| dc.description.abstract | The rise in global human population, coupled with the effects of climate change,
has increased the demand for arable land. Soil fertility has been the most
affected, among other things. Many approaches to soil fertility management
have been proposed by studies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA); however, the
question of sustainability remains. Nutrient monitoring (NUTMON), which
combines biophysical and socio-economic features for soil fertility
management, gives an in-situ soil fertility status of a given land use system,
which ultimately provides guidance in proposing appropriate soil management
techniques in a given land use system. In this review, the Preferred Reporting
Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach was deployed
for a systematic search of the literature materials. The review evaluated various
studies on nutrient monitoring in SSA soils in order to understand the
socioeconomic attributes and their influence on farming systems, as well as
nutrient flow and balances. The review identified two dominant smallholder
farming systems in SSA: mixed crop-livestock and mixed crop farming systems.
Also, this review revealed that most nutrient balance studies in SSA have been
done in mixed crop and livestock farming systems. However, regardless of the
farming systems, the overall mean nutrient balances in all studies, particularly
those of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K), were negative, indicating significant
nutrient mining. The review further revealed a vast range of biophysical soil
fertility management technologies; however, their adoption has been limited by
socio-economic aspects including land ownership, gender, financial position,
literacy level, and access to inputs. Therefore, in view of this situation, integrating
biophysical and socioeconomic disciplines could address the problem of soil
nutrient depletion holistically, thus decreasing the existing negative nutrient
balances in the SSA region. | en_US |
