TY - JOUR A1 - Jha, Srijna A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Lana, Marcos A1 - Amjath-Babu, T.S A1 - Sieber, Stefan T1 - Exploring Farmers’ Perceptions of Agricultural Technologies: A Case Study from Tanzania JF - Sustainability N2 - The low agricultural productivity of key crops and food insecurity continue to be key issues in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Tanzania. The growing population, depleting resources, and changing climate further amplify these issues. Globally, many agricultural technologies (AgTs) are available as pathways for improved agricultural productivity and food security, however, they have had relatively little success in SSA and Tanzania. This is because the uptake of AgTs is a complex process, which is highly localized, involving multiple actors, stages, and spatial and time dimensions. Smallholder farmers often experience issues of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up throughout the uptake process of AgTs, all of which vary by region. This indicates a need for a systematic and simultaneous understanding of sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of AgTs to better guide agricultural strategy and policy interventions in SSA and Tanzania. Moreover, in order to understand the local settings better, a consideration of the perceptions of the farmers themselves, who are the primary actors in the uptake process of AgTs, is key. Acknowledging this, the study takes on a case study approach, using the scaling-up assessment (ScalA) method and three focus group discussions with a total of 44 smallholder farmers to systematically and simultaneously assess the sustainability, constraints for adoption, and scaling-up of three AgTs (use of fertilizers, improved seeds, and small-scale irrigation) in Tanzania. The study finds that the farmers perceive all three AgTs to be sustainable for the study region. Adoption rates are perceived to be medium for use of fertilizers, high for improved seeds, and low for small-scale irrigation. The most significant constraints for adoption experienced by the farmers are lack of technical physical inputs, marketing facilities, and know-how. Scaling-up is perceived to be well fulfilled for use of fertilizers and improved seeds, but only partially fulfilled for small-scale irrigation, which is the most limited of the three AgTs. The most significant constraints for scaling-up experienced by farmers are a lack of confidence in the added value of the AgTs beyond project activities, marketing facilities, and technical physical inputs. The overall success potential is high for the use of fertilizers and improved seeds, and the average for small-scale irrigation. The farmers’ perceptions partially indicate why the bundle of AgTs is lacking in the study region and provide a basis for discussing targeted agricultural and policy interventions in Tanzania. KW - sustainability KW - adoption KW - scaling-up KW - agricultural technologies KW - farmer perceptions KW - agricultural productivity KW - food security KW - Tanzania Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3340 SN - 2071-1050 VL - 13 IS - 3 PB - MDPI ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jha, Srijna A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Sieber, Stefan T1 - Factors influencing the adoption of agroforestry by smallholder farmer households in Tanzania: Case studies from Morogoro and Dodoma JF - Land Use Policy N2 - The adoption of agricultural innovations is a critical adaptation mechanism for smallholder farmers to prepare and deal with potential shocks and uncertainty. Agroforestry is proven to be highly impactful at improving the adaptive capacity of farmers, the resilience of local farming systems and in providing diversified livelihood benefits. The adoption of agroforestry in Tanzania is generally uneven, with some successes and some failures and could be better supported. To do so, understanding the most significant factors influencing the adoption of agroforestry is key. Logistic regression (logit model) is used to analyse household survey data collected from 697 smallholder farmers. Results indicate that only 71 farmers (10.19 %) report planting new trees and actively practicing agroforestry. Farmers who are part of a project, are able to rent land and have a source of seedlings are more likely to adopt agroforestry. When farmers perceive rainfall to be changing, their land rights to be only moderately secure and their right to plant trees to be dependent on obtaining permission from the land owner or family members, they are less likely to adopt agroforestry. If the farmer perceives the land to be relatively fertile and has the intention to improve or maintain the fertility of his plot in the future then the likelihood of adopting agroforestry increases. Policy interventions ought to promote the participation of farmers in agroforestry projects to facilitate knowledge and experience building. Policy interventions should provide a reliable source of agroforestry inputs, such as seedlings to ensure that the resource requirements for agroforestry are well fulfilled. Farmer perceptions of land and agroforestry rights must be emphasized, clarified and streamlined to facilitate better policies. Farmer perceptions related to rainfall and soil fertility highlight a lack of awareness concerning the soil and water conservation benefits of agroforestry. Therefore, these must be better addressed through improved education and extension services. Consideration of farmer perceptions is crucial for the adoption of agroforestry. Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-7340 SN - 1873-5754 IS - 103 PB - Elsevier ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Van Hee, Jens A1 - Ollendorf, Franziska A1 - Coral, Claudia A1 - Steinke, Jonathan A1 - Sieber, Stefan A1 - Löhr, Katharina T1 - Exploring farmer-driven approaches for sustainable cocoa livelihoods in Côte d’Ivoire JF - Discover Sustainability N2 - Abstract The Ivorian cocoa sector faces numerous socio-economic and environmental challenges, including widespread poverty among smallholder farmers. Over decades, multiple approaches have been adopted to address these challenges, often top-down and outcome-based in their design. This study applied a Positive Deviance (PD) approach to explore strategies employed by innovative Ivorian cocoa farming households to identify and learn from locally developed solutions. Analysing data from 303 Ivorian cocoa households, 16 PD households were selected for follow-up in-depth interviews. Key strategies identified among these households included income diversification, the use of organic fertilizers like compost and animal manure, and maintaining diversified plantations and dry-season crops to enhance household resilience. While these practices are not entirely new to the Ivorian context, their strategic combination and anticipation of specific challenges appears to be key to their success. However, their adoption was often depending on the households’ access to resources, such as land and labour, limiting their generalizability across all smallholder farmers. The study therefore highlights the need for context-specific approaches to support smallholder farmers and argues for tailored and locally grounded development interventions. Given the critical role that cooperatives play in facilitating access to inputs, knowledge, and credit, they should be strengthened, particularly in their capacity to reach underserved groups. While these exploratory findings offer valuable insights into local innovations and trade-offs within the cocoa sector, future research should incorporate more quantitative data on household income streams to better understand the broader applicability and trade-offs of these strategies. KW - - KW - Cocoa KW - Innovation KW - Positive deviance KW - Côte d’Ivoire KW - Targeted approach Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-10636 SN - 2662-9984 VL - 6 IS - 1 PB - Springer International Publishing CY - Cham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Van Hee, Jens A1 - Ollendorf, Franziska A1 - Coral, Claudia A1 - Steinke, Jonathan A1 - Sieber, Stefan A1 - Löhr, Katharina T1 - Correction: Exploring farmer-driven approaches for sustainable cocoa livelihoods in Côte d’ivoire JF - Discover Sustainability KW - - Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-10644 SN - 2662-9984 VL - 6 IS - 1 PB - Springer International Publishing CY - Cham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Matavel, Custodio A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Steinke, Jonathan A1 - Rybak, Constance A1 - Hoffmann, Harry A1 - Salavessa, João A1 - Sieber, Stefan A1 - Müller, Klaus T1 - Effect of passive solar drying on food security in rural Mozambique JF - Scientific Reports N2 - Abstract Achieving food security in Mozambique is critical, since 80% of the population cannot afford an adequate diet. While increasing agricultural production is a necessary effort to address this challenge, inadequate post-harvest treatment leads to storage losses and quality degradation, with repercussions for food security. The use of solar drying is promoted as a solution to provide efficient and reliable access to food preservation that improves the food security situation in rural communities. However, there is a lack of clear evidence on how the use or access to solar drying affects food security. This study identifies the determinants of farmers’ choice to use solar drying and evaluates the effect of a passive solar dryer on food security using survey data from 634 households. We allocated solar dryers to selected communities and all interested individuals belonging to these communities were eligible to use it. Propensity score matching and endogenous switching poisson regression are used to estimate the average effect. The use of solar drying with associated training significantly increases the food security status of participants by increasing household food availability, women’s dietary diversity, and months of adequate household food provision and by decreasing the household food insecurity access scale. KW - - KW - Devices for energy harvesting KW - Energy and society KW - Solar thermal energy KW - Sustainability Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-9124 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 12 IS - 1 PB - Nature Publishing Group UK ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Eshetu, Shibire Bekele A1 - Kipkulei, Harison Kiplagat A1 - Koepke, Julian A1 - Kächele, Harald A1 - Sieber, Stefan A1 - Löhr, Katharina T1 - Impact of forest landscape restoration in combating soil erosion in the Lake Abaya catchment, Southern Ethiopia JF - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment N2 - Abstract As an effect of forest degradation, soil erosion is among Ethiopia’s most pressing environmental challenges and a major threat to food security where it could potentially compromise the ecosystem functions and services. As the effects of soil erosion intensify, the landscape’s capacity to support ecosystem functions and services is compromised. Exploring the ecological implications of soil erosion is crucial. This study investigated the soil loss and land degradation in the Lake Abaya catchment to explore forest landscape restoration (FLR) implementation as a possible countermeasure to the effects. The study used a geographic information system (GIS)-based approach of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to determine the potential annual soil loss and develop an erosion risk map. Results show that 13% of the catchment, which accounts for approximately 110,000 ha, is under high erosion risk of exceeding the average annual tolerable soil loss of 10 t/ha/year. Allocation of land on steep slopes to crop production is the major reason for the calculated high erosion risk in the catchment. A scenario-based analysis was implemented following the slope-based land-use allocation proposal indicated in the Rural Land Use Proclamation 456/2005 of Ethiopia. The scenario analysis resulted in a reversal erosion effect whereby an estimated 3000 t/ha/year of soil loss in the catchment. Thus, FLR activities hold great potential for minimizing soil loss and contributing to supporting functioning and providing ecosystem services. Tree-based agroforestry systems are among the key FLR measures championed in highly degraded landscapes in Ethiopia. This study helps policymakers and FLR implementors identify erosion risk areas for future FLR activities. Thereby, it contributes to achieving the country’s restoration commitment. KW - - KW - RUSLE KW - GIS KW - Erosion KW - Landscape restoration KW - Scenario analysis Y1 - 2024 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-9454 SN - 0167-6369 SN - 1573-2959 VL - 196 IS - 3 PB - Springer International Publishing CY - Cham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kipkulei, Harison K. A1 - Bellingrath-Kimura, Sonoko D. A1 - Lana, Marcos A1 - Ghazaryan, Gohar A1 - Baatz, Roland A1 - Löhr, Katharina A1 - Matavel, Custodio A1 - Boitt, Mark K. A1 - Chisanga, Charles B. A1 - Rotich, Brian A1 - Sieber, Stefan T1 - Modeling the impact of climate change on maize (Zea mays L.) production at the county scale in Kenya JF - Regional Environmental Change N2 - Abstract Global climate change is projected to disproportionately impact cereal crop yields in developing regions, such as Kenya, due to increased vulnerability and limited adaptation capacity of the population. This study examines the current and projected influence of climate change on maize yields in two major maize-producing counties of Kenya. Utilizing the calibrated and evaluated DSSAT-CERES-Maize model (where DSSAT is Decision Support Systems for Agrotechnology Transfer and CERES stands for Crop and Environment REsource Synthesis) for the H614 maize cultivar, we investigated the projected impact of climate change on maize production with reference to a baseline period (1984–2013). Simulations were conducted for the mid-century period (2041–2070) and end-of-century period (2071–2100) using projected climate data from regional climate models (RCMs) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs; 4.5 and 8.5) scenarios. Our findings indicate a substantial decline in maize yields, ranging from 7 to 20% for the mid-century period and between 22 and 41% for the end-of-century period, with increased temperature during critical growth phases identified as the primary driver. Spatial clustering and hotspot analysis reveal differential climate impacts across the region. In the end-of-century period, both scenarios revealed that the counties will be marked by hotspots and adaptation spots, areas where climate change adaptation should be intensified. The study underscores the urgency for tailored, location-specific adaptation measures such as maize-legume intercropping, drought-resistant crops, soil water conservation and optimum sowing to mitigate future yield losses and adapt maize production to climate change. KW - - KW - Climate change KW - Crop modeling KW - Impact KW - Maize KW - Kenya Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-10014 SN - 1436-3798 SN - 1436-378X VL - 25 IS - 2 PB - Springer Berlin Heidelberg CY - Berlin/Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kipkulei, Harison K. A1 - Bellingrath-Kimura, Sonoko D. A1 - Lana, Marcos A1 - Ghazaryan, Gohar A1 - Baatz, Roland A1 - Löhr, Katharina A1 - Matavel, Custodio A1 - Boitt, Mark K. A1 - Chisanga, Charles B. A1 - Rotich, Brian A1 - Sieber, Stefan T1 - Modeling the impact of climate change on maize (Zea mays L.) production at the county scale in Kenya JF - Regional Environmental Change N2 - Abstract Global climate change is projected to disproportionately impact cereal crop yields in developing regions, such as Kenya, due to increased vulnerability and limited adaptation capacity of the population. This study examines the current and projected influence of climate change on maize yields in two major maize-producing counties of Kenya. Utilizing the calibrated and evaluated DSSAT-CERES-Maize model (where DSSAT is Decision Support Systems for Agrotechnology Transfer and CERES stands for Crop and Environment REsource Synthesis) for the H614 maize cultivar, we investigated the projected impact of climate change on maize production with reference to a baseline period (1984–2013). Simulations were conducted for the mid-century period (2041–2070) and end-of-century period (2071–2100) using projected climate data from regional climate models (RCMs) under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs; 4.5 and 8.5) scenarios. Our findings indicate a substantial decline in maize yields, ranging from 7 to 20% for the mid-century period and between 22 and 41% for the end-of-century period, with increased temperature during critical growth phases identified as the primary driver. Spatial clustering and hotspot analysis reveal differential climate impacts across the region. In the end-of-century period, both scenarios revealed that the counties will be marked by hotspots and adaptation spots, areas where climate change adaptation should be intensified. The study underscores the urgency for tailored, location-specific adaptation measures such as maize-legume intercropping, drought-resistant crops, soil water conservation and optimum sowing to mitigate future yield losses and adapt maize production to climate change. KW - - KW - Climate change KW - Crop modeling KW - Impact KW - Maize KW - Kenya Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-10080 SN - 1436-3798 SN - 1436-378X VL - 25 IS - 2 PB - Springer Berlin Heidelberg CY - Berlin/Heidelberg ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Del Río Duque, Martha Lilia A1 - Löhr, Katharina A1 - Pérez-Lora, Ángela Patricia A1 - Lana, Marcos A1 - Castro-Nunez, Augusto A1 - Sieber, Stefan A1 - Bonatti, Michelle T1 - Toward understanding the scaling out of sustainable land use systems in Colombia: integrating case study insights and national pathways design for cacao farming JF - Discover Agriculture N2 - Abstract The unplanned expansion of conventional agriculture resulted in biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Agroforestry systems (AFS) have emerged as a promising alternative to promote sustainable land use systems (SLUS) in tropical regions. This study explores the potential for scaling out SLUS from localized interventions to broader landscape-level applications in Colombian cacao agroforestry systems (CAFS). We employ a multi-level framework, integrating qualitative and quantitative data from primary and secondary sources. We apply text mining, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis. First, we identify the interconnections among agro-ecological, biophysical, economic, social, institutional, and political factors influencing the scaling out of SLUS in cacao farming in two municipalities located in conflict-affected Colombian departments. Secondly, we conduct a national quantitative exploratory analysis, grouping similar departments based on socioeconomic and biophysical data from official sources. This analysis provides the foundation for the design of regional typologies and an adaptive pathway for the scaling out of SLUS in cacao farming. This pathway encompasses five distinct departmental groups. Our findings highlight the need for a landscape-based approach that is sensitive to regional socio-cultural and institutional nuances. The analysis reveals that key variables, including land availability for agricultural use, water use risk level, deforestation, social conflict, land tenure informality, and agricultural productivity, influence the successful scaling out process across diverse regions. This study advocates for a collaborative approach that links scientific insights with practical initiatives co-created at the regional level, thereby empowering communities to design pathways for scaling out SLUS across Colombia. KW - - KW - Cacao agroforestry systems KW - Departmental typologies KW - Complex systems KW - Context-sensitive agricultural innovations KW - Local factors KW - Knowledge co-creation Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-10200 SN - 2731-9598 VL - 3 IS - 1 PB - Springer International Publishing CY - Cham ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rodríguez, Tatiana A1 - Bonatti, Michelle A1 - Löhr, Katharina A1 - Sieber, Stefan T1 - Rethinking knowledge systems for agroforestry: Insights from the mental models of cacao farmers in Colombia JF - Ambio N2 - Abstract Agroforestry is a sustainable land-use strategy that requires better integration of diverse knowledge systems. This paper examines how formal knowledge systems for cacao agroforestry systems in Colombia are structured, and how farmers understand and manage these systems. We interviewed 42 actors involved in knowledge production and dissemination and worked with 18 farmers to create mental maps of their management practices. Our findings show that formal knowledge systems remain predominantly top-down and scientific-based, despite increasing recognition of local knowledge. Farmers’ mental models reflect this, showing reliance on external advice and simplified cause-and-effect thinking. When theoretically pooling farmers’ perspectives, we observe a more comprehensive understanding of agroforestry, suggesting that social learning can strengthen their independence and adaptive capacity. Moreover, farm management is shaped by context-dependent variables such as climate seasonality and market access, thus highlighting the importance of integrating farmers’ experiential knowledge into agroforestry design and dissemination for more sustainable, context-sensitive decision-making. KW - - KW - Agricultural innovation KW - Cognitive mapping KW - Mental models KW - Social learning KW - Systems thinking Y1 - 2025 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-10250 SN - 0044-7447 SN - 1654-7209 VL - 54 IS - 11 SP - 1852 EP - 1866 PB - Springer Netherlands CY - Dordrecht ER -