Prospects for Organic Farming in Coping with Climate Change and Enhancing Food Security in Southern Africa: A Systematic Literature Review
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Journal: Sustainability
Manuscript ID: sustainability-1957843
Type: Review
Title: Prospects for organic farming in coping with climate change and enhancing food security in Southern Africa: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Siphelele Vincent Wekeza , Melusi Sibanda * , Kenneth Nhundu
A brief summary
The authors presented the Article, which is very detailed and important for the further development of the topic.
The authors did a good study of the sources, mostly modern in the region, which is stated in the Title - Southern Africa, but also using the world context appropriately. It is important to note that a good study of recent articles from the journal Sustainability has been done.
Specific comments
Keywords. Of the four key phrases, three are already included in the title of the article. The reviewer recommends diversifying Keywords for better reflection in search engines.
L 14. The reader will definitely ask the question: why are different types of sources used: if the scientometric base is Scopus, then why not its analogue - WoS? If this library (Wiley Online Library), then why exactly it? For example, instead of Scopus, then it would be more logical to take Mendeley Library (https://www.mendeley.com/library/). This requires a comment.
L 16. Is it grammatically beautiful? «538 documents remained. Out of 538 documents that remained,…»
L 66. This abbreviation is redundant (because starting from L10): (СС)
L 244. Table 5. In the light of modern scientific priorities, it seems incomprehensible why, when mentioning the role of Soil organic matter, the role of soils in carbon sequestration, etc. is not mentioned at all?
L 215. Table 4. And where is the link to it above in the text?
L 244. Table 5. And where is the link to it above in the text?
L 330. Table 6. And where is the link to it above in the text?
L 354. Table 7. And where is the link to it above in the text?
L 318. So it will be right [70-73]
References
The authors skipped the numbering of the source between no. 84 AND no. 85. Accordingly, there is no reference in the text to this source:
Chand, G.; Niwas, R.; Azad, C. S. Eco-friendly and sustainable plant disease management through organic cultivation.; Precision Agriculture and Sustainable Crop Production; H. K. Chourasia, K. Acharya and V. K. Singh; Todya & Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers, New Delhi, India; 2020 213-218
There are errors in his description.
In terms of meaning, this refers to the fragment on L 352-353”:… for producing healthy food for household consumption and preserving an eco-friendly environment [85,86]”.
Otherwise, there is only the issue number, without the Article identification number: 17, 36, 43, 66. In this case, the Article Identification Number, or doi, should be specified.
Some descriptions do not refer to the Volume (Issue), as in no. 18, 41, 65.
Article titles are given in capital letters instead of lowercase: as in no. 26, 84, 85, 86.
Check with the requirements of the Sustainability, if this is a book, then the year is put after the author, as you have in no. 67, 74, 75, 76. The reviewer in this case sees from the prototypes 2022 that the year of publication for the book does not come after the names of the authors, like the authors, and the ISBN index is added at the end, that is, the construction at the end is, for example, 2013; pp. 211–229. ISBN ?????.
no. 2 Hannah, L., Roehrdanz, P. R., KC, K. B., Fraser, E. D., Donatti, C. I., ... & van Soesbergen, A. (2020). The environmental consequences of climate-driven agricultural frontiers. PloS one, 15(2), e0228305.
Here is the error: KC, K. B., Fraser. See title page PloS one:
· Lee Hannah,
· Patrick R. Roehrdanz,
· Krishna Bahadur K. C. ,
· Evan D. G. Fraser,
no. 9. No need for In here, because these are regular issues of conferences, practically a journal.
no. 27. Unnecessary apostrophe : 'Master's
no. 28. Morshedi, L.; Lashgarara, F.; Farajollah hosseini, S.; Omidi najafabadi, M. Some last names must be in capital letters: Morshedi, L., Lashgarara, F., Farajollah Hosseini, S. J., & Omidi Najafabadi, M. (https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/11/2086)
Omitting initials: Farajollah Hosseini, S.J.;
no. 31. Authors use In differently (compare as given in no. 9, 75).
no. 31. рр.24. Firstly, there is no space, and secondly, why only one page?
no. 32. 2015, 8(33), 1 - why only one page?
no. 44. There's an error here: 44. [44]
no. 44. why only one page?
no. 45. Need capital letters in the title of the journal.
no. 52. Do not need capital letters in the title of the publication.
no. 52. It's superfluous: & Parent, G.,
no. 53. Unnecessary apostrophe: ' 'Farmer's
no. 54. It's too much: &
no. 56. Cursive 108
no. 67. Need In Here
no. 84-85. Here we need In
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Good day
Kindly see the attached response note.
Prof Sibanda
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
1. Rewrite for better clarity “The potential for organic farming (OF) as one ….. in Africa is a provocative topic in global discussions.” Line no 10-11
2. Delete a full stop from “regulation. .” line no 27
3. The keywords “Climate change; organic farming” can be replaced with other suitable as it is already in the title
4. Give a global and South African scenario of OF cultivation and its economic value
5. Rewrite the sentence “Organic farming is a modern and rather exten-41 sive farming method and is one of the few acceptably controlled labels in farming.” For better clarity line no 41-24
6. Delete “currently” line no 57
7. Replace “(zero hunger)” with “(zero hunger goal)
8. Write “Global temperatures have increased …… production more difficult” as “Global mean temperature is increasing which results in frequent drought, heat waves and storms and is changing life cycles and geographical status, making crop and livestock production more difficult” line no 69-70
9. Rewrite the sentence “Organic farming …. prevent nutrient and water loss” for better clarity line no 75-76
10. Put a semicolon in place of “:” line no 78
11. Replace “see section 2.1” with “sub section 2.1” line no 113
12. Figure one is ok but it can be made more attractive by color differentiation for different steps
13. Table 1 has very less content so it is better to present it into a text form
14. Table 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are ok
15. The results and discussion section in written nicely and the interpretation of the results in the discussion is ok but there are minor grammatical mistakes and the use of many unscientific words which can be improved by careful reading.
16. Modify the conclusion section for better soundness, and emphasize on OF prospects. It is nearly impossible to suddenly shift from the traditional to OF system as in the case of Sri Lanka we have seen. There is a need for a schematic and systemic shift by balancing both traditional and OF.
Overall the present manuscript is prepared and presented in a very nice way and described the key findings and issues related to the OF and will be very helpful in sketching a future road map of OF in Southern Africa.
Author Response
Good day
Kindly see the attached response note.
Prof Sibanda
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
moderate eidt need in Abstract section
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Good day
Kindly see the attached response note.
Prof Sibanda
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
