Powell Mponela

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research | CGIAR · International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)

Abstract Context Fertilizer use efficiency and profitability are very low due to blanket fertilizer recommendations in sub-Saharan Africa. It is crucial to establish tailored recommendations that account for local conditions. Countries like Ethiopia are moving towards adopting site-specific fertilizer recommendations (SSFR) that are developed using...

Issues around bundling of climate smart agriculture (CSA) and climate information services (CIS) have been kept relatively distinct whereas in reality, they are more impactful when integrated. Using the case of the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Change Research in Africa (AICCRA) Project that emphasizes bundling as a critical component of re...

Maize fertilizer recommendations in Northern Ghana

Cereal-Legume Cropping Systems

In most developing countries, although agricultural extension and research devolved since 1980s to promote relevance, cost-effectiveness, ownership, and sustainability, participatory action research (PAR) have been run, albeit with limited empirical evidence on their impacts on farmers livelihoods. The study use a three-stage extended regression mo...

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...

The importance of land restoration has garnered increasing attention on the global stage through large‐scale initiatives such as the Bonn Challenge. However, policies and strategies are often gender‐blind and designed in compliance with entrenched social hierarchies, exacerbating pre‐existing social inequalities that affect restoration initiatives....

By capturing the prioritization of 22 innovations by 71 farmers against those of advisors, this paper examines the level of awareness and contextualized conceptualization of 31 indicators of Climate Smartness Plus (equity, one health and enabling environment). Concordance analysis reveals differences in prioritization among farmers and agricultural...

Adaptation to climate change is happening on several fronts. The study was commissioned to capture gender dynamics in climate information services, climate smart agriculture technologies, and climate-smart one–health interventions for promoting social inclusion and informing policy in Ghana’s food systems. The study regions were selected based on p...

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), farmers intercrop common beans with maize but apply inorganic or organic fertilisers targeting only maize. Effects of this practice on bush bean yield have not been fully evaluated with respect to input use and compatibility when intercropped with maize. An on-farm trial managed by smallholder community members was cond...

Transformation of knowledge systems and fostering learning among smallholder farmers such as through participatory action research (PAR) is key to agricultural growth in rural sub-Saharan Africa. We investigate how PAR influences uptake/use of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) while accounting for gendered, bonding and bridging social cap...

Globally, land degradation disproportionally affects women more than men and, to close the gender gap, several landscape restoration projects promote gender inclusiveness. However, empirical evidence based on gender-disaggregated data is a major research gap. Using a gender-inclusive restoration case of Amhara and SNNP (Southern Nations, Nationalit...

Climate change is projected to worsen crop losses by another 10–25 percent, which in some regions would emanate from associated pests. Central Asia, the Caucasus and Southeastern Europe are under the research area. This research report is prepared to assess the impact of climate change on the spreading of plant pests. The findings are essential fo...

The knowledge of the soil status and gaps at the scale of a managed plot in rift valley escarpments of east and southern Africa is often blurred, either unknown, polygon based or only available at large spatial resolution. Using data from 219 locations within 100 km2 sentinel site in rural Malawi, this study aims to evaluate the proximal remotely s...

This paper explores the role of women empowerment and labour on enabling farmers to cross two hurdles: adopt and intensify soil fertility management (SFM), coming after six decades of SFM research that disseminated several technologies. Despite the assertion that productivity gains cannot be realised unless drivers of soil degradation are addressed...

This study concerns the potential impact of the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies on household food security. Our analysis is based on a sample of 312 households in the Chinyanja Triangle using questionnaires. We use Propensity Score Matching to estimate treatment effects of adoption. Results show that the adoption of conservatio...

While soil degradation is a major threat to food security and carbon sequestration, our knowledge of the spatial extent of the problem and its drivers is very limited in southern Africa. Therefore, this study aimed to quantify the risk of soil structural degradation and determine the variation in soil stoichiometry and nutrient limitations with lan...

Empirical scientific evidence indicates that there is still room for increasing food production by improving land productivity. This study aimed at identifying the key determinants that govern farmers’ decisions to adopt multiple components of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) in a maize mixed cropping system of the Chinyanja Triangle, So...

This article is concerned with the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on household income in the Chinyanja Triangle. Chinyanja Triangle is a region that is increasingly experiencing mid-season dry spells and an increase in occurrence of drought, which is attributed largely to climate...

This article concerns the adoption of small-scale irrigation farming as a climate-smart agriculture practice and its influence on household income in the Chinyanja Triangle. Chinyanja Triangle is a region that experiences mid-season dry spells and an increase in occurrences of drought due to low and erratic rainfall patterns which is attributed lar...

The promotion of land, soil and water conservation measures has been a widespread development in sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to tackle degradation and improve productivity. As a result, several governments have launched various campaigns on soil, land and water conservation measures. The aim of this study is to determine some of the factors that in...

During the first year the Tiyeni method starts with deep tillage to 30-cm (two hoe-lengths). After tilling, farmers create beds which have a width of 100-cm and furrow of 50-cm. To facilitate rotations, half of a plot is planted with a non-legume (maize) and the other half with legumes (equal portions of bambara nuts, groundnuts and soybean). The m...

Paper presented at Pan-African Grain Legume & World Cowpea Conference from 27th Feb - 4th March 2016 at Livingstone, Zambia

Poster presented at Pan-African Grain Legume & World Cowpea Conference from 27 February - 4 March 2016 at Livingstone, Zambia

Variability in woody plant species, vegetation assemblages and anthropogenic activities derails the efforts to have common approaches for estimating biomass and carbon stocks in Africa. In order to suggest management options, it is important to understand the vegetation dynamics and the major drivers governing the observed conditions. This study us...

This study explored the effect of soil nutrient status, agronomic practices and socio-economic factors on maize yield attained by smallholder farmers in the Dedza District of Malawi. Results show that maize yield ranged between 0.4 and 12 t ha-1 with a mean value of 4.1 t ha-1. Observed high yields (8.0 t ha-1) were associated with households using...

This study examined plant species diversity on marginal and degraded land earmarked for cultivation of Jatropha curcas. A rapid biodiversity assessment of plant species was conducted using visual encounter survey on patches of degraded fallow land and uncultivated marginal areas within commercial and subsistence agricultural landscapes. Measures of...

Malawi is experiencing an influx of bio-fuels projects that target farmers with unproductive land. This study examines plant species diversity on marginal and degraded land earmarked for Jatropha curcas and determinants of its adoption. A rapid biodiversity assessment using visual encounter survey of plant species was conducted between patches of d...

The study’s objective was to assess phenotypic variation of 8-year-old Uapaca kirkiana provenances cum families, established in a trial at Nauko using alpha design. Analysis of variance, spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and linear regression were employed in detecting relative performance of provenances, assessing correlations between traits...