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Featured researches published by Birthe K. Paul.


Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | 2016

Drivers of household food availability in sub-Saharan Africa based on big data from small farms

Romain Frelat; Santiago Lopez-Ridaura; Ken E. Giller; Mario Herrero; Sabine Douxchamps; Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt; Olaf Erenstein; B. Henderson; Menale Kassie; Birthe K. Paul; Cyrille Rigolot; Randall S. Ritzema; D. Rodriguez; Piet van Asten; Mark T. van Wijk

Significance We collated a unique dataset covering land use and production data of more than 13,000 smallholder farm households in 93 sites in 17 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. The study quantifies the importance of off-farm income and market conditions across sites differing strongly in agroecology and derives generally applicable threshold values that determine whether farm households have enough food available to feed their families. These results show there is a strong need for multisectoral policy harmonization and incentives and improved interconnectedness of people to urban centers and diversification of employment sources, rather than a singular focus on agricultural development of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. We calculated a simple indicator of food availability using data from 93 sites in 17 countries across contrasted agroecologies in sub-Saharan Africa (>13,000 farm households) and analyzed the drivers of variations in food availability. Crop production was the major source of energy, contributing 60% of food availability. The off-farm income contribution to food availability ranged from 12% for households without enough food available (18% of the total sample) to 27% for the 58% of households with sufficient food available. Using only three explanatory variables (household size, number of livestock, and land area), we were able to predict correctly the agricultural determined status of food availability for 72% of the households, but the relationships were strongly influenced by the degree of market access. Our analyses suggest that targeting poverty through improving market access and off-farm opportunities is a better strategy to increase food security than focusing on agricultural production and closing yield gaps. This calls for multisectoral policy harmonization, incentives, and diversification of employment sources rather than a singular focus on agricultural development. Recognizing and understanding diversity among smallholder farm households in sub-Saharan Africa is key for the design of policies that aim to improve food security.


Food Security | 2017

Is production intensification likely to make farm households food-adequate? A simple food availability analysis across smallholder farming systems from East and West Africa

Randall S. Ritzema; Romain Frelat; Sabine Douxchamps; Silvia Silvestri; Mariana C. Rufino; Mario Herrero; Ken E. Giller; Santiago Lopez-Ridaura; Nils Teufel; Birthe K. Paul; M.T. van Wijk

Despite considerable development investment, food insecurity remains prevalent throughout East and West Africa. The concept of ‘sustainable intensification’ of agricultural production has been promoted as a means to meet growing food needs in these regions. However, inadequate attention has been given to assessing whether benefits from intensification would be realized by farm households considering highly diverse resource endowments, household and farm characteristics, and agroecological contexts. In this study, we apply a simple energy-based index of food availability to 1800 households from research sites in 7 countries in East and West Africa to assess the food availability status of each of these households and to quantify the contribution of different on- and off-farm activities to food availability. We estimate the effects of two production intensification strategies on food availability: increased cereal crop production from crop-based options, and increased production of key livestock products from livestock-based options. These two options are contrasted with a third strategy: increased off-farm income for each household from broader socioeconomic-based options. Using sensitivity analysis, each strategy is tested against baseline values via incremental production increases. Baseline results exhibit considerable diversity within and across sites in household food availability status and livelihood strategies. Interventions represented in the crop and livestock options may primarily benefit food-adequate and marginally food-inadequate households, and have little impact on the most food-inadequate households. The analysis questions what production intensification can realistically achieve for East and West African smallholders, and how intensification strategies must be augmented with transformational strategies to reach the poorest households.


AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment | 2015

LivestockPlus: Forages, sustainable intensification, and food security in the tropics

Thomas Rudel; Birthe K. Paul; Douglas White; Idupulapati M. Rao; Rein van der Hoek; A. Castro; Maryline Boval; Amy M. Lerner; Laura Schneider; Michael Peters

The increased use of grain-based feed for livestock during the last two decades has contributed, along with other factors, to a rise in grain prices that has reduced human food security. This circumstance argues for feeding more forages to livestock, particularly in the tropics where many livestock are reared on small farms. Efforts to accomplish this end, referred to as the ‘LivestockPlus’ approach, intensify in sustainable ways the management of grasses, shrubs, trees, and animals. By decoupling the human food and livestock feed systems, these efforts would increase the resilience of the global food system. Effective LivestockPlus approaches take one of two forms: (1) simple improvements such as new forage varieties and animal management practices that spread from farmer to farmer by word of mouth, or (2) complex sets of new practices that integrate forage production more closely into farms’ other agricultural activities and agro-ecologies.


Archive | 2017

Replication Data for: Towards an assessment of on-farm niches for improved forages in Sud-Kivu, DR Congo

Birthe K. Paul; Fabrice L. Muhimuzi; Samy Bagicale; B. Wimba; Wanjiku L. Chiuri; Gaston S. Amzati; Brigitte L. Maass

Inadequate quantity and quality of livestock feed is a persistent constraint to productivity for mixed crop-livestock farming in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. To assess on-farm niches of improved forages, demonstration trials and participatory on-farm research were conducted in four different sites. Forage legumes included Canavalia brasiliensis (CIAT 17009), Stylosanthes guianensis (CIAT 11995) and Desmodium uncinatum (cv. Silverleaf), while grasses were Guatemala grass ( Tripsacum andersonii ), Napier grass ( Pennisetum purpureum ) French Cameroon, and a local Napier line. Within the first six months, forage legumes adapted differently to the four sites with little differences among varieties, while forage grasses displayed higher variability in biomass production among varieties than among sites. Farmers’ ranking largely corresponded to herbage yield from the first cut, preferring Canavalia, Silverleaf desmodium and Napier French Cameroon. Choice of forages and integration into farming systems depended on land availability, soil erosion prevalence and livestock husbandry system. In erosion prone sites, 55–60%of farmers planted grasses on field edges and 16–30% as hedgerows for erosion control. 43% of farmers grew forages as intercrop with food crops such as maize and cassava, pointing to land scarcity. Only in the site with lower land pressure, 71% of farmers grew legumes as pure stand. When land tenure was not secured and livestock freely roaming, 75% of farmers preferred to grow annual forage legumes instead of perennial grasses. Future research should develop robust decision support for spatial and temporal integration of forage technologies into diverse smallholder cropping systems and agro-ecologies.


Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment | 2013

Medium-term impact of tillage and residue management on soil aggregate stability, soil carbon and crop productivity

Birthe K. Paul; Bernard Vanlauwe; F.O. Ayuke; Anja Gassner; M. Hoogmoed; T.T. Hurisso; Saidou Koala; D. Lelei; T. Ndabamenye; Johan Six; Mirjam M. Pulleman


Global Change Biology | 2012

Residue incorporation depth is a controlling factor of earthworm-induced nitrous oxide emissions

Birthe K. Paul; Ingrid M. Lubbers; Jan Willem van Groenigen


Tropical Grasslands - Forrajes Tropicales | 2015

LivestockPlus - The sustainable intensification of forage-based agricultural systems to improve livelihoods and ecosystem services in the tropics *

Idupulapati Rao; Michael Peters; A. Castro; Rainer Schultze-Kraft; Douglas White; Myles Fisher; John W. Miles; Carlos E. Lascano; M. Blümmel; D. Bungenstab; Jeimar Tapasco; Glenn Hyman; A. Bolliger; Birthe K. Paul; R. van der Hoek; B. Maass; Tassilo T. Tiemann; M. Cuchillo; Sabine Douxchamps; C. Villanueva; A. Rincón; Miguel Ayarza; T. Rosenstock; G.V. Subbarao; Jacobo Arango; Juan Andrés Cardoso; M. Worthington; N. Chirinda; An Maria Omer Notenbaert; A. Jenet


Agricultural Systems | 2017

Prioritizing climate-smart livestock technologies in rural Tanzania: a minimum data approach

Kelvin Shikuku; Roberto O. Valdivia; Birthe K. Paul; Caroline Mwongera; Leigh A. Winowiecki; Peter Läderach; Mario Herrero; Silvia Silvestri


Tropical Grasslands | 2013

Challenges and opportunities for improving eco-efficiency of tropical forage-based systems to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions

Michael Peters; Mario Herrero; Myles Fisher; Karl-Heinz Erb; Idupulapati Rao; G.V. Subbarao; Aracely Castro; Jacobo Arango; Julián Chará; Enrique Murgueitio; Rein van der Hoek; Peter Läderach; Glenn Hyman; Jeimar Tapasco; Bernardo Strassburg; Birthe K. Paul; A. Rincón; Rainer Schultze-Kraft; Steve Fonte; Timothy D. Searchinger


Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment | 2015

Exclusion of soil macrofauna did not affect soil quality but increased crop yields in a sub-humid tropical maize-based system

Birthe K. Paul; Bernard Vanlauwe; M. Hoogmoed; T.T. Hurisso; T. Ndabamenye; Y. Terano; Johan Six; F.O. Ayuke; Mirjam M. Pulleman

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An Maria Omer Notenbaert

International Livestock Research Institute

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Rolf Sommer

International Center for Tropical Agriculture

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Mario Herrero

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

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Simon Fraval

International Livestock Research Institute

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J.C.J. Groot

Wageningen University and Research Centre

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Mats Lannerstad

International Livestock Research Institute

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Juliet Braslow

International Center for Tropical Agriculture

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Brigitte L. Maass

International Center for Tropical Agriculture

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Michael Peters

International Center for Tropical Agriculture

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Solomon W. Mwendia

International Center for Tropical Agriculture

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