Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology

Assessing effects of climate change on agricultural systems and the potential for ecological intensification to increase food security in developing countries is essential to guide management, policy-making and future research. 'Push-pull' technology (PPT) is a poly-cropping design developed in east...

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Autores principales: Alexandridis, Nikolaos, Feit, Benjamin, Kihara, Job, Luttermoser, Tim, May, Wilhelm, Midega, Charles, Öborn, Ingrid, Poveda, Katja, Sileshi, Gudeta W., Zewdie, Beyene, Clough, Yann, Jonsson, Mattias
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173262
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author Alexandridis, Nikolaos
Feit, Benjamin
Kihara, Job
Luttermoser, Tim
May, Wilhelm
Midega, Charles
Öborn, Ingrid
Poveda, Katja
Sileshi, Gudeta W.
Zewdie, Beyene
Clough, Yann
Jonsson, Mattias
author_browse Alexandridis, Nikolaos
Clough, Yann
Feit, Benjamin
Jonsson, Mattias
Kihara, Job
Luttermoser, Tim
May, Wilhelm
Midega, Charles
Poveda, Katja
Sileshi, Gudeta W.
Zewdie, Beyene
Öborn, Ingrid
author_facet Alexandridis, Nikolaos
Feit, Benjamin
Kihara, Job
Luttermoser, Tim
May, Wilhelm
Midega, Charles
Öborn, Ingrid
Poveda, Katja
Sileshi, Gudeta W.
Zewdie, Beyene
Clough, Yann
Jonsson, Mattias
author_sort Alexandridis, Nikolaos
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Assessing effects of climate change on agricultural systems and the potential for ecological intensification to increase food security in developing countries is essential to guide management, policy-making and future research. 'Push-pull' technology (PPT) is a poly-cropping design developed in eastern Africa that utilizes plant chemicals to mediate plant-insect interactions.PPT application yields significant increases in crop productivity, by reducing pest load and damage caused by arthropods and parasitic weeds, while also bolstering soil fertility. As climate change effects may be species-and/or context-specific, there is need to elucidate how, in interaction with biotic factors, projected climate conditions are likely to influence future functioning of PPT. Here, we first reviewed how changes in temperature, precipitation and atmospheric CO 2 concentration can influence PPT components (i.e., land use, soils, crops, weeds, diseases, pests and their natural enemies) across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).We then imposed these anticipated responses on a landscape-scale qualitative mathematical model of maize production under PPT in eastern Africa, to predict cumulative, structure-mediated impacts of climate change on maize yield. Our review suggests variable impacts of climate change on PPT components in SSA by the end of the 21st century, including reduced soil fertility, increased weed and arthropod pest pressure and increased prevalence of crop diseases, but also increased biological control by pests' natural enemies. Extrapolating empirical evidence of climate effects to predict responses to projected climate conditions is mainly limited by a lack of mechanistic understanding regarding single and interactive effects of climate variables on PPT components. Model predictions of maize yield responses to anticipated impacts of climate change in eastern Africa suggest predominantly negative future trends. Nevertheless, maize yields can be sustained or increased by favourable changes in system components with less certain future behaviour, including higher PPT adoption, preservation of field edge density and agricultural diversification beyond cereal crops.
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spelling CGSpace1732622025-11-11T17:45:04Z Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology Alexandridis, Nikolaos Feit, Benjamin Kihara, Job Luttermoser, Tim May, Wilhelm Midega, Charles Öborn, Ingrid Poveda, Katja Sileshi, Gudeta W. Zewdie, Beyene Clough, Yann Jonsson, Mattias climate change agriculture pest control methods food security crop yield Assessing effects of climate change on agricultural systems and the potential for ecological intensification to increase food security in developing countries is essential to guide management, policy-making and future research. 'Push-pull' technology (PPT) is a poly-cropping design developed in eastern Africa that utilizes plant chemicals to mediate plant-insect interactions.PPT application yields significant increases in crop productivity, by reducing pest load and damage caused by arthropods and parasitic weeds, while also bolstering soil fertility. As climate change effects may be species-and/or context-specific, there is need to elucidate how, in interaction with biotic factors, projected climate conditions are likely to influence future functioning of PPT. Here, we first reviewed how changes in temperature, precipitation and atmospheric CO 2 concentration can influence PPT components (i.e., land use, soils, crops, weeds, diseases, pests and their natural enemies) across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).We then imposed these anticipated responses on a landscape-scale qualitative mathematical model of maize production under PPT in eastern Africa, to predict cumulative, structure-mediated impacts of climate change on maize yield. Our review suggests variable impacts of climate change on PPT components in SSA by the end of the 21st century, including reduced soil fertility, increased weed and arthropod pest pressure and increased prevalence of crop diseases, but also increased biological control by pests' natural enemies. Extrapolating empirical evidence of climate effects to predict responses to projected climate conditions is mainly limited by a lack of mechanistic understanding regarding single and interactive effects of climate variables on PPT components. Model predictions of maize yield responses to anticipated impacts of climate change in eastern Africa suggest predominantly negative future trends. Nevertheless, maize yields can be sustained or increased by favourable changes in system components with less certain future behaviour, including higher PPT adoption, preservation of field edge density and agricultural diversification beyond cereal crops. 2023-08 2025-02-20T11:41:15Z 2025-02-20T11:41:15Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173262 en Open Access application/pdf Elsevier Alexandridis, N.; Feit, B.; Kihara, J.; Luttermoser, T.; May, W.; Midega, C.; Öborn, I.; Poveda, K.; Sileshi, G.W.; Zewdie, B.; Clough, Y.; Jonsson, M. (2023) Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 352: 108511. ISSN: 0167-8809
spellingShingle climate change
agriculture
pest control
methods
food security
crop yield
Alexandridis, Nikolaos
Feit, Benjamin
Kihara, Job
Luttermoser, Tim
May, Wilhelm
Midega, Charles
Öborn, Ingrid
Poveda, Katja
Sileshi, Gudeta W.
Zewdie, Beyene
Clough, Yann
Jonsson, Mattias
Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology
title Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology
title_full Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology
title_fullStr Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology
title_full_unstemmed Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology
title_short Climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa – A systems approach to predict maize yield under push-pull technology
title_sort climate change and ecological intensification of agriculture in sub saharan africa a systems approach to predict maize yield under push pull technology
topic climate change
agriculture
pest control
methods
food security
crop yield
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173262
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