Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INSA (Integrated Nitrogen Studies in Africa)
Reporting period: 2023-02-01 to 2025-01-31
The Integrated Nitrogen Studies in Africa (INSA) project seeks to unpack and analyse the different aspects of the nitrogen budget in Africa, bringing together expertise from different fields in the environmental and social sciences through a network of scientists from Europe and Africa.
Nitrogen is one of the essential nutrients for plant growth and food production at the global scale. However, an imbalance appears between “too much” and “too little” nitrogen supplied regions in the world. This paradox is particulary valid at the scale of Africa. Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is struggling with low nitrogen supplies to crops and insufficient yields to feed its growing population, whereas anthropogenic pollution has harmful impacts in large cities. These processes perpetuate food insecurity in terms of supply and quality on the one hand, and lead to environmental pollution on the other hand. Increasing nitrogen supply without increasing (or ideally while decreasing) emissions of pollutants remains an important societal challenge. Nitrogen management should strive to simultaneously improve the efficiency of nitrogen use, increase farm productivity, enhance soil health, conserve resources and reduce losses of reactive nitrogen to the environment.
These main objectives will be developed as:
I- To provide the most up-to-date view of studies on nitrogen processes and budgets involving the different terrestrial compartments (hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere): build a scientific review and synthesis of existing studies and data around nitrogen in Africa with scientists from Europe and Africa working on ecology, atmospheric chemistry, water quality, soil science, biogeochemistry, agriculture and livestock.
II- To create synergies and adopt new approaches for the study of nitrogen and its environmental impacts: assess the impact of nitrogen on the chemical composition of the atmosphere, greenhouse gas emissions, ecosystems, eutrophication, biodiversity, food security, nitrogen use efficiency, sustainable agriculture.
III- To share knowledge and foster exchanges between African and European institutions, and raise awareness on nitrogen and its impacts on the environment, through: secondments; dissemination and communication activities; building and sharing knowledge within the INSA consortium; including decision-makers, field actors, and users in discussions; developing new skills in a sustainable way and enhancing career prospects for project participants; and disseminating results in a useful and direct way to transfer this knowledge to the public (schools, general population, governments, etc). The INSA project will develop educational materials and disseminate information on the sustainable use of nitrogen as the key action to mitigate harmful societal impacts while ensuring food security.
Nitrogen is one of the essential nutrients for plant growth and food production at the global scale. However, an imbalance appears between “too much” and “too little” nitrogen supplied regions in the world. This paradox is particulary valid at the scale of Africa. Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is struggling with low nitrogen supplies to crops and insufficient yields to feed its growing population, whereas anthropogenic pollution has harmful impacts in large cities. These processes perpetuate food insecurity in terms of supply and quality on the one hand, and lead to environmental pollution on the other hand. Increasing nitrogen supply without increasing (or ideally while decreasing) emissions of pollutants remains an important societal challenge. Nitrogen management should strive to simultaneously improve the efficiency of nitrogen use, increase farm productivity, enhance soil health, conserve resources and reduce losses of reactive nitrogen to the environment.
These main objectives will be developed as:
I- To provide the most up-to-date view of studies on nitrogen processes and budgets involving the different terrestrial compartments (hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere): build a scientific review and synthesis of existing studies and data around nitrogen in Africa with scientists from Europe and Africa working on ecology, atmospheric chemistry, water quality, soil science, biogeochemistry, agriculture and livestock.
II- To create synergies and adopt new approaches for the study of nitrogen and its environmental impacts: assess the impact of nitrogen on the chemical composition of the atmosphere, greenhouse gas emissions, ecosystems, eutrophication, biodiversity, food security, nitrogen use efficiency, sustainable agriculture.
III- To share knowledge and foster exchanges between African and European institutions, and raise awareness on nitrogen and its impacts on the environment, through: secondments; dissemination and communication activities; building and sharing knowledge within the INSA consortium; including decision-makers, field actors, and users in discussions; developing new skills in a sustainable way and enhancing career prospects for project participants; and disseminating results in a useful and direct way to transfer this knowledge to the public (schools, general population, governments, etc). The INSA project will develop educational materials and disseminate information on the sustainable use of nitrogen as the key action to mitigate harmful societal impacts while ensuring food security.
From February 2020 to January 2025, 60 people were seconded over 222 person-months (17 members in the consortium).
- Meetings: 1 kick off meeting in Bruxelles (Feb 2020), first workshop in Côte d'Ivoire (Feb 2022), mid term meeting March 2022, on line), 2nd workshop in Kenya (Nov 2023), final meeting in France (Dec 2024), 9 steering committee meetings.
- A web site was created (see address below) as well as a twitter account (@NitroAfrica).
- A flyer was developed for communication purpose
- The duration of the project was extended by 1 year (due to the Covid pandemic)
- 11 articles were published, 4 are under review, 2 are in preparation
- 26 deliverables and 13 milestones were prepared
- 9 PhD students were involved
- An educational kit was developed, "The nitrogen paradox", in French and English, to be used in primary and secondary schools. 6 of these tools were distributed to partners in Africa. An free online version is available on the website.
- A policy brief on the importance of science mediation was prepared to be sent to different ministries in several countries in Africa (Environment, Education).
- Meetings: 1 kick off meeting in Bruxelles (Feb 2020), first workshop in Côte d'Ivoire (Feb 2022), mid term meeting March 2022, on line), 2nd workshop in Kenya (Nov 2023), final meeting in France (Dec 2024), 9 steering committee meetings.
- A web site was created (see address below) as well as a twitter account (@NitroAfrica).
- A flyer was developed for communication purpose
- The duration of the project was extended by 1 year (due to the Covid pandemic)
- 11 articles were published, 4 are under review, 2 are in preparation
- 26 deliverables and 13 milestones were prepared
- 9 PhD students were involved
- An educational kit was developed, "The nitrogen paradox", in French and English, to be used in primary and secondary schools. 6 of these tools were distributed to partners in Africa. An free online version is available on the website.
- A policy brief on the importance of science mediation was prepared to be sent to different ministries in several countries in Africa (Environment, Education).
Progress beyond the state of the art
1- Rain chemistry in the Lake Victoria basin (Bakayoko et al., 2021), and the N budget in the lake and in the basin, showing nitrogen mining in the terrestrial part and nitrogen eutrophication in the lake.
2- Optimal herd composition (Rahimi et al., 2021). In north sub-Saharan Africa’s drylands, a shift from cattle to camel and goat farming can sustain milk production while decreasing inputs and emissions, hence supporting resilience against climate change.
3- The nitrogen budget and critical load at a Sahelian grazed grassland site (Delon et al., 2022), depending heavily on livestock participation to the ecosystem equilibrium.
4- Rain chemistry Côte d’Ivoire (Diaby et al., 2023): Nitrogenous contributions represent 25, 30 and 18µ respectively at Korhogo (urban), Lamto (rural) and Abidjan (urban) sites
5- Trends and seasonal variability in ammonia across major biomes in western and central Africa inferred from long-term series of ground-based and satellite measurements (Ossohou et al., 2023)
6- To what extent are greenhouse-gas emissions offset by trees in a Sahelian silvopastoral system? (Agbohessou et al., 2023)
7- Modelling CO2 and N2O emissions from soils in silvopastoral systems of the West-African Sahelian band (Agbohessou et al., 2024)
8- Variability of Aerosol Optical Depth and Altitude for Key Aerosol Types over Southern West Africa via CALIPSO/CALIOP Observations (Niamien et al., 2024)
9- Variability of soil organic carbon and nutrient content across land uses and agriculturally induced land use changes in the forest-savanna transition zone of Cameroon (Mandah et al., 2024)
10- The state of nitrogen in rivers and streams across sub-Saharan Africa (Jacobs et al., 2024)
11- Long-term measurements of surface ozone and trends in semi-natural sub-Saharan African ecosystems (Donnou et al., 2024)
Expected results until the end of the project
Synthesise and extend past studies and existing literature on nitrogen flows, to provide a holistic and up-to-date picture of nitrogen flows in Africa. Provide advances in our comprehension of the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle in the different environmental compartments.
The results include both academic research and dissemination tools towards the large public (articles, conferences, educational kit, policy brief)
Impacts
Created new collaborations between European and African institutions, especially between young researchers. Reinforced existing collaborations.
Capacity building for young researchers thanks to secondments, allowed them to build their own research teams and develop new networks both with-in their own universities and internationally.
Capacity building and technical transfer of knowledge for engineers and technicians through secondments in analytical labs.
Promotions for researchers
Dissemination of popularised science in schools to raise awareness of the impact of nitrogen on the environment to young students, who will become the decision makers of tomorrow.
Dissemination and communication of results to academic public, policy makers, students and large public.
1- Rain chemistry in the Lake Victoria basin (Bakayoko et al., 2021), and the N budget in the lake and in the basin, showing nitrogen mining in the terrestrial part and nitrogen eutrophication in the lake.
2- Optimal herd composition (Rahimi et al., 2021). In north sub-Saharan Africa’s drylands, a shift from cattle to camel and goat farming can sustain milk production while decreasing inputs and emissions, hence supporting resilience against climate change.
3- The nitrogen budget and critical load at a Sahelian grazed grassland site (Delon et al., 2022), depending heavily on livestock participation to the ecosystem equilibrium.
4- Rain chemistry Côte d’Ivoire (Diaby et al., 2023): Nitrogenous contributions represent 25, 30 and 18µ respectively at Korhogo (urban), Lamto (rural) and Abidjan (urban) sites
5- Trends and seasonal variability in ammonia across major biomes in western and central Africa inferred from long-term series of ground-based and satellite measurements (Ossohou et al., 2023)
6- To what extent are greenhouse-gas emissions offset by trees in a Sahelian silvopastoral system? (Agbohessou et al., 2023)
7- Modelling CO2 and N2O emissions from soils in silvopastoral systems of the West-African Sahelian band (Agbohessou et al., 2024)
8- Variability of Aerosol Optical Depth and Altitude for Key Aerosol Types over Southern West Africa via CALIPSO/CALIOP Observations (Niamien et al., 2024)
9- Variability of soil organic carbon and nutrient content across land uses and agriculturally induced land use changes in the forest-savanna transition zone of Cameroon (Mandah et al., 2024)
10- The state of nitrogen in rivers and streams across sub-Saharan Africa (Jacobs et al., 2024)
11- Long-term measurements of surface ozone and trends in semi-natural sub-Saharan African ecosystems (Donnou et al., 2024)
Expected results until the end of the project
Synthesise and extend past studies and existing literature on nitrogen flows, to provide a holistic and up-to-date picture of nitrogen flows in Africa. Provide advances in our comprehension of the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle in the different environmental compartments.
The results include both academic research and dissemination tools towards the large public (articles, conferences, educational kit, policy brief)
Impacts
Created new collaborations between European and African institutions, especially between young researchers. Reinforced existing collaborations.
Capacity building for young researchers thanks to secondments, allowed them to build their own research teams and develop new networks both with-in their own universities and internationally.
Capacity building and technical transfer of knowledge for engineers and technicians through secondments in analytical labs.
Promotions for researchers
Dissemination of popularised science in schools to raise awareness of the impact of nitrogen on the environment to young students, who will become the decision makers of tomorrow.
Dissemination and communication of results to academic public, policy makers, students and large public.