This book provides a synthesis of current agricultural research in Africa with the aim of presenting evidence based information that can be directly applied into improving the African smallholder farmers' food security. It presents positive scientific research that has been undertaken in Africa, in simpler terms, thus driving the research for development agenda contributing to the attainment of SDG 2. Numerous research that targets resource poor African smallholder farmers has been published, yet the region faces very low productivity levels. This lack of translation from research to food security and increased agricultural incomes is due to the poor uptake of scientific research by farmers, which is partly due to poor presentation of this body of knowledge into simpler forms that extension workers and farmers can directly adopt. Therefore, this book offers research information in an easy, digestible and application oriented style, so as to enable transformation of the African agricultural sector by effectively driving agricultural productivity in Africa. This book is of interest to African extension workers, who will translate the simplified knowledge into lessons that can be useful to smallholder farmers. The book is also beneficial for policy makers as well as academics, researchers and other science based professionals.

Autorentext

Hupenyu Allan MUPAMBWAHupenyu holds a PhD in Soil Science, where he specialized in organic soil fertility management. Currently, he leads the Desert and Coastal Agriculture research program at the University of Namibia, with a combined 13 years' experience in government agriculture research and training as well as university undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research in crop based agriculture. To date, he has published 24 manuscripts; contributed 4 book chapters and also supervised and examined several postgraduate students. His research focuses on waste beneficiation, vermi-technology and organic soil fertility management with a drive towards improving the soil quality among resource poor farmers. Adornis D. NCIIZAHAdornis holds a Ph.D. in Crop Science, his research focused on soil surface structural conditions and properties affecting early crop growth. He is currently a Specialist Researcher in Soil Science with the Agricultural Research Council- Natural Resources and Engineering (ARC-NRE) in Pretoria, South Africa. His current research work focuses on climate-smart agriculture, sustainable bio-energy feedstock production in marginal soils, micronutrient seed priming for micronutrient-deficient soils and sustainable agricultural production in smallholder farming areas. He has authored numerous scientific papers and reviews on agronomy and soil science and trained smallholder farmers in climate smart agriculture. Patrick NYAMBOPatrick holds a PhD in Crop Science where his research specialized on climate-smart and sustainable crop production practices. Currently, he is a post-doctoral researcher in the Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre, working on the project entitled "Water-Energy-Food communities in South Africa: multi-actor nexus governance for social justice". Since 2013, he has worked as a temporary lecturer, responsible for lecturing undergraduate courses and supervising undergraduate and postgraduate student projects. He worked as a research agronomist at the Agronomy Research Institute in Zimbabwe. Patrick has numerous publications in peer-reviewed international journals and has presented in local and international conferences on numerous occasions. Binganidzo MUCHARABinganidzo is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa (UNISA). He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics, with a focus on Natural Resource Economics, Institutional Economics and Water Security Governance to enhance agricultural and economic performance. He worked as a Research Fellow with the International Water Security, based at Monash, South Africa. Binganidzo has been a researcher on projects funded by the Water Research Commission, Oxfam, Human Sciences Research Council, FAO, DAFF, USAID, IDS. He has supervised several MSc and PhD students in Business leadership at UNISA. Ndakalimwe Naftal GABRIELNdakalimwe is a senior lecturer in the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Namibia (UNAM). He holds a PhD in Fisheries and Aquatic Science, where his research focused on the use of herbal extracts in optimizing the growth of freshwater fish. He has 10 years' experience in the field of aquaculture as researcher in the Ministry of fisheries and Marine Resources, Namibia and as a lecturer and a researcher at UNAM. He has published several peer reviewed articles from reputable journals and also supervised several post graduate students in the field of aquaculture and fisheries sciences.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. Decades of cultivar development: a reconciliation of maize and bean breeding projects and their impacts on food, nutrition security, and income of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.- Chapter 2. From soil to fork: can sustainable intensification guarantee food security for smallholder farmers?.- Chapter 3. Sub-Sarahan Africa Smallholder Farmers Agricultural Productivity: Risks and Challenges.- Chapter 4. Integrated use of livestock manure and inorganic fertilizer for sustainable agricultural intensification on marginal soils in sub-Saharan Africa.- Chapter 5. In-field soil conservation practices and crop productivity in marginalized farming areas of Zimbabwe.- Chapter 6. Can organic soil fertility management sustain farming and increase food security among African smallholder farmers?- Chapter 7. Precision agriculture under arid environments: Prospects for African smallholder farmers.- Chapter 8. Challenges and opportunities for soil fertility and food security improvement in smallholder maize-tobacco production systems: A case study from Svosve area, Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe.- Chapter 9. On-farm research challenges for agronomic field trials in smallholder systems: A practical experience from Zanyokwe Irrigation Scheme, South Africa.- Chapter 10. Agricultural water resource governance for sustainable food production: Lessons from developing economies.- Chapter 11. Aquaculture and fisheries production in africa: highlighting potentials and benefits for food security.- Chapter 12. Medicinal plants: A perspective on their application in the African smallholder aquaculture farms.- Chapter 13. Application of Integrated Water Resources Management towards livelihood improvement: a case of smallholder farmers in Olushandja, Namibia.- Chapter 14. Climate Change Impacts on Food and Nutrition Security on Smallholder Farmers in Southern Africa.- Chapter 15. Climate-smart agriculture: perspectives for subsistence crop farming in Namibia.- Chapter 16. Smallholder Farmers' Adaptation Strategies and Food security: Experiences from Zimbabwe.- Chapter 17. Building resilience to climate change by adopting conservation agriculture in the smallholder farming systems.- Chapter 18. Contribution of underutilised indigenous crops to enhanced food and nutrition security in the advent of climate change.- Chapter 19. Liquid gold: Harnessing the potential of digestate to enhance smallholder farmer food security and livelihood.- Chapter 20. Importance of Mushrooms for Food Security in Africa.- Chapter 21. Mushroom cultivation in Arid Namibia: Cultivation status, contribution to human health and future prospect.- Chapter 22. Can Women Own Land'? Land Inheritances Convolutions: Evidence from the Zimbabwean Resettlement Areas.- Chapter 23. The governance of aquaculture in Namibia as a vehicle for food security and economic growth.- Chapter 24. A decade of agronomic research impact on commercializing traditional homestead production of amadumbe in Umbumbulu kwaZulu Natal.