Ken E. Giller – författare

Biological management of nutrient supply to plants is intrinsically more complex than the provision of nutrients as inorganic fertilizers. We need to know whether the nutrients released are retained or lost from the system, whether rates of decomposition can be manipulated to improve nutrient use efficiency, and how the various fractions of plant residues translate into pools of organic matter in soil. Only then can predictive models for nutrient release, plant uptake and soil organic matter dynamics be truly tested and validated. This book brings together contemporary ideas on the characterization and manipulation of plant quality and especially its role in soil organic matter formation and nutrient cycling. It contains work from the leading workers in both temperate and tropical systems. There are also contributions describing work outside decomposition in soil ecosystems, such as the work of plant biochemists and animal nutritionists, as research in these areas has provided many ideas and concepts used in plant quality analysis. A wide range of topics is covered from investigations at the molecular level through to management options for farmers in relation to optimising biological management of crop residues. The work presented in this volume is valuable to all those researching and managing the supply of nutrients to plants. It is important reading for soil scientists, plant physiologists and crop scientists.

This book examines Africa’s current food system and future challenges for food security over the next 25 years.Africa is on the rise and by 2050, the continent will be home to a quarter of the world’s population. The analysis presented in this book clearly shows that the African food system needs to transform at a much faster pace to ensure that the people it serves are food secure. This book begins with four contrasting case studies that focus on country-specific challenges in Egypt, Ethiopia, Senegal and Zimbabwe. This is followed by 15 thematic chapters organised in three sections on challenges, threats and opportunities. Individual chapters address a wide range of topics including climate change, water security, farm sizes, crop yields, conservation trade-offs, food prices, trade, conflict and structural change. The book concludes by discussing key pathways to improve Africa's food system and food security for the decades ahead.This book is essential reading for students, scholars and practitioners who work on global food security, sustainable food systems, food, health and nutrition and African development.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.