Warrantage is a mechanism that allows farmers to use a portion of their harvest as collateral to access credit while deferring the sale of stored produce. This study analyzes its contribution to improving the livelihoods of rural households in three villages participating in the Millennium Villages Project (PVM) in the municipality of Banikoara, Northern Benin. It employs a mixed-methods approach combining interviews with local stakeholders, focus groups, participant observation, and a structured survey of 92 beneficiary household heads. The results show that warrantage is practiced by 64% of households in Kanderou, 76% in Founougo A, and 72% in Founougo B, primarily for storing maize and rice. For 72% of the households, the scheme provided their first opportunity to access formal credit. All households also reported reducing their reliance on unfavorable forms of financing such as usurious loans, advance sales, and conditional grain loans by at least two-thirds. The credit obtained is partly invested in income-generating activities, particularly among women. The value of stored produce increases by an average of 28.7%, with variations across the three villages. Furthermore, 72% of households report an improvement in their household food security. However, difficulties in selling the released stock and low literacy levels limit the scheme's benefits. Warrantage thus emerges as a financing and stock management tool capable of strengthening farmers' livelihoods, provided it is coupled with effective marketing, capacity-building, and functional literacy programs.
Climate variability threatens rain-fed agriculture and rural livelihoods across sub-Saharan Africa. Smallholder farmers employ multiple agronomic, livelihood, and collective adaptation strategies, but their effectiveness depends on household resources and access to institutional support. This study identified adaptation strategies used by smallholder farming households in Mezam Division, Cameroon, assessed their perceived effectiveness, and examined constraints affecting their implementation. A convergent mixed-methods design combined a 2024 survey of 205 farming households in Santa, Bafut, Bali, and Tubah with focus group discussions and 20 key informant interviews. Survey data were analysed using frequencies and percentages, while qualitative evidence was analysed thematically and integrated with the quantitative findings. Crop diversification was the most frequently reported strategy (110 households; 53.7%), followed by changing planting dates (95; 46.3%), improved seeds (78; 38.0%), soil conservation (65; 31.7%), and irrigation or water management (42; 20.5%). Qualitative evidence additionally identified livelihood diversification, remittance-supported farm inputs, non-timber forest products, and community labour-sharing. Farmers perceived these strategies as useful for spreading risk, but their effectiveness was conditional on household resources and institutional support. High input costs, limited access to credit, irregular extension services, inadequate local climate information, weak infrastructure, and sociopolitical insecurity constrained sustained implementation. Adaptation among smallholder farming households in Mezam is therefore best understood as a portfolio of complementary strategies rather than as reliance on a single technology. Sustainable adaptation requires affordable finance and inputs, usable climate information, strengthened extension services, improved water and rural infrastructure, and stronger farmer organisations.
Crop rotation (CR) is a fundamental sustainable management practice, yet the temporal dynamics of soil recovery, particularly the synchronization between physical and chemical properties, remain poorly understood, especially in the fragile soil of semi-arid agroecosystems. This field study evaluated the impact of 0, 1, and 2 years of CR (0CR, 1CR, and 2CR) on soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total carbon (STC), soil total nitrogen (STN), macroaggregate formation, and soil water holding capacity (SWHC) under limited (75%) irrigation regime in a barley-bean- sugar beets cropping system in northwest Wyoming. Results revealed a distinct “multi-speed” soil recovery process, in which physical and chemical attributes responded on asynchronous temporal scales. Physical properties proved highly responsive to short-term management: macroaggregate content (> 250 µm) increased progressively across both bean and barley fields after two rotation cycles (2CR; p < 0.001). Additionally, SWHC in barley fields increased significantly by 13.4 % under 2CR (p < 0.05). In contrast, chemical properties exhibited a slower and less consistent response. Bean fields showed a progressive 12.9% increase in STN under 2CR (p < 0.05), likely driven by biological nitrogen fixation, whereas SOC remained statistically unchanged across treatments for both crops, despite a significant mid-rotation recovery in STC within barley fields (p < 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis revealed a temporal decoupling between structural and chemical indicators (r = -0.04 to 0.31), demonstrating that physical matrix restructuring precedes detectable carbon accumulation during early stages of CR. These findings highlight macroaggregate formation and SWHC as sensitive early-stage soil health indicators, providing timely metrics for evaluating conservation management success before long-term SOC accrual can be detected.
The study evaluated the potential of defatted black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) as a sustainable alternative to fish meal (FM) in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) diets while promoting organic waste valorisation through a circular economy approach. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) (Hermetia illucens) were reared on faecal sludge and organic waste, harvested at the pre-pupal stage, and defatted to produce a protein rich feed ingredient. Three isonitrogenous diets (30 % crude protein) were then formulated such that BSFLM substituted FM at 0% (control, diet 1), 50% (diet 2) and 100% (diet 3) on a protein basis. Nutritional chemical analysis on ingredients and diets were determined while diets’ fatty acids profile was determined by MPA FT-NIR spectrometer. The analysis showed significant differences (p < 0.05) among the diet treatments for all measured parameters except dry matter. FM registered the highest crude protein, (57.89%) followed closely by defatted BSFL (54.69%). However, partial substitution of FM with defatted BSFL in diets increased crude protein levels (31.77%), registered moderate crude fat (5.26%) and moderate crude fibre (11.08%) (diet 2) levels compared to FM meal diet (diet 1). Consequently, partial substitution yielded the highest overall polyunsaturated fatty acids (ƩPUFAs) content (4.81 mg/g). Thus, the study shows that, partial replacement (50%) of FM with defatted BSFLM provides rich proximate and fatty acid profiles that can support Nile tilapia production while sustainably managing waste, promoting resource recovery within a circular economy.
This article examines the market viability of introducing Mexican Creole pig products into contemporary agri-food markets from a sustainable agriculture and rural economy perspective. Native and locally adapted livestock breeds can contribute to biodiversity, rural livelihoods and food system resilience, but their conservation depends not only on genetic value or cultural narratives. It also depends on whether producers, processors, retailers and food-service actors can integrate them into viable production and commercialization systems. Based on data from 28 value-chain participants engaged through semi-structured interviews and sectoral focus groups, this qualitative study analyzes how sanitary risk, carcass performance, supply continuity, price formation and market trust shape the adoption prospects of Mexican Creole pig products. Participants represented six types of value-chain actors: industrial pig breeders, small butchers, restaurateurs, traders/distributors, dairy/cheese producers and meat processors without herds. Results indicate a structural misalignment between conservation-oriented innovation proposals and the operational logic of real value-chain actors. Creole pigs are perceived as slower-growing, fattier and less predictable than industrial pigs, which limits their suitability for mainstream pork markets. However, actors identify potential in small-volume, high-value niches such as food festivals, specialty retail and artisanal processed products, provided that traceability, sanitary guarantees and coordinated branding are ensured. The study concludes that Mexican Creole pig conservation through food innovation requires more than consumer interest: it depends on value-chain coordination, institutional support and market designs that align heritage, sustainability and economic feasibility.
