IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v164y2018icp133-151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Agent-based modelling as a time machine to assess nutrient cycling reorganization during past agrarian transitions in West Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Grillot, Myriam
  • Vayssières, Jonathan
  • Masse, Dominique

Abstract

Although in agronomy most model-based simulations explore future agro-ecosystems, we used a simulation model to explore past agro-ecosystems, which was particularly useful in a context where historical quantitative data on nutrient flows are lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an agrarian transition on the reorganization of nutrient cycles in agro-sylvo-pastoral systems (ASPS) in West Africa. The model was an agent-based model called TERROIR (TERRoir level Organic matter Interactions and Recycling model) that analyzes nutrient cycles at three levels of organization: plot, household, and landscape. Simulated scenarios were defined based on the agrarian transition that occurred in the 1920–2010 period in the groundnut basin of Senegal, a rapid transition caused by strong population growth, high climate variability and fluctuating cash crop markets. The main trends of the simulated agrarian transition are expansion of croplands onto rangelands and a shift from subsistence to market oriented farming systems, resulting in a shift from a livestock feeding system based on free grazing to a system based on the increasing use of feed concentrates and crop residues after harvest. The transition led to intensification of nitrogen flows and to reduced nitrogen use efficiency, due to the accumulation of nutrients in the area near the homestead and incomplete return of nutrients to cultivated plots. Two major properties appear to be outlasting the transition: (i) independence towards external inputs, based on crop-livestock integration, i.e. high biomass and nutrient recycling within the system; (ii) spatial heterogeneity due to nutrient transfers from peripheral land units to core land units, mainly through livestock. We argue that the persistence of these two emerging properties is a key pattern of past trajectories that can be used to make assumptions on and explore future ASPS trajectories.

Suggested Citation

  • Grillot, Myriam & Vayssières, Jonathan & Masse, Dominique, 2018. "Agent-based modelling as a time machine to assess nutrient cycling reorganization during past agrarian transitions in West Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 133-151.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:164:y:2018:i:c:p:133-151
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2018.04.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X17308752
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.04.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Manlay, Raphael J. & Ickowicz, Alexandre & Masse, Dominique & Floret, Christian & Richard, Didier & Feller, Christian, 2004. "Spatial carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus budget of a village in the West African savanna--I. Element pools and structure of a mixed-farming system," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 55-81, January.
    2. Castella, Jean-Christophe & Boissau, Stanislas & Trung, Tran Ngoc & Quang, Dang Dinh, 2005. "Agrarian transition and lowland-upland interactions in mountain areas in northern Vietnam: application of a multi-agent simulation model," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 312-332, December.
    3. Ricome, Aymeric & Affholder, François & Gérard, Françoise & Muller, Bertrand & Poeydebat, Charlotte & Quirion, Philippe & Sall, Moussa, 2017. "Are subsidies to weather-index insurance the best use of public funds? A bio-economic farm model applied to the Senegalese groundnut basin," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 149-176.
    4. Falconnier, Gatien N. & Descheemaeker, Katrien & Van Mourik, Thomas A. & Sanogo, Ousmane M. & Giller, Ken E., 2015. "Understanding farm trajectories and development pathways: Two decades of change in southern Mali," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 210-222.
    5. Thornton, P. K. & Herrero, M., 2001. "Integrated crop-livestock simulation models for scenario analysis and impact assessment," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 70(2-3), pages 581-602.
    6. Manlay, Raphael J. & Ickowicz, Alexandre & Masse, Dominique & Feller, Christian & Richard, Didier, 2004. "Spatial carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus budget in a village of the West African savanna--II. Element flows and functioning of a mixed-farming system," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 83-107, January.
    7. Andrieu, N. & Vayssières, J. & Corbeels, M. & Blanchard, M. & Vall, E. & Tittonell, P., 2015. "From farm scale synergies to village scale trade-offs: Cereal crop residues use in an agro-pastoral system of the Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 84-96.
    8. M. Mazoyer & Laurence Roudart, 1997. "Pourquoi une théorie des systèmes agraires?," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/44930, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    9. Vayssières, Jonathan & Vigne, Mathieu & Alary, Véronique & Lecomte, Philippe, 2011. "Integrated participatory modelling of actual farms to support policy making on sustainable intensification," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 146-161, February.
    10. Tittonell, Pablo & Gérard, Bruno & Erenstein, Olaf, 2015. "Tradeoffs around crop residue biomass in smallholder crop-livestock systems – What’s next?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 119-128.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aubron, Claire & Vigne, Mathieu & Philippon, Olivier & Lucas, Corentin & Lesens, Pierre & Upton, Spencer & Salgado, Paulo & Ruiz, Laurent, 2021. "Nitrogen metabolism of an Indian village based on the comparative agriculture approach: How characterizing social diversity was essential for understanding crop-livestock integration," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Berre, D. & Diarisso, T. & Andrieu, N. & Le Page, C. & Corbeels, M., 2021. "Biomass flows in an agro-pastoral village in West-Africa: Who benefits from crop residue mulching?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    3. Audouin, Elise & Odru, Mariana & Masse, Dominique & Dorégo, Gualbert Séraphin & Delaunay, Valérie & Lecomte, Philippe & Vayssières, Jonathan, 2024. "A methodology based on territorial metabolism analysis to assess the multi-criteria sustainability of African village terroirs with contrasted crop-livestock systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    4. Fernandez-Mena, Hugo & Gaudou, Benoit & Pellerin, Sylvain & MacDonald, Graham K. & Nesme, Thomas, 2020. "Flows in Agro-food Networks (FAN): An agent-based model to simulate local agricultural material flows," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Audouin, Elise & Odru, Mariana & Masse, Dominique & Dorégo, Gualbert Séraphin & Delaunay, Valérie & Lecomte, Philippe & Vayssières, Jonathan, 2024. "A methodology based on territorial metabolism analysis to assess the multi-criteria sustainability of African village terroirs with contrasted crop-livestock systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    2. Leroux, L. & Falconnier, G.N. & Diouf, A.A. & Ndao, B. & Gbodjo, J.E. & Tall, L. & Balde, A.A. & Clermont-Dauphin, C. & Bégué, A. & Affholder, F. & Roupsard, O., 2020. "Using remote sensing to assess the effect of trees on millet yield in complex parklands of Central Senegal," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Mahamadou Belem & Sansa Youl & Raphael Manlay & Bruno Barbier & Christophe Lepage, 2000. "MIROT: A multi-Agent System Model for the Simulation of the Dynamics of Carbon Resources of West-African Village Territories," Regional and Urban Modeling 283600008, EcoMod.
    4. Berre, D. & Diarisso, T. & Andrieu, N. & Le Page, C. & Corbeels, M., 2021. "Biomass flows in an agro-pastoral village in West-Africa: Who benefits from crop residue mulching?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    5. Andrieu, N. & Vayssières, J. & Corbeels, M. & Blanchard, M. & Vall, E. & Tittonell, P., 2015. "From farm scale synergies to village scale trade-offs: Cereal crop residues use in an agro-pastoral system of the Sudanian zone of Burkina Faso," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 84-96.
    6. Lucio Cecchini & Francesco Romagnoli & Massimo Chiorri & Biancamaria Torquati, 2023. "Eco-Efficiency and Its Determinants: The Case of the Italian Beef Cattle Sector," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, May.
    7. Belem, Mahamadou & Manlay, Raphaël J. & Müller, Jean-Pierre & Chotte, Jean-Luc, 2011. "CaTMAS: A multi-agent model for simulating the dynamics of carbon resources of West African villages," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(20), pages 3651-3661.
    8. Rimhanen, Karoliina & Kahiluoto, Helena, 2014. "Management of harvested C in smallholder mixed farming in Ethiopia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 13-22.
    9. Rigolot, C. & de Voil, P. & Douxchamps, S. & Prestwidge, D. & Van Wijk, M. & Thornton, P.K. & Rodriguez, D. & Henderson, B. & Medina, D. & Herrero, M., 2017. "Interactions between intervention packages, climatic risk, climate change and food security in mixed crop–livestock systems in Burkina Faso," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 217-224.
    10. Tittonell, Pablo & Gérard, Bruno & Erenstein, Olaf, 2015. "Tradeoffs around crop residue biomass in smallholder crop-livestock systems – What’s next?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 119-128.
    11. Assogba, Gildas G.C. & Adam, Myriam & Berre, David & Descheemaeker, Katrien, 2022. "Managing biomass in semi-arid Burkina Faso: Strategies and levers for better crop and livestock production in contrasted farm systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    12. Kong, Rada & Castella, Jean-Christophe, 2021. "Farmers' resource endowment and risk management affect agricultural practices and innovation capacity in the Northwestern uplands of Cambodia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    13. Olson, Kent & Gauto, Victor & Erenstein, Olaf & Teufel, Nils & Swain, Braja & Tui, Sabine Homann-Kee & Duncan, Alan, 2021. "Estimating Farmers’ Internal Value of Crop Residues in Smallholder Crop-Livestock Systems: A South Asia Case Study," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315188, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Mupangi Sithole & Assan Ng’ombe & Collins M. Musafiri & Milka Kiboi & Tomas Sales & Felix K. Ngetich, 2023. "The Role of Agricultural Projects in Building Sustainable and Resilient Maize Value Chain in Burkina Faso," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-15, December.
    15. Schreefel, L. & de Boer, I.J.M. & Timler, C.J. & Groot, J.C.J. & Zwetsloot, M.J. & Creamer, R.E. & Schrijver, A. Pas & van Zanten, H.H.E. & Schulte, R.P.O., 2022. "How to make regenerative practices work on the farm: A modelling framework," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    16. Falconnier, Gatien N. & Descheemaeker, Katrien & Traore, Bouba & Bayoko, Arouna & Giller, Ken E., 2018. "Agricultural intensification and policy interventions: Exploring plausible futures for smallholder farmers in Southern Mali," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 623-634.
    17. Janssen, Sander & van Ittersum, Martin K., 2007. "Assessing farm innovations and responses to policies: A review of bio-economic farm models," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 622-636, June.
    18. Groot, Jeroen C.J. & Oomen, Gerard J.M. & Rossing, Walter A.H., 2012. "Multi-objective optimization and design of farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 63-77.
    19. Gärtner, Dominique & Keller, Armin & Schulin, Rainer, 2013. "A simple regional downscaling approach for spatially distributing land use types for agricultural land," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 10-19.
    20. Adelhart Toorop, Roos & Ceccarelli, Viviana & Bijarniya, Deepak & Jat, Mangi Lal & Jat, Raj Kumar & Lopez-Ridaura, Santiago & Groot, Jeroen C.J., 2020. "Using a positive deviance approach to inform farming systems redesign: A case study from Bihar, India," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:164:y:2018:i:c:p:133-151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.