Christian BorgemeisterUniversity of Bonn | Uni Bonn · Center for Development Research
Christian Borgemeister
PhD
About
313
Publications
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
November 2013 - March 2021
Center for Development Research (ZEF) University of Bonn
Position
- Managing Director
Description
- Ecology and Natural Resources Management
June 2005 - September 2013
April 1998 - April 2005
Publications
Publications (313)
Accurate and reliable estimation of rainfall is crucial for scientific research and various applications. However, the observed rainfall data is often limited. With the advancements in technology, many global gridded rainfall products are now available, but their accuracy levels vary across the world. In this study, we comprehensively analyzed the...
The global temperature increased by 1.1°C since 1880 (NASA Earth Observatory,
2022). Depending on the region and the relevant ecosystem, the varying temperature
extremes and alterations of precipitation in different regions lead to a variety
of changes. The climate changes are driven by various factors, basically natural,
but modified by humans thr...
Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) causes disease outbreaks in livestock and humans; however, its inter-epidemic circulation is poorly understood, similar to other arboviruses affecting cattle such as bluetongue virus (BTV) and epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHDV). Serum samples were collected in Baringo County, Kenya from 400 cattle, accompanied...
The agricultural sector in Afghanistan, the highest consumer of water resources, is crucial for food production and employment for over 50% of the population. As one of the top four most vulnerable countries to climate change, monitoring actual evapotranspiration (ETa) is imperative. However, conducting detailed investigations in countries facing d...
Accurate estimation of snow-covered area (SCA) is vital for effective water resource management, especially in snowmelt-dependent regions like the Kabul River Basin (KRB). It serves as a reference point for comparing expected variations in water availability driven by climate change, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions like the KRB. In this...
In West Africa, malaria is one of the leading causes of disease-induced deaths. Existing studies indicate that as urbanization increases, there is corresponding decrease in malaria prevalence. However, in malaria-endemic areas, the prevalence in some rural areas is sometimes lower than in some peri-urban and urban areas. Therefore, the relationship...
Bacterial black spot (BBS) of mango, caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas citri pv. mangiferaeindicae , is an emerging disease affecting mango‐producing areas in Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. The disease spreads primarily through wind‐driven rain and farm implements, and its host range is limited, affecting mango, cashew, and pepper plant...
The fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), an invasive agricultural pest, has significantly impacted crop yields across Africa. This study investigated the relationship between temperature and FAW life history traits, employing life cycle modeling at temperatures of 20, 25, 28, 30, and 32°C. The development...
The impact of invasive species on biodiversity, food security and economy is increasingly noticeable in various regions of the globe as a consequence of climate change. Yet, there is limited research on how climate change affects the distribution of the invasive Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera:Liviidae) in Ghana. Using max...
Dietary changes are needed to align the global food systems with the planetary boundaries and contribute to Sustainable Development Goals. We employed a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework, extended with indicators on human health and animal welfare, to assess 2020 food consumption data of a pilot sample collected through an online survey in the...
Environmental flows (EFs), essential for upholding the ecological integrity of rivers and aquatic habitats, have been disrupted significantly by diverting water for agricultural, industrial and domestic uses. This underscores the imperative of implementing sustainable water resource management to harmonize agricultural and environmental needs. The...
COVID-19 caused profound societal changes to cope rapidly with the new circumstances. The food market changed its quantity, quality, form, and frequency dynamics. Consequently, food-eating habits and lifestyles like physical exercise likely experienced changes. An online-based survey was conducted between June 2020 and January 2021 in the metropoli...
Wild edible plants (WEPs) can provide diverse and nutrient-rich food sources that contribute to the health and well-being of communities worldwide. In northwestern Kenya, WEPs are vital dietary components for nomadic pastoral communities with limited access to diverse cultivated food crops. However, the increasing impact of climate change poses a t...
We aimed to determine whether place of residence in the German urban food environment is associated with habitual dietary intake (energy, macronutrients, and food groups) and body mass index (standard deviation score of BMI and BMI-SDS). Our hypothesis was that place of residence may explain some variation in dietary intake and nutritional outcomes...
Buruli ulcer (BU), a neglected tropical disease (NTD), is an infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. The disease has been documented in many South American, Asian, and Western Pacific countries and is widespread throughout much of Africa, especially in West and Central Africa. In rural areas with scarce medic...
Background
Edible saturniids constitute an important component of traditional diets in sub-Saharan Africa. They are also a source of livelihood for many rural communities both as food and as a source of income.
Main body
This review compiles information on the diversity, distribution, decimating factors, nutrition and conservation concerns of edib...
The research and development needed to achieve sustainability of African smallholder agricultural and natural systems has led to a wide array of theoretical frameworks for conceptualising socioecological processes and functions. However, there are few analytical tools for spatio-temporal empirical approaches to implement use cases, which is a prere...
Edible insects are a good source of proteins, fats, and micronutrients for human consumption. Crickets are one of the most widely reared insects worldwide. They require less capital spending and less space and water consumption while offering more food, employment, and income possibilities than conventional animal farming. Additionally, raising cri...
Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a mosquito-borne viral hemorrhagic disease that affects humans and livestock. In Kenya, the disease has spread to new areas like Baringo County, with a growing realization that the epidemiology of the virus may also include endemic transmission. Local knowledge of a disease in susceptible communities is a major driver of...
The use of reanalysis data as pseudo observational data to analyze extreme climate events is cautioned for inconsistencies for which complimenting climate hazard analysis using observed data is imperative especially in rural West Africa where the impact is severe. Beside the effects of changing climate, is the impacts of resource extractivism that...
More than three decades of independence of Central Asia (CA) countries have been marked by socio-economic, political, and legal reforms. Growing climate change impacts threaten the wellbeing and livelihood of the already vulnerable local population, more than half of which comprises women. In this context, it is essential to adequately include both...
The fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (JE Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an agricultural pest that recently invaded Africa. FAW has spread and established in many countries across the continent, causing huge yield losses. This study aimed to determine the relationship between temperature and the life history traits of FAW and to provid...
The mining industry is susceptible to the effects of local climatic changes just as the surrounding socioecological systems are exposed to both mining and changing climate impacts. Adaptation deficit in mining is a worldwide problem but given the double exposure of surrounding systems, which has emergent outcomes on the industry, operations must ad...
Pesticide residues historically represent a severe threat to public health and the environment. Several species worldwide are still in danger from pesticide residues, despite efforts to mitigate the adverse health effects of these pollutants. As agricultural output has increased and scientific understanding has advanced, new methods have emerged fo...
Dietary shifts are needed to align the global food systems with the planetary boundaries and contribute to Sustainable Development Goals. We employed a Life Cycle Assessment framework, extended with indicators reflecting the One Health approach, to assess 2020 food consumption data collected through a survey in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolis (Germany)....
The concept of entomophagy—consuming insects as food—has become particularly important from the perspective of food security. Myanmar is an entomophagous country, but where chronic malnutrition problems persist. A lack of research into the topic of entomophagy in Myanmar makes it difficult to understand people's behavior regarding edible insects as...
Climate change (CC) is expected to significantly affect biodiversity and ecosystem services. Adverse impacts from CC in the Global South are likely to be exacerbated by limited capacities to take adequate adaptation measures and existing developmental challenges. Insect pests today are already causing considerable yield losses in agricultural crop...
Background
Understanding how local communities perceive threats and management options of wild edible plants (WEPs) is essential in developing their conservation strategies and action plans. Due to their multiple use values, including nutrition, medicinal, construction, and cultural as well as biotic and abiotic pressures, WEPs are exposed to overe...
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 form...
Dietary shifts are needed to align the global food systems with the planetary boundaries and contribute to Sustainable Development Goals. We employed a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework, extended with indicators on human health and animal welfare, to assess 2020 food consumption data (N=189) collected through an online survey in the Rhine-Ruhr...
The transmission of diseases between wildlife and livestock poses a major challenge to both conservation and livestock sectors in Southern Africa. Focusing on the cases of foot and mouth disease and trypanosomiasis in the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, this article explores the complexity of coexistence between humans, livestock,...
Each year, Africa loses half of its harvest to pests (insects, pathogens, nematodes, weeds). To offset these losses and improve food security, pest management needs to be revamped urgently. Based on a synthesis of all 58 pest management projects conducted by IITA in its 55-year history, we advocate here for the implementation of the five following...
The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), is an efficient vector of “Candidatus Liberibacter” species, the causative agents implicated in citrus greening or huanglongbing (HLB). HLB is the most devastating citrus disease and has killed hundreds of millions of citrus trees worldwide. Classical biological contro...
Fall armyworm (FAW) Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), damage was monitored at a regional scale using time series data in Western and Southern African countries. The study employed the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) computed from Landsat 8 imagery using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) using image composites for the years 2013 to 2020...
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...
Climatic disaster impacts, such as loss of human life as its most severe consequence, have been rising globally. Several studies argue that population growth is responsible for the rise, and the role of climate change is not evident. While disaster mortality is highest in low-income countries, existing studies focus mostly on developed countries. H...
Availability is a crucial aspect of wild edible plants (WEPs) consumption by indigenous communities. Understanding the local perception of this availability helps to determine, which contribution WEPs can make to rural communities. We used an integrated participatory approach to investigate important parameters and themes that influenced the percep...
The impact of invasive alien pests on agriculture, food security, and biodiversity conservation has been worsened by climate change caused by the rising earth’s atmospheric greenhouse gases. The African citrus triozid, Trioza erytreae (Del Guercio; Hemiptera: Triozidae), is an invasive pest of all citrus species. It vectors the phloem-limited bacte...
Background
The impacts of multicomponent school water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) interventions on children’s health are unclear. We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled trial to test the effects of a school WaSH intervention on children’s malnutrition, dehydration, health literacy (HL), and handwashing (HW) in Metro Manila, Philippines....
The prevailing understanding of water resource management in Afghanistan continues to be confined to ideas about physical, preferably concrete, engineered infrastructure. This has relegated scientific research from the fore, meaning that the prerequisites for sustainable planning and management continue to be absent. To take adaptive steps for sust...
The African coconut beetle Oryctes monoceros and Asiatic rhinoceros beetle O. rhinoceros have been associated with economic losses to plantations worldwide. Despite the amount of effort put in determining the potential geographic extent of these pests, their environmental suitability maps have not yet been well established. Using MaxEnt model, the...
The resilience of African rural livelihoods is at risk due to over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture, which increasingly suffers from climate variability. Extractive communities are exposed to changes from extractivism and climate conditions. The double exposure framework is employed to contextualise factors influencing households’ perspectives on t...
Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) remains an under-researched ‘orphan crop’ yet is important for food and nutrition security of smallholders. Furthermore, smallholders are heterogeneous, with varying perceptions and resource capacities. Against this backdrop, we clustered smallholders and assessed their preferences for pigeon pea. Data were gathered throu...
The past years were marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic downfall, the 5th anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement, and the end of the African Women’s Decade. According to the latest projections, African countries will continue to face increasing inequalities, as well as risks to human health, water and food security, due to climate change....
One Health (OH) has gained considerable prominence since the beginning of the 21st century, among others, driven by the recent epidemics and the increasing importance of zoonotic diseases. Yet despite the holistic and multidimensional nature of OH, to date most emphasis has been on the interactions between animal and human health, with considerably...
The African citrus triozid (ACT) Trioza erytreae (Del Guercio) (Hemiptera: Triozidae), is a principal vector of “Candidatus Liberibacter species”, the pathogens implicated in citrus greening disease, infecting millions of citrus trees annually. Unfortunately, present control measures are insufficient, necessitating the development of novel climate-...
In West Africa, malaria is a leading cause of disease-induced fatalities. While it is generally thought that urbanization reduces malaria incidence, the relationship between urbanicity, i.e., the impact of living in urban areas, and transmission remains unclear. This study aims to explore this association in Ghana, using eight district-level datase...
As a significant threat to agriculture, pests have caused a great disservice to crop production and food security. Understanding the mechanisms of pests’ outbreaks and invasion is critical in giving sound suggestions on their control and prevention strategies. The African rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes monoceros (Olivier), as the most damaging pest of...
The adverse impact of climate change on different regionally important sectors such as agriculture and hydropower is a serious concern and is currently at the epicentre of global interest. Despite the extensive efforts to project the future climate and assess its potential impact, it is surrounded by uncertainties. This study aimed to assess climat...
This study assessed problems associated with irrigation water provisions and the potential barriers to the adaptation of the interventions (soil moisture sensors, on-farm water storage facilities and the drip method) under rotational canal water distribution in Punjab, Pakistan. Three groups of stakeholders were individually surveyed during Septemb...
The impacts of climatic disasters have been rising globally. Several studies argue that this upward trend is due to rapid growth in the population and wealth exposed to disasters. Others argue that rising extreme weather events due to anthropogenic climate change are responsible for the increase. Hence, the causes of the increase in disaster impact...
Climate change is expected to have a significant influence on species range expansion, habitat shifts, and risk of biological invasion due to changes in survival rates, and rapid reproduction. This will tend to affect their geographical distribution and dispersal patterns, thereby threatening agriculture production and food security. Therefore, it...
The authors regret that the printed version of this article contained some flaws, which this corrigendum aims to clarify. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. The authors would like to clarify some flaws identified in the description of the methodology applied for the estimation of the human health impact results and as...
Due to many uncertainties in hydrological data and modeling, the findings are frequently regarded as unreliable, especially in heterogeneous catchments such as the Kabul River Basin (KRB). Besides, statistical methods to assess the performance of the models have also been called into doubt in several studies. We evaluated the performance of the Soi...
The introduction of organic farm management practices in sub-Saharan Africa could act as a lever for supporting regional sustainable development. In this study, we sought to assess the sustainability performance of organic (certified and non-certified) and non-organic farms in the dry Kajiado County and the wet Murang’a County in Kenya, based on fo...
CONTEXT
Even though diversification of horticultural production systems allows farmers to cope with risks and uncertainties, strategies for raising profitability usually aim to improve the productivity of monocultures rather than pursuing diversification. Horticultural production systems are often highly diversified in terms of land use and planted...
Introduction
Diarrhoea, malnutrition, and dehydration threaten the lives of millions of children globally due to inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH). Our study aimed to identify environmental and behavioural risk factors of these health outcomes among schoolchildren in Metro Manila, Philippines.
Materials and methods
We analysed data...
Human mortality and economic losses due to climatic disasters have been rising globally. Several studies argue that this upward trend is due to rapid growth in the population and wealth exposed to disasters. Others argue that rising extreme weather events due to anthropogenic climate change are responsible for the increase. Hence, the causes of the...
1. The coconut mite Aceria guerreronis Keifer (Acari: Eriophyidae), is a destructive mite
pest of coconut, causing significant economic losses. However, an effective pest management
strategy requires a clear understanding of the geographical areas at risk of the
target pest.
2. Therefore, we predicted the potential global distribution A. guerreroni...