Steven Michael Cole

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture | IITA

Background Much has been made of the potential for aquaculture to improve rural livelihoods and food and nutrition security in Africa, though little evidence exists to back such claims. This study, conducted in northern Zambia, assessed the benefits of adopting aquaculture by comparing a sample of households with (n = 177) and without fishponds (n...

Calling for a more systematic exploration of the contexts of uptake of new breeding products, this framework makes breeding teams and other stakeholders working at the intersection between seed promotion and social inclusion more mindful of the factors that determine preferences for, access to, and trust in newly promoted products. Knowing those fa...

This policy brief presents findings from the survey ‘Pilot Study of Multidimensional Social Norms in Agrifood Systems in Nigeria and Tanzania’. Findings from the studies show the prevalence of gendered social norms within the target AFSs in Tanzania and Nigeria. The policy brief also presents recommendations on potential actions or interventions to...

A greater focus on governance is needed to facilitate effective and substantive progress toward sustainability transformations in the aquaculture sector. Concerted governance efforts can help move the sector beyond fragmented technical questions associated with intensification and expansion, social and environmental impacts, and toward system-based...

Cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an important crop in Africa, especially to women who rely on it as a household staple food and source of income. In Tanzania, a recent move toward commercializing the cassava seed system resulted in significantly fewer women than men farmers, known as Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs), producing improved seed...

This paper addresses women's empowerment in agriculture, innovations in its measurement, and emerging evidence. We discuss the evolution of the conceptualization and measurement of women's empowerment and gender equality since 2010. Using a gender and food systems framework and a standardized measure of women's empowerment, the Women's Empowerment...

This study investigated the trait preferences for cassava in the context of climate change and conflict stressors among value-chain actors in Nigeria to strengthen social inclusion and the community-resilience outcomes from breeding programs. Multi-stage sampling procedures were used to select and interview male and female value-chain participants...

This study examined the determinants and impacts of mobile money (MM) usage on maize productivity and poverty likelihood (i.e., the probability of a household falling below the international poverty line at USD 1.9 per capita per day) in the Mbeya Region, Tanzania. The analysis was conducted using the endogenous switching regression (ESR) model on...

The performance of two strains of Nile tilapia (the Nyakabera and Lake Kivu) fed a commercial feed or either a fishmeal-based or a fishmeal-free feed formulated using local ingredients was evaluated for 99 days in Bukavu, eastern highlands of the DR Congo (Experiment 1). Strain × feed interaction was significant (p < 0.05) for final body weight (FB...

Although global assessments of the initial impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have focused on income, jobs, and health conditions, this study constitutes one of the first studies that assessed the impact of COVID-19 on food security in DRC and established the short-term implications of the COVID-19 outbreak on rural households’ food secu...

It is widely recognized that female farmers have considerably less access to productive assets and support services than male farmers. There is limited evidence of gender gaps in technology adoption and agricultural productivity after accounting for the differential access to factors of production between males and females. This study investigates...

This is the protocol for a Campbell systematic review. The objective of this systematic review is to assess the effectiveness of interventions with gender transformative approach (GTA) components in improving women's empowerment in low‐ and middle‐income countries, and to curate evidence on the mechanisms through which GTA works to improve women's...

Gender-responsive breeding is a new approach to making sure modern breeding takes advantage of opportunities to improve gender equality in agriculture. Conventional research on the acceptability of modern varieties has scarcely addressed gender differences during adoption studies. Gender-responsive breeding starts from a different premise that adop...

This paper reports the first benchmarking of smallholder tilapia farming practices in rural northern Zambia, measuring fish growth, feed utilization and water quality parameters, using a participatory action research approach. The effects of three different feeding regimes that are currently used in smallholder farming systems in northern Zambia on...

Fish is a key source of income, food, and nutrition in Zambia, although unlike in the past, capture fisheries no longer meet the national demand for fish. Supply shortfalls created an opportunity to develop the aquaculture sector in Zambia, which is now one of the largest producers of farmed fish (Tilapia spp.) on the continent. In its present form...

This study asks whether there is utility in knowing who sources soybean seed within the household and why when explaining variation in seed obtained from the formal versus informal sector. Survey data collected in Malawi in 2018 were used to explore the question. Results suggest that the identity of the person who sources seed has little to do with...

Meeting future global staple crop demand requires continual productivity improvement. Many performance indicators have been proposed to track and measure the increase in productivity while minimizing environmental degradation. However, their use has lagged behind theory, and has not been uniform across crops in different geographies. The consequenc...

Inadequate nutrient intakes are prevalent among many populations in sub‐Saharan Africa and increasing fish consumption among pregnant/lactating women and children is one strategy to improve diets and address nutrient deficiencies. We report the nutrient content of two fish‐based recipes—fish powder and fish chutney—that contain dried small fish ava...

Citation: Feleke, S.; Cole, S.M.; Sekabira, H.; Djouaka, R.; Manyong, V. Circular Bioeconomy Research for Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Innovations, Gaps, and Actions. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1926. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041926

This study utilizes data from the 1996 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey I (LCMS) conducted in Zambia to examine two important issues concerning child nutritional status. First, does adopting cassava as a primary staple contribute negatively to child nutritional status? Secondly, are household calorie and protein availability and dietary diversit...

Few studies examine post-harvest fish losses using a gender lens or collect sex-disaggregated data. This mixed-methods study assessed fish losses experienced by female and male value chain actors in a fishery in western Zambia to determine who experiences losses, why, and to what extent. Results indicate that participation in the fishery value chai...

Women play essential role in the fisheries sector of Ghana, particularly their involvement in post-harvest activities. However, several factors make them vulnerable to livelihood insecurity. This paper investigates the livelihood vulnerabilities of women in small-scale fisheries in the Gomoa, West District of Ghana by constructing a multi-dimension...

A number of studies have highlighted the promising growth of Egyptian tilapia aquaculture and the role of genetically improved strains in this development, such as the Abbassa Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, Linneaus, 1758). However, few studies have explored the link between aquaculture development and changes in fish demand among low-income...

Multiple lines of evidence call for the use of locally-relevant strategies to guide and support sustainable agricultural intensification while improving development and conservation outcomes. The goal of this study was to identify the ecosystem services from natural and agricultural systems to achieve this aim in the Barotse Floodplain of Zambia. O...

Technical and social constraints limit value chain actors from equitably engaging in and benefiting from capture fisheries in low-income settings. Extension and development programs often focus on the former, which reflects a technocratic orientation of the fisheries sector and uncertainty about effective ways for development programs to engage wit...

A number of studies have highlighted the promising growth of Egyptian tilapia aquaculture and the role of genetically improved strains in this development, such as the Abbassa Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, Linneaus, 1758). However, few studies have explored the link between aquaculture development and changes in fish demand among low-income...

For aquaculture to continue along its current growth trajectory and contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, value chains must become more inclusive. Smallholders and other local value chain actors are often constrained by circumstances and market failures in the global aquaculture industry. Integrating these actors into aqua...

The Barotse Floodplain fishery is an important source of livelihood for economically poor women and men in western Zambia. Current efforts by the Department of Fisheries and the traditional authority to manage the fishery can be characterized as weak. The use of unsustainable fishing practices and overfishing are pervasive. Drawing on resilience th...

Gender equity and equality is the fourth guiding principle of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF Guidelines), and sits within its wider human rights framework. The SSF Guidelines contain acknowledgement of the roles of women in the small-scale fisheries value chain, the need for gender equity and equality i...

People living in and around the Barotse Floodplain are some of the poorest in Zambia due to many factors restricting their abilities to engage in activities to secure food and income. Women, and in particular resident women, are especially constrained given certain gender norms and power relations that hamper them from accessing and adequately bene...

Many Zambians rely on wetlands, lakes, and rivers for their livelihoods. Social norms and power relations restrict access to natural resources provided by these aquatic agricultural systems for certain social groups, thus differentially impacting livelihood security (especially for women). A gender transformative lens and the concept of the “mascul...

The purpose of the CGIAR Research Program on Aquatic Agricultural Systems (AAS) focal community profiles is to provide basic descriptions of initial conditions in each community where AAS works in the Barotse Floodplain (the Barotse Hub) in Zambia’s Western Province. This information will contribute to, among other things, (i) evaluating change thr...

Fish is especially rich in essential omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and micronutrients, including bioavailable calcium, iron and zinc. Fish features prominently in the diet of most, especially poor, Zambians. Despite this, its significance in the diet of women and children in the first 1,000 days is not well understood. Our current...

This article discusses a practice of child residential mobility in Zambia that is frequently overlooked in migration studies and difficult to capture through standard survey methods: the practice of ‘going on holiday’ to the homes of relatives during breaks in the school term. Drawing on child-centered and quantitative research, this article examin...

Over the past few decades, scholars and practitioners working on gender and development issues have advocated for more in-depth analyses that explore and foster change in the social institutions that create and perpetuate gender inequalities. Gender integration approaches in a research and development context are thus not something new. However, ma...

Piecework (ganyu) is short-term, casual labor common in rural Zambia and neighboring countries. Reliance on piecework as a strategy to cope during food shortages in the rainy/cultivation season can restrict own-farm production, and thus, is regarded as an indicator of a household's vulnerability to food insecurity. Based on a household's level of p...

To explore statistically the relationship between adult short-run nutritional status [body mass index (BMI)] and a measure of relative deprivation [subjective socioeconomic status (SES)] using panel data collected in a developing country where there is a high degree of poverty and a very uneven distribution of income. Study participants included me...

A growing number of studies show support for a positive association between food insecurity and poor mental health in developing countries. Few of these studies, however, explore the relationship statistically employing longitudinal data. This study combines ethnography with randomly sampled household-level panel data (two waves) collected in 2009...

This article outlines an approach to the study of child growth and development in adverse environments that utilizes growth to measure the success of the human/environment interaction. This type of biocultural, human adaptability perspective focuses on within group variation to gain an understanding of the differential ability of households to nego...