G. B. Masefield’s scientific contributions

... Given the importance of trade for food availability, the economics and social science research communities have addressed these broader aspects of food security for several decades. Socioeconomic aspects have also been an important component of farming systems research since the early 1970s, and Duckham and Masefield (1970) noted that "the relevance of research and technology to any farming system can only be assessed with a knowledge of both the ecological and economic factors operating on that system." The notion of food policy analysis (Timmer et al., 1983) was a further step forward. ...

Reference:

Food Systems Approaches for the Future: Global Trends, Challenges and Opportunities

... For meaningful production and intensification of crops and livestock, therefore, the state of the soil is of paramount importance. In Africa, soils lose large amounts of nutrients annually 1-3 from soil mining, erosion and leaching; in spite of the fact that these soils are already low in fertility [4][5][6] . These losses further impoverish the soils, thus accelerating the process of soil degradation, which is largely responsible for the relatively low crop yields obtained, low biomass production, poor returns on investments on the farm, high variation in yields both within and between seasons and thus the grave food insecurity problem that persists in Africa 6,8 . ...

Reference:

Strategies to improve and sustain food production capacity in the savanna: The role of leguminous fodder crops in maintaining soil fertility and health

... One of the most important and long-lasting research trends in the field of agricultural geography is an attempt at the synthetic approach to the spatial issue of agriculture in various spatial scales (Aitchison 1986(Aitchison , 1992Bertaglia et al. 2007;Blazy et al. 2009;Carmona et al. 2010;Falkowski, Kostrowicki 2001;Gregor 1970;Grigg 1966Grigg , 1969Grigg , 1974Grigg , 1995Hudson, White 2007;Iraizoz et al. 2007;Kostrowicki 1968Kostrowicki , 1972Kostrowicki , 1977Kostrowicki , 1991Kostrowicki, Szyrmer 1990;Köbrich, Rehman et al. 2003;Scott 1983;Singh 1979;Szczęsny 1982Szczęsny , 1988Tittonell et al. 2010;Tschudi, Johanson 1983;Tyszkiewicz 1982;Whittlesey 1936). The typology and regionalisation of agriculture are the research interest of both agricultural geographers and agricultural economists. ...

Reference:

Multicriterion Typology of Agriculture: A Spatial Dependence Approach