Ticks are a significant group of arthropod vectors that transmit a large variety of pathogens responsible for human and animal diseases worldwide. Ticks are the second biggest transmitters of vector-borne diseases, behind mosquitoes. However, in West...
Bryophytes are non-vascular plants comprising mosses, liverworts and hornworts. In West Africa, they are one of the least investigated components of biodiversity, receiving far less attention than vascular plants. This systematic review synthesizes t...
This commentary is an investigation of sources of lead (Pb) exposure in West Africa. Pb is generally acknowledged as one of the most widespread environmental health hazards in West Africa, and there is heightened concern over adverse health effects a...
The availability of current land cover and land use (LCLU) information for monitoring the status of land resources has considerable value in ensuring sustainable land use planning and development. Similarly, the need to provide updated information on...
Echovirus 11 has emerged as a major public health concern, causing sepsis in neonates in many European countries in recent years. In Africa, especially West Africa, where resources and diagnostic capacities are limited, only sporadic cases have been...
An evapotranspiration (ET) ensemble composed of 36 land surface model (LSM) experiments and four diagnostic datasets (GLEAM, ALEXI, MOD16, and FLUXNET) is used to investigate uncertainties in ET estimate over five climate regions in West Africa. Diag...
In Africa, droughts are causing significant damage to human health and the economy. In West Africa, a severe decline in food production due to agricultural droughts has been reported in recent years. In this study, we simulated ecohydrological variab...
The current electrification status in West African countries presents rural electrification rates below 40%, national grid losses above 39% with frequent disruptions, and electricity prices averaging $0.35/kWh, up to national values of $0.66/kWh. Wit...
Antibiotic resistance is a well-documented global health challenge that disproportionately impacts low- and middle-income countries. In 2019, the number of deaths attributed to and associated with antibiotic resistance in Western Sub-Saharan Africa w...
This review analyzes the processes of phenotypic and morpho-biometric characterization of West African local chicken. Data were collected on a set of 44 articles, and other reference documents were used to analyze and discuss the data collected. Exis...
Objectives: Dental caries is one of the most prevalent oral diseases worldwide, including in Africa. The aim of this article was to provide a comprehensive review of dental caries status of children and adolescents living in the West African region....
Gridding precipitation datasets for climate information services in the semi-arid regions of West Africa has some advantages due to the limited spatial coverage of rain gauges, the limited accessibility to in situ gauge data, and the important progre...
Extreme climate events, either being linked to dry spells or extreme precipitation, are of major concern in Africa, a region in which the economy and population are highly vulnerable to climate hazards. However, recent trends in climate events are no...
The West African region has experienced high economic development. With the increasing energy consumption and emissions, how to coordinate the relationship among energy consumption, trade opening, and economic growth, and how to develop a low-carbon...
According to the World Health Organization, the entire African continent is at risk of a Zika outbreak. To increase data availability on the epidemiology of Zika virus circulation in Africa, we evaluated the immunity to Zika virus in a selected cohor...
Mosquito-associated viruses (MAVs), including mosquito-specific viruses (MSVs) and mosquito-borne (arbo)viruses (MBVs), are an increasing public, veterinary, and global health concern, and West Africa is projected to be the next front for arboviral d...
The onset of a major seagrass initiative in West Africa enabled important seagrass discoveries in several countries, in one of the least documented seagrass regions in the world. Four seagrass species occur in western Africa, Cymodocea nodosa, Halodu...
A warm-rain episode over southern West Africa is analyzed using unprecedented X-band radar observations from Savè, Benin and a Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) over a 240 × 240 km
The Príncipe Island is in the Gulf of Guinea, along the Cameroon Volcanic Line (West Africa). It is known worldwide for its biodiversity for whose conservation there is strong national and international consensus. But its geodiversity has play...
This study assesses changes in meteorological droughts in West Africa under a high greenhouse gas scenario, i.e., a representative concentration pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5), and under a scenario of stratospheric aerosol geoengineering (SAG) deployment. Usin...
Taro is an ancient nutritional and medicinal crop woven into the fabric of the socio-economic life of those living in the tropics and sub-tropics. However, West Africa (WA), which has been a major producer of the crop for several decades, is experien...
Accurate estimates of cultivated area and crop yield are critical to our understanding of agricultural production and food security, particularly for semi-arid regions like the Sahel of West Africa, where crop production is mainly rain-fed and food s...
Yam (Dioscorea sp.) is an understudied tuber crop despite its importance for food security, income generation, culture, and health in West Africa. Traditional yam cropping practices in West Africa deliver low yields and lead to environmental degradat...
Post-classification change detection was applied to examine the nature of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) transitions in West Africa in three time intervals (1975–2000, 2000–2013, and 1975–2013). Detailed analyses at hotspots coupled wit...
11 April 2022
Sub-Saharan Africa will accommodate more population this century by having a multitude of births across the continent. Family planning methods provide women with techniques to manage their health and wellbeing. This study investigated how radio commu...
Skin disease is a severe health issue that affects a lot of people in Africa and is vastly underreported. Because of their availability, affordability, and safety, medicinal plants represent a major source of treatment for various skin diseases in We...
In West Africa, as in many other estuaries, enormous volumes of marine water are entering the continent. Fresh water discharge is very low, and it is commonly strongly linked to rainfall level. Some of these estuaries are inverse estuaries. During th...
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the West African region has highly diverse agro-climatic conditions, which grant the potential for a remarkable agricultural production of a great diversity of crops. Since the 1980s, the production volumes of most crops have g...
The United Nations has set a global vision towards emissions reduction and green growth through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Towards the realisation of SDGS 7, 9, and 13, we focus on green hydrogen production as a potential pathway to ac...
This review examines Ghana’s progress in sanitation. These efforts include the containment, transport, treatment, and disposal or reuse of human waste. This research specifically examined the current sanitation processes and programming efforts...
This study investigates the future climatic impacts of different percentages of trees/shrubs, C4 and C3 plant functional types (PFTs) over the West Africa region. The ratio of co-existence among the different PFTs was done as a representation of agri...
The occurrence of natural vegetation at a given time is determined by interplay of multiple drivers. The effects of several drivers, e.g., geomorphology, topography, climate variability, accessibility, demographic indicators, and changes in human act...
Cattle are one of the most important livestock species in West Africa, providing multiple services to farmers and contributing to national economies. Various breeding strategies have been implemented to enhance their productivity and have improved fa...
This paper presents the results of a short-term research project conducted in 2017/2018 on the various ways in which migration and land dynamics in West Africa are intertwined. Contrary to much conventional (policy) thinking in the European Union (EU...
Extreme precipitation is a great concern for West Africa country, as it has serious consequence on key socio-economic activities. We use high resolution data from the Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation Stations (CHIRPS) to determine the spa...
Climate models project vulnerability to global warming in low-income regions, with important implications for sustainable development. While food crops are the priority, smallholder cash crops support food security, education, and other priorities. D...
West Africa faces a complex range of challenges arising from climatic, social, economic, and ecological factors, which pose significant risks. The rapidly growing population, coupled with persistently low agricultural yield, further exacerbates these...
Sustainability in water and sanitation, understood as the durability of services with a set of agreed characteristics over time, is a major challenge, particularly in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. This fundamental issue must be addressed if the...
We analyse uncertainties associated with the main features of the annual cycle of West African rainfall (amplitude, timing, duration) in 15 CMIP5 simulations over the Sahelian and Guinean regions with satellite daily precipitation estimates. The annu...
Towns along the West Coast of South Africa are facing water shortages due to climate change and increasing water demand. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is considered as a solution to improve water security. This paper presents a two-step method of co...
Climate variability poses great challenges to food security in West Africa, a region heavily dependent on rainfall for farming. Identifying sowing strategies that minimize yield losses for farmers in the region is crucial to securing their livelihood...
Seasonal forecasts for monsoonal rainfall characteristics like the onset of the rainy seasons (ORS) are crucial for national weather services in semi-arid regions to better support decision-making in rain-fed agriculture. In this study an approach fo...
Smallholder rainfed agriculture in West Africa is vital for regional food security and livelihoods, yet it remains highly vulnerable to climate change. Persistently low crop yields, driven by high rainfall variability and frequent climate hazards, hi...
West Africa represents a wide gradient of climates, extending from tropical conditions along the Guinea Coast to the dry deserts of the south Sahara, and it has some of the lowest income, most vulnerable populations on the planet, which increases cat...
Consumption of commercial snack food and beverage products among infants, young, and school-aged children may have negative effects on child nutritional outcomes, as these foods are typically dense in energy but not in micronutrients. However, there...
6 June 2022
Despite efforts at the national and international levels to mitigate adverse effects of climate change on the environment and human health in developing countries, there is still a paucity of data and information concerning stakeholder’s engage...
The Leaf Area Index (LAI) is a key variable in many land surface and climate modeling studies. To date, a number of LAI datasets have been developed based on time series of medium resolution optical remote sensing observations. Global validation exer...
Monitoring energy consumption in response to rising temperatures has become extremely important in all regions of the globe. The energy required for cooling is a major challenge in West Africa, where the climate is predominantly tropical. Among the v...
Climate variability and change greatly affect agricultural and water resource management over West Africa. This paper presents the current characteristics and projected change in regional crop water demand (CWD), irrigation requirement (IR), and wate...
In the context of climate change in West Africa characterized by a reduction of precipitation, this study was conducted to evaluate the impact of climate change on water resources from now to the end of the 21st century in the transboundary watershed...
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