s:1657:"%T Fertilizer micro-dosing: a profitable innovation for Sahelian women micro-dose outcome story 
%A Ibro, M.A. 
%A Baco, M.N. 
%A Badiori, O. 
%A Sogodogo, D. 
%A Mahaman, S. 
%A Akponikpe, P.B.I. 
%A Derek, P. 
%A Koala, S. 
%A Kimaro, A.A. 
%X As highlighted during the most recent World  Food Summit the Sahel region of West Africa  is one of a small number of areas globally  where food production per capita is decreasing.  This particularly affects poor rural households  not only because of decreased income but  also through a chronic shortage of cereals. For  example 2.5 million people in Niger needed  food aid in 2005 due to severe drought (WFP  2010). This situation recurred in 2010 when crop  failure in the 2009 season led to the most severe  famine in the country’s history. Frequent droughts and poor soil fertility are key  factors behind food shortages. But innovative  low-input technologies that simultaneously  replenish soil nutrients and organic matter as  well as improving soil water availability can lead  to significant increases in crop production and  reduce acute food shortages.  Under conventional crop management chemical  fertilizers are applied at recommended rates  to rapidly replenish soil fertility and thus  improve crop yield. In West Africa however  recommended fertilizer application rates are  costly and as a result are often only used for  male-controlled cash crops such as cotton and  maize. Fertilizer use on food crops grown by  women (e.g. cowpea) is much more limited and  often restricted to those who are able to access  ‘spare’ fertilizer from their husband’s cotton  production. 
";