance and important value index under both varieties.

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Okra is a very important vegetable in the field of nutrition and health care in Sierra Leone. The major limiting factors in okra production are incidence of insect pests and improper plant spacing. The present field research was undertaken at the Department of Crop Protection, School of Agriculture, Njala University to evaluate the effect of plant spacing on insect pest population, growth and yield, and profitability of okra production in Sierra Leone from 2017 to 2018 main cropping seasons. Five levels of plant spacing 50 cm × 40 cm (50,000 plants per hectare), 60 cm × 30 cm (55,556 plants per hectare), 60 cm × 40 cm (41,667 plants per hectare), 70 cm × 30 cm (47,619 plants per hectare), and 70 cm × 40 cm (35,714 plants per hectare) were adopted as treatments with three replications in randomized complete block design. The results of analysis of variance revealed that plant spacing were significant (P < 0.05) on insect population, plant height, leaf area, damage leaves, yield and yield components of okra at 4 and 8 weeks after planting (WAP) during 2017 and 2018 main cropping seasons. Okra cropped in plant spacing 50 cm x 40 cm (Recommended rate) inclined the highest number of insects, plant height, leaf area, damage leaves and yield at 4 and 8 WAP in both years followed by 60 cm x 40 cm plant spacing, while the reverse also holds true with 70 cm x 40 cm plant spacing. The profitability analysis revealed that the recommended plant spacing of okra (50 cm x 40 cm) produced the highest gross margins of Le 18,333,000.00 plants per hectare (ha-1) and Le 21,363,000 plants per hectare (ha-1) respectively during 2017 and 2018 main cropping seasons of okra production. In conclusion, increasing the plant spacing above the recommended plant spacing (50 cm x 40cm) could reduce insect population and leaf damage on okra, but will significantly decrease okra growth and yield, and profitability. Hence, in order to achieve maximum productivity of okra in the Njala area, the Clemson spineless variety of okra should be planted at a plant spacing of 50 cm x 40 cm. However, integrating plant spacing with other cultural methods of controlling insect pests of okra should be investigated in order to determine a sustainable and cost-effective method of controlling insect pests of okra.

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