This is a holding page, we are still writing content for certain sections of the site. Please accept our apologies if you see this page, we are working hard to develop content for the site and occasionally have to publish 'holding pages' like this while we test the new structure or add new sections. Please re-visit in a couple of days time. Thank you
This is a holding page, we are still writing content for certain sections of the site. Please accept our apologies if you see this page, we are working hard to develop content for the site and occasionally have to publish 'holding pages' like this while we test the new structure or add new sections. Please re-visit in a couple of days time. Thank you
This is a holding page, we are still writing content for certain sections of the site. Please accept our apologies if you see this page, we are working hard to develop content for the site and occasionally have to publish 'holding pages' like this while we test the new structure or add new sections. Please re-visit in a couple of days time. Thank you
Title: Climate Change Impact Chain Factors in ECOWAS
Authors: Edward R. Rhodes1 and Calvin Atewamba2
Abstract/Summary
Appropriate responses to climate change in the agriculture sector are dependent on knowledge of the status and trends of the factors of the climate change impact chain in the sector. The objective of the study was to broadly assess key human, environmental, and biophysical factors in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), mainly within the decade following the launching of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). This was done through a review of literature and analysis of data mainly from World Bank and FAO sources. The status of and changes in these factors were generally unsatisfactory. Population growth rate was high. Average daily maximum temperatures were projected to rise by up to 3.50C by 2050. Up to 35% of the lands were estimated to be severely to very severely degraded. Total Internal Renewable Water resources per capita were below international requirements in many countries of ECOWAS. Total Renewable Water resources per capita were more abundant but decreased over years. The substantial arable land and renewable water resources and carbon stored in soil (23.5 Gt) and forest biomass (6.3 Gt) are attributes of ECOWAS. Agricultural production was higher in the Gulf of Guinea Zone compared to the Sudano-Sahelian Zone but yields of rice, maize and yam were higher in the Sudano-Sahelian Zone. Food security status was unsatisfactory across ECOWAS although the production of rice, maize, cassava, yam, groundnut, cocoa, and palm oil (in most cases), and livestock, fisheries and aquaculture increased. The increase between 2003 and 2013 for aquaculture was dramatic (847%). Overall increases in the production of rice, maize, sorghum, cassava, yam and groundnut and cattle, sheep and goats were mainly due to increased crop area harvested (42%) and livestock numbers (44%). Policies should be revisited, institutions strengthened and financial investments made for ECOWAS to realize its potential to significantly contribute to food security and carbon storage.
Title: Ebola and Public Authority: Saving Loved Ones in Sierra Leone
Authors: Melissa Parker iD a , Tommy Matthew Hansonb , Ahmed Vandic , Lawrence Sao Babawod , and Tim Allen iDe
Abstract/Summary
It is unclear how public authorities shaped responses to Ebola in Sierra Leone. Focusing on one village, we analyze what happened when “staff, stuff, space, and systems” were absent. Mutuality between neighbors, linked to secret societies, necessitated collective care for infected loved ones, irrespective of the risks. Practical learning was quick. Numbers reco- vering were reported to be higher among people treated in hidden loca- tions, compared to those taken to Ebola Treatment Centres. Our findings challenge positive post-Ebola narratives about international aid and military deployment. A morally appropriate people’s science emerged under the radar of external scrutiny, including that of a paramount chief.
Title: Tree Peony - Floral Bud Development and Flowering Mechanism
Authors: Philip M.P. Mornya1 Fangyun Cheng2
Abstract/Summary
Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.) is native to China and is a magnificent, beautiful and attractive ornamental plant. Flowering is critical in the development and life-cycle of most plants. The time of flowering largely determines the socio-economic and cultural values of plants. In China and Japan, tree peony cultivation is a traditional flower industry practice. Hence, regulating the time of flowering of tree peony is critical for potted and cut flower supply to these markets during the New Year and the Spring Festival periods. This book represents a research into the physiology, growth and development of the plant, since this could enhance the quality and rate of flower production.
Title: Water Pollution Laws in Sierra Leone—A Review with Examples from the UK and USA
Authors: Abubakarr S. Mansaray1, Jason Aamodt2, Bashiru M. Koroma3
Abstract/Summary
In Sierra Leone, poor water quality is a major threat to public health and aquatic life. The main source of this problem appears to be poorly regulated waste disposal. Even though water pollution laws exist, their enforcement is challenged by many gaps and, seemingly, they focus on the quest to sustain natural resource exploitation. This work presents a case for strengthening such laws to promote public health, economic growth, and resource conservation. The article presents examples of problems that necessitated promulgation of water pollution laws in the US and the UK. Sierra Leone has been affected by similar problems such as public health, war efforts, and industrialization.
Title: Serological Evidence for the Circulation of Ebolaviruses in Pigs from Sierra Leone
Authors: Kerstin Fischer, 1 Juliet Jabaty, 4 Roland Suluku, 5 Thomas Strecker, 6 Allison Groseth2 , Sarah K. Fehling, 6 Anne Balkema-Buschmann, 1 Bashiru Koroma, 5 Kristina M. Schmidt, 1 Christine Atherstone, 7,8 Hana M. Weingartl, 9 Thomas C. Mettenleiter, 3 Martin H. Groschup, 1 Thomas Hoenen, 3 and Sandra Diederich1
Abstract/Summary
Many human ebolavirus outbreaks have been linked to contact with wildlife including nonhuman primates and bats, which are assumed to serve as host species. However, it is largely unknown to what extent other animal species, particularly livestock, are involved in the transmission cycle or act as additional hosts for filoviruses. Pigs were identified as a susceptible host for Reston virus with subsequent transmission to humans reported in the Philippines. To date, there is no evidence of natural Ebola virus (EBOV) infection in pigs, although pigs were shown to be susceptible to EBOV infection under experimental settings. To investigate the potential role of pigs in the ecology of EBOV, we analyzed 400 porcine serum samples from Sierra Leone for the presence of ebolavirus- specific antibodies. Three samples reacted with ebolavirus nucleoproteins but had no neutralizing antibodies. Our results (1) suggest the circulation of ebolaviruses in swine in Sierra Leone that are antigenically related but not identical to EBOV and (2) could represent undiscovered ebolaviruses with unknown pathogenic and/or zoonotic potential.
Title: What Happened to the Forests of Sierra Leone?
Authors: Richard A. Wadsworth 1,* and Aiah R. Lebbie 2
Abstract/Summary
The last National Forest Inventory of Sierra Leone took place more than four decades ago in 1975. There appears to be no legal definition of “forest” in Sierra Leone and it is sometimes unclear whether reports are referring to the forest as a “land use” or a “land cover”. Estimates of forest loss in the Global Forest Resource Assessment Country Reports are based on the estimated rate during the period 1975 to 1986, and this has not been adjusted for the effects of the civil war, economic booms and busts, and the human population doubling (from about three million in 1975 to over seven million in 2018). Country estimates as part of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Global Forest Assessment for 2015 aggregate several classes that are not usually considered as “forest” in normal discourse in Sierra Leone (for example, mangrove swamps, rubber plantations and Raphia palm swamps). This paper makes use of maps from 1950, 1975, and 2000/2 to discuss the fate of forests in Sierra Leone. The widely accepted narrative on forest loss in Sierra Leone and generally in West Africa is that it is rapid, drastic and recent. We suggest that the validity of this narrative depends on how you define “forest”. This paper provides a detailed description of what has happened, and at the same time, offers a different view on the relationship between forests and people than the ideas put forward by James Fairhead and Melissa LeachIf we are going to progress the debate about forests in West Africa, up-to-date information and the involvement of all stakeholders are needed to contribute to the debate on what to measure. Otherwise, the decades-old assumption that the area of forest in Sierra Leone lies between less than 5% and more than 75%, provides an error margin that is not useful. This, therefore, necessitates a new forest inventory.
