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CIIFAD's Agroecological Perspectives in Sustainable Development seminar series has concluded for the Spring '08 semester. PowerPoint presentations are available online for many of the seminars. The Fall '08 series will begin Wednesday, Sept. 3. at 12:20 PM in 135 Emerson Hall
OTHER BEST BETS
Thurs., May 8, 2008
Jackie Greenwood King,
PhD student in Crop and Soil Sciences will present “ Impact of Nutrient Management, Planting Date, and Location on Papaya Yield and Quality in Bangladesh”
at 12:20 PM in 135 Emerson (sponsored by CSS)
Thurs., May 8, 2008
Christine Nyhus, graduate student in nutritional sciences, will present "Thirty Years of Dietary Iron Bioavailability in India: Linking Food Production and Anemia" at 12:20 in 200 Savage Hall (sponsored by the Program in International Nutrition)
Mon., May 12, 2008
Christopher Barrett, professor of applied economics at Cornell, will present "Poverty Traps and Social Protection" at 1:30-3:00 PM in 401 Warren Hall (sponsored by AEM)
Check the Einuadi Center's recently updated list of external
funding opportunities
and Fulbright programs
Project overview
“Homeostasis and Degradation in Fragile Tropical Ecosystems” is
an on-going research project involving faculty and students
from several departments at Cornell University and scientists from the World
Centre for Agroforestry (ICRAF)
and Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).
It examines the interplay between Kenyan smallholder farmers and their natural
environment in highland regions of Central and Western Kenya, focusing on
the socioeconomic and biophysical factors contributing to soil fertility
depletion, which is increasingly acknowledged to be tightly linked to declining
food production and increasing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Understanding
the complex interrelationships among these factors is a necessary first step
towards developing effective strategies and policies to sustain sub-Saharan
Africa’s natural resource base and to ensure
sustainable livelihoods for its people.
The project has been funded by the National
Science Foundation’s Biocomplexity
in the Environment program on the Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human
Systems (Grant No. 02158900)* with additional suport from the USAID
BASIS CRSP project on Rural Markets, Natural Capital and Dynamic Poverty
Traps in East Africa. The Rockefeller
Foundation is providing key financial
support for many of the Kenyan doctoral students involved in the project.
Shocks, such as floods, droughts, changing economic incentives and death or disease of household members, regularly disrupt smallholder farming systems, changing peoples’ behavior and performance of the subsystems. Studies of systems that are able to maintain balance as well as those that do not recover from human and natural shocks provide the opportunity to understand the central biophysical and socioeconomic processes that underpin agroecosystem functioning in the tropics.
The research team is examining factors influencing why some smallholder
farmers have been able to sustain soil fertility and productivity, while
others are caught in "natural resource poverty traps" that yield food insecurity
and agroecosystem degradation. Data from individual research areas are
being integrated into a dynamic model to enhance understanding of complex
linkages among subsystems, thanks to modeling contributions by Barrett,
Brown, Kinyangi, Ngoze,
Nicholson, Parsons, Pell,
Riha, Roberts and Stephens.
Aspects being investigated by social scientists include:
- the processes through which smallholder farmers are able to escape
from or become trapped in poverty (Barrett, Blume,
Nicholson)
- the influence of livelihood strategies (Brown)
- the influence of social networks (Hogset)
- the influence of farmer group participation and institutional partnerships
(Amudavi)
- factors influencing adoption of soil management practices (Marenya)
- factors influencing smallholder farmers’ participation in grain
markets (Stephens)
The biophysical scientists have been exploring soil, crop and livestock
linkages, including:
- soil organic matter dynamics (Kinyangi, Lehmann,
Verchot and Solomon)
- soil fertility, livestock feed and manure quality linkages (Mbugua,
Markewich, Nherera, Shepherd and Pell)
- soil and crop responses to organic and inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus
fertilizer inputs (Riha, Ngoze, Kimetu and Lehmann)
Research Collaborators
(with links to project outputs for first authors only)
- Chris Barrett (Professor, Applied Economics and Management)
- Larry Blume (Professor, Economics)
- Doug Brown (PhD, Applied Economics and Management, conferred 2004)
- Heidi Hogset (PhD, Applied Economics and Management, conferred 2005)
- Jane Kapkiyai (PhD candidate, Crop and Soil Sciences)
- Joseph Kimetu (PhD candidate, Crop and Soil Sciences)
- James Kinyangi (PhD, Crop and Soil
Sciences, conferred 2007)
- Johannes Lehmann (Associate Professor, Crop and Soil Sciences)
- Paswel Marenya (PhD candidate, Natural Resources)
- Helen Markewich (PhD candidate, Animal Science)
- David Mbugua (Post-doctoral Associate, Cornell University/World Agroforestry Centre/Kenya Agricultural Research Institute)
- Festus Murithi (Economist, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute)
- Solomon Ngoze (PhD candidate, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences)
- Florence Nherera (PhD, Animal Science, conferred 2006)
- Chuck Nicholson (Research Associate, Applied Economics and Management)
- James Ouma (Economist, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute)
- David Parsons (Graduate Student, Crop and Soil Science)
- Alice Pell (Professor, Animal Science)
- Max Pfeffer (Professor, Development Sociology)
- Frank Place (Economist, World Agroforestry Centre)
- John Recha (PhD candidate, Crop and Soil Sciences)
- Susan Riha (Professor, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences)
- Keenan Roberts (Graduate Student, Animal Science)
- Keith Shepherd (Soil Scientist, World Agroforestry Centre)
- Dawit Solomon (Research Associate, Crop and Soil Sciences)
-
Emma Stephens (PhD candidate, Economics)
- Lou Verchot (Ecologist, World Agroforestry Centre)
- Justin Wangila (Associate Economist, World Agroforestry Centre)
Outputs by Author
David M. Amudavi (PhD conferred
2005, Education)
- Amudavi, D., M. Kroma and K. Davis. 2006. Understanding
effects of institutional partnerships on rural groups in improving livelihoods
in Kenya. Paper presented at the Association for International Agricultural
and Extension Education’s 22nd Conference, ‘International Teamwork
in Agricultural and Extension Education’, 14-19 May 2006, Clearwater
Beach, Florida.
- Amudavi, D. 2006. The
effects of farmer community group participation on rural livelihoods in
Kenya.
- Amudavi, D. 2005. The
contributions of farmer group participation to improved natural resource
management cases. Policy Brief No. 7.
- Amudavi, D. 2004. Social
aspects of dynamic poverty traps: cases from Vihiga, Baringo and Marsabit
Districts, Kenya. Paper presented at KIPPRA-Cornell SAGA workshop on
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods for Poverty Analysis. March 2004.
Nairobi, Kenya.
Christopher
Barrett (Professor, Applied Economics and Management)
- Barrett, C.B. Poverty
Traps and Resource Dynamics In Smallholder Agrarian Systems, in Arjan Ruis
and Rob Dellink, editors, Economics of poverty, the environment and
natural resource use (Berlin: Springer, forthcoming).
- Barrett, C.B., P.P. Marenya, J. McPeak, B. Minten, F. Murithi, W. Oluoch-Kosura,
F. Place, F., Randrianarisoa, J.C., Rasambainarivo, J., Wangila. 2006. Welfare
dynamics in rural Kenya and Madagascar. Journal of Development Studies
42 (1), 248-277. DOI: 10.1080/00220380500405394
- Barrett, C.B. 2005. Poverty
traps and agricultural research: improving policies, institutions and technologies
to support sustainable poverty reduction. Paper presented at the Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research Forum. CGIAR Priorities: Science
for the Poor, 6 December 2005, Marrakech, Morocco.
- Barrett, C.B. 2005. "Mixing
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Analyzing Poverty Dynamics",
in Walter Odhiambo, John M. Omiti and David I. Muthaka, editors, Quantitative
and Qualitative Methods for Poverty Analysis (Nairobi: Kenya Institute
for Public Policy Research and Analysis).
Doug Brown (PhD conferred 2004, Applied
Economics and Management)
- Brown, D.R., E.C. Stephens, J.O. Ouma, F.M. Murithi & C.B. Barrett.
2006. Livelihood
strategies in the rural Kenyan Highlands. African Journal of Agricultural
and Resource Economics, 1(1): 21-36.
- Brown, D.R. & C.B. Barrett. 2005. Maize-bean
intercropping and smallholder productivity in the Kenya’s Highlands.
Policy Brief No.8.
- Brown, D.R. & C.B. Barrett. 2005. Lessons
For Rural Development
Practitioners from Recent Agricultural Development Economics Research,
in Judith Dean, Julie Schaffner and Stephen Smith, editors, Poverty Reduction
In The Developing World. (World Vision, 2005).
- Brown, D.R. & S. Tsoi. 2005. Kenya Highland Smallholder Agriculture:
NSF Bioeconomic Model Documentation Version 1-0, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY.
Heidi Hogset (PhD
conferred 2005, Applied Economics and Management)
Joseph
Kimetu (PhD candidate, Crop and Soil Science)
James Kinyangi (PhD
conferred 2007, Crop and Soil Science)
- Kinyangi, J., D. Solomon, B. Liang, M. Lerotic, S. Wirick and J. Lehmann.
2006. Nanoscale
biogeocomplexity of the organo-mineral assemblage in soil: application of
STXM microscopy and C 1s-NEXAFS spectroscopy. Soil Science
Society of America Journal 70: 1708-1718.
- Kinyangi, J., J. Lehmann, B. Liang and D. Solomon. 2006. Microscale
Synchrotron-FTIR Mapping of Carbon “Hot Spots” on Mineral Surfaces in Soil. 18th
world Congress of Soil Science, July 9-15, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Kinyangi, J., J. Lehmann, A. Pell, J. Thies, S. Ngoze, S. Riha, D.M. Mbugua
and L. Verchot. 2006. Soil Organic
Matter Stabilization and Associated Degradation Threshold Dynamics. 18th
world Congress of Soil Science, July 9-15, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Kinyangi, J. Lehmann, B. Liang, D. Solomon, and S. Ngoze. 2005. Organic
Matter Stabilization in Biogenic Nanostructures of Soil Micro-Aggregates.
Annual Meeting, American Society of Agronomy, Salt Lake City, UT, November
6-10, 2005
- Kinyangi JM, J. Lehmann and DM Solomon. 2004. Using
carbon K-edge XANES to assess organic matter stabilization in microaggregates
during 100 years of cropping. Annual Meeting, American Society of Agronomy,
Seattle, WA, November 1-4, 2004. CD ROM. Program p. 395.
- Kinyangi, J.M., J. Lehmann, J. Thies, A.N. Pell, L. Verchot, C.B. Barrett,
S. Ngoze, D. Mbugua and S. Riha. 2004. Biogeochemical
characteristics of organic matter fractions that confer thresholds during
soil degradation.
Annual Meeting, American Society of Agronomy, Seattle, WA, November 1-4,
2004 . CD ROM. Program p. 396.
Johannes
Lehmann (Associate Professor, Crop and Soil Science )
Paswel
Marenya (PhD candidate, Natural Resources)
Florence
Nherera (PhD conferred 2006)
- Nherera, F.V., A.N. Pell, D.G. Fox, L.O. Tedeschi, D.M. Mbugua, I.W. Kariuki,
J.N Kangara. Predicting energy and protein supply and milk production of
crossbred cows consuming high forage rations in the central highlands of
Kenya. (Submitted for Publication).
Solomon
Ngoze (PhD candidate)
- Ngoze, S. S. Riha, J. Kinyangi, J. Lehmann, L. Verchot, D. Mbugua and A.N.
Pell. 2006. Soil Fertility
Degradation and Management in the Highlands of Kenya. 18th
world Congress of Soil Science, July 9-15, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Ngoze, S., S. Riha, C. Barrett and A. Pell. 2005. Soil
fertility in smallholder farms of the highlands of Kenya: Impacts of site,
land use and household resources.
Annual Meeting, American Society of Agronomy, Salt Lake City, UT, November
6-10, 2005.
- Ngoze S., S. Riha, L. Verchot, A. Pell, J. Kinyangi, D. Mbugua and J. Lehmann.
2004. Nitrogen fluxes in soils amended with
animal manure and tithonia biomass on a soil degradation chronosequence.
Annual Meeting, American Society of Agronomy, Seattle , WA, November 1-4, 2004
. CD ROM. Program p. 239.
Alice
Pell (Professor, Animal Science; Director, CIIFAD)
- Pell, A.N., J.M. Kinyangi, S.O. Ngoze, D.R. Brown, D.M. Mbugua, C.B. Barrett,
L.E. Blume, J.G. Gamara, C.J. Lehmann, P.P. Marenya, H.A. Markewich, A.O. Odenyo,
S.J. Riha, L.V. Verchot, and J. Wangila. 2005. Dynamics of poverty and soil
degradation on smallholder farms in central and western Kenya. Workshop for
Enhancing Collaborative Research on the Environment in Sub-Saharan Africa,
National Science Foundation on Sub-Saharan Africa, Arlington, VA. January 24-6,
2005.
- Pell, A.N., D.M. Mbugua, L.V. Verchot, C.B. Barrett, L.E. Blume, J.G.P. Gamarra,
J.M. Kinyangi, C.J. Lehmann, A.O. Odenyo, S.O. Ngoze, B.N. Okumu, M.J. Pfeffer,
P.P. Marenya, S.J. Riha, and J. Wangila. 2004. The
Interplay Between Smallholder Farmers and Fragile Tropical Agroecosystems in
Kenya. Symposium on Frontiers in Biocomplexity: Reciprocal Interactions between
Human and Natural Systems. AAAS Annual Meeting, February 14, 2004, Seattle,
WA.
Dawit
Solomon (Research Associate, Crop and Soil Science)
- Solomon , D., J. Lehmann, J. Kinyangi, W. Amelung, I. Lobe, S. Ngoze, S.
Riha, A. Pell, L. Verchot, D. Mbugua, J. Skjemstad & T. Schafer. 2007.
Long-term impacts of anthropogenic perturbations on the dynamics and molecular
speciation of organic carbon in tropical forest and subtropical grassland ecosystems.
Global Change Biology 13: 511-530.
- Solomon, D., J. Lehmann, J. Kinyangi, B. Liang, I. Lobe, W. Amelung and T.
Schaefer. 2006. Soil organic C speciation
and transformation following long-term anthropogenic perturbations in tropical
ecosystems: evidence from 13C NMR and synchrotron-based C (1s) NEXAFS and FTIR-ATR
spectroscopy. In World
Congress of Soil Science, 9-14 July 2006, Philadelphia. Abstract 18543, poster
134-2.
- Solomon, D., J. Lehmann, J. Kinyangi, B. Liang, I. Lobe, W. Amelung and T.
Schaefer. 2005. Organic carbon in tropical
ecosystems: insights into the chemical speciation and transformation using
C-NEXAFS, SR-FTIR-ATR and 13C NMR spectroscopy.
The 2nd International Conference on Mechanisms of Organic Matter Stabilization
and Destabilization in Soils. Asilomar, CA. p. 99.
Emma
Stephens (PhD candidate, Dept. of Economics)
Workshops/Conferences
-
Interdisciplinary
Science for Integration of Socioeconomic and Biophysical Processes in East
Africa
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (May 8-11, 2006)
- Crops, Livestock, and Soils in Smallholder Economic Systems (CLASSES)
Simulation Model Training Workshop
ICRAF, Narirobi, Kenya (Jan. 15-19, 2007)
- download overview
PowerPoint
- Cognitive Mapping
Introductory Farmers Focused Group Discussions
Madzuu,
Kenya (Jan. 29, 2004)
- Soil nutrient
dynamics, crop productivity and household welfare dynamics: Research findings
4
sites in W. Kenya (Jan. 2-5, 2007)
* Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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