Assessing Suitability of Irrigation Scheduling Decision Support Systems for Lowland Rice Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa—A Review

Effective Aid for Small Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Alternate wetting and drying irrigation maintained rice yields despite half the irrigation volume, but is currently unlikely to be adopted by smallholder lowland rice farmers in Nepal

Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation can save water while maintaining rice yields, but in some countries its adoption by farmers remains limited. Key knowledge gaps include the effect of AWD on early vegetative vigor and its relationship with yield; the effects of AWD on yield and water use efficiency of local cultivars used by smallholder farmers; and the socio-economic factors influe...

Constructing Flexible Scheduling Systems for Decision Support

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA Abstract—Scheduling often involves, in addition to optimization, continuous decision makingwherecontinuity in thesolutions produced is important. Furthermore, substantial diversity in the nature of different scheduling problems exists. In this paper we present a view of scheduling as decision support for continuous planning, and introduce a ...

Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa.

OBJECTIVE To develop a decision-support tool to help policy-makers in sub-Saharan Africa assess whether intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) would be effective for local malaria control. METHODS An algorithm for predicting the effect of IPTi was developed using two approaches. First, study data on the age patterns of clinical cases of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, hospital adm...

Constraints to Increasing Agricultural Production and Productivity among Women Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for Agricultural Transformation Agenda

Agriculture is an important engine of growth and poverty reduction in much of Africa, Nigeria inclusive. But the sector is underperforming in part because women, who are often crucial resource in agriculture and rural economy, face constraints that reduce their productivity. An understanding of these constraints is a prerequisite to devising policies to improve agricultural production and produ...