ABSTRACT Studies have documented many negative social, economic and environmental implications of tobacco farming. Tobacco farming puts an extra stress on ecosystems and causes specific health and socio-economic problems for poor populations engaged in the activity. Through research, environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative crops to tobacco farming such as soya beans, watermelons, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, cabbages, among others, have been identified. However, the rate and ...
ABSTRACT The Eastern province of Rwanda is highly populated. This has led to continuous cropping systems without addition of external fertilizers to compensate losses due to removal of grains and residues through harvesting. In such conditions, soil fertility decline is a major factor limiting per capita crop production in the area. It is quite difficult for smallholder farmers to afford to buy and apply adequate quantities of mineral fertilizers and organic sources, making it difficult for t...
ABSTRACT Climate variability has a negative impact on crop productivity and has affected many small-holder farmers in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). Small-holder farmers in the study area are faced with the constraint of climate variability and have consequently made effort at the local level to utilize indigenous knowledge (IK) in addition to conventional knowledge to mitigate the impacts of the variability. However, documentation of the IK indicators is limited. This study was theref...
ABSTRACT Cassava is an important food crop in small-holder farming systems in DR. Congo. Due to the limited use of organic and inorganic inputs, soil fertility becomes a major problem in cassava production systems. Inorganic inputs for small-holder farmers are often too expensive to apply at optimal rates and combining use of organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs is a suitable management principle for small-holder farmers. A study involving 15 households was carried out in DR. Congo with th...
ABSTRACT Sand harvesting is a common economic activity globally and has environmental effects on the riparian land as well as the quality of the river water the activity is carried out. The associated environmental and water quality challenges pose environmental and health risks to the community and the aquatic life. This study was conducted between May and September, 2016 and was aimed at assessing the physico-chemical quality of water in River Thwake and the socio-economic impacts of sand h...
One of the main goals of this study is to provide a comfortable study environment. The quest for comfortable useable and livable space is the reason for the creation of a new field in science called “Thermal Comfort”. The global problems of Architectural models of Hot and Dry tropical environment can best be addressed by the introduction of passive control systems for thermal comfort. The question becomes: how much comfort up to date could do this scientific responsibility? This resear...
ABSTRACT Recently, Nigeria witnessed unstable exchange rate, currency devaluation, high cost of fund e.t.c, which were attributable to the current global economic recession. As a result of the recession, real estate development in Enugu Urban was equally affected and it became impossible to access development funds due to scarcity and high cost of fund. Meanwhile, most existing studies on the subject tend to concentrate on the demand side of the effects of the economic recession on real esta...
Climate change is acknowledged in Kenya hence innovations that may help to increase the availability of water are of major importance. The purpose of this study was to assess rainfall variability and use of rainwater harvesting technologies as an adaptation strategy to climate change in Baringo County Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to: (i) analyze rainfall trends in agro-ecological zones: Lower Midlands 5 (LM 5), Inner Lowland (IL 6) and Lower highland (LH 2); (ii) estab...
Pastoralism has been the main livelihood option in Mandera County for many decades, but currently it has faced many challenges due to shortage of pasture arising from land degradation and frequent droughts brought about by climate change. This has caused loss of animals leading to food insecurity, high poverty rates, and a necessity to diversify to other non-livestock livelihoods. This study aimed at identifying, documenting and analyzing the contribution of livelihood options on the soc...
The land in Kiirua, Kibirichia and Ruiri wards of Buuri sub-county in Meru County is fertile and with a high rainfall, this has encouraged a concentration of population and farming leading to deforestation and soil erosion. Agroforestry practices can allow the farmers to grow crops without damaging the vegetation that provides a cover for the soil and also the trees can provide fuel wood, food and timber to the growing population. Despite government and non-governmental organizations eff...
Kenya is endowed with a wealth of natural resources comprising minerals, land, soils, air, forests, wildlife and various other forms of biodiversity. In the recent past, the Country has witnessed increased attention in the exploitation of mineral resources such as titanium, gypsum and gold to just name a few. Exploitation of mineral resources is prone to bio-physical and socioeconomic impacts. Due to regular violent protests by the local population on account of environmental degradation, the...
ABSTRACT The environmental degradation of areas surrounding Lake Elementaita arise from the livelihood activities of the residents. Uncontrolled extraction of resources such as trees, grass and soda/salt contrasts with conservation. This is further compounded by the free access to the resources as a result of absentee landlords. This situation leads to lack of control and management of resources thus exacerbating degradation activities around the Lake and its riparian ecosystem. This study fo...
ABSTRACT This project examines the rate of vegetation cover changes in Enugu State using NDVI techniques for the year 1991, 2003 and 2015 so as to detect changes that has taken place between these periods. The main goal of this study is to evaluate vegetation cover change of the study area using Normalized Vegetation Index (NDVI) in order to identify vegetation cover and the spatial distribution in the area for the period of investigation and to produce NDVI and spatio-temporal change maps a...
ABSTRACT The indiscriminate location of land uses, rapid and uncontrolled development in urban/rural areas as well as the old and new state capitals in Nigeria have resulted in urban slums, urban sprawl, traffic congestion, blight, obsolescence and overcrowding. Worst still, little or no attention is paid to their orderly growth and the demand they make on the limited land resources. Awka Capital Territory (the study area) as a new site for the New Anambra State Capital is also affected with ...