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Landscape and Micronutrient Fertilizer Effect on Agro-Fortified Wheat and Teff Grain Nutrient Concentration in Western Amhara (2023)
Journal Article
Manzeke-Kangara, M. G., Amede, T., Bailey, E. H., Wilson, L., Mossa, A. W., Tirfessa, D., …Gameda, S. (2023). Landscape and Micronutrient Fertilizer Effect on Agro-Fortified Wheat and Teff Grain Nutrient Concentration in Western Amhara. Agronomy, 13(10), Article 2598. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13102598

Agronomic biofortification, encompassing the use of mineral and organic nutrient resources which improve micronutrient concentrations in staple crops is a potential strategy to promote the production of and access to micronutrient-dense foods at the... Read More about Landscape and Micronutrient Fertilizer Effect on Agro-Fortified Wheat and Teff Grain Nutrient Concentration in Western Amhara.

The appraisal of pedotransfer functions with legacy data; an example from southern Africa (2023)
Journal Article
Miti, C., Mbanyele, V., Mtangadura, T., Magwero, N., Namaona, W., Njira, K., …Lark, R. M. (2023). The appraisal of pedotransfer functions with legacy data; an example from southern Africa. Geoderma, 439, Article 116661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116661

Predictions of soil hydraulic properties by pedotransfer functions (PTFs) must be treated with caution when they are used in an application domain which differs from the domain of their original development and calibration. However, in some settings,... Read More about The appraisal of pedotransfer functions with legacy data; an example from southern Africa.

Genotypic Response of Finger Millet to Zinc and Iron Agronomic Biofortification, Location and Slope Position towards Yield (2023)
Journal Article
Teklu, D., Gashu, D., Joy, E. J., Lark, R. M., Bailey, E. H., Wilson, L., …Broadley, M. R. (2023). Genotypic Response of Finger Millet to Zinc and Iron Agronomic Biofortification, Location and Slope Position towards Yield. Agronomy, 13(6), Article 1452. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13061452

The present study aimed to investigate the influence of genotypic differences on responses to zinc and iron agronomic biofortification among yields of finger millet. A field experiment was conducted over two seasons in farmers’ fields in Ethiopia (20... Read More about Genotypic Response of Finger Millet to Zinc and Iron Agronomic Biofortification, Location and Slope Position towards Yield.

Impact of zinc and iron agronomic biofortification on grain mineral concentration of finger millet varieties as affected by location and slope (2023)
Journal Article
Teklu, D., Gashu, D., Joy, E. J. M., Lark, R. M., Bailey, E. H., Wilson, L., …Broadley, M. R. (2023). Impact of zinc and iron agronomic biofortification on grain mineral concentration of finger millet varieties as affected by location and slope. Frontiers in Nutrition, 10, Article 1159833. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1159833

Background: Food crop micronutrient concentrations can be enhanced through agronomic biofortification, with the potential to reduce micronutrient deficiencies among rural population if they have access to fertilizers. Here we reported the impact of a... Read More about Impact of zinc and iron agronomic biofortification on grain mineral concentration of finger millet varieties as affected by location and slope.

Evaluating the accuracy and usefulness of commercially-available proximal soil mapping services for grassland nutrient management planning and soil health monitoring (2023)
Journal Article
Rhymes, J., Chadwick, D. R., Williams, A. P., Harris, I. M., Lark, R. M., & Jones, D. L. (2023). Evaluating the accuracy and usefulness of commercially-available proximal soil mapping services for grassland nutrient management planning and soil health monitoring. Precision Agriculture, 24, 898–920. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-022-09979-z

Grasslands play an important role in global food security. However, there are increasing pressures to improve the sustainability of ruminant farming. Precision nutrient management tools (e.g., proximal soil sensors for soil mapping) offer opportuniti... Read More about Evaluating the accuracy and usefulness of commercially-available proximal soil mapping services for grassland nutrient management planning and soil health monitoring.

Anemia in children aged 6–59 months was significantly associated with maternal anemia status in rural Zimbabwe (2022)
Journal Article
Mutonhodza, B., Dembedza, M. P., Lark, M. R., Joy, E. J. M., Manzeke‐Kangara, M. G., Njovo, H., …Chopera, P. (2023). Anemia in children aged 6–59 months was significantly associated with maternal anemia status in rural Zimbabwe. Food Science and Nutrition, 11(3), 1232-1246. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.3157

Globally, anemia is a public health problem affecting mostly women of reproductive age (WRA, n=452) and children aged 6–59 months (n=452) from low- and lower-middle-income countries. This cross-sectional study assessed the prevalence and determinants... Read More about Anemia in children aged 6–59 months was significantly associated with maternal anemia status in rural Zimbabwe.

Agronomic biofortification increases grain zinc concentration of maize grown under contrasting soil types in Malawi (2022)
Journal Article
Botoman, L., Chimungu, J. G., Bailey, E. H., Munthali, M. W., Ander, E. L., Mossa, A., …Nalivata, P. C. (2022). Agronomic biofortification increases grain zinc concentration of maize grown under contrasting soil types in Malawi. Plant Direct, 6(11), Article e458. https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.458

Zinc (Zn) deficiency remains a public health problem in Malawi, especially among poor and marginalized rural populations, linked with low dietary intake of Zn due to consumption of staple foods that are low in Zn content. The concentration of Zn in s... Read More about Agronomic biofortification increases grain zinc concentration of maize grown under contrasting soil types in Malawi.

The potential of spot urine as a biomarker for zinc assessment in Malawian children and adults (2022)
Journal Article
Likoswe, B. H., Lark, R. M., Phuka, J., Maleta, K., Joy, E., & Lowe, N. M. (2022). The potential of spot urine as a biomarker for zinc assessment in Malawian children and adults. Frontiers in Nutrition, 9, Article 890209. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.890209

Population-level assessment of zinc deficiency remains a challenge due to the lack of suitable biomarkers. Spot urinary zinc concentration (UZC) has the potential to provide information on population zinc status in large-scale surveys, but there is n... Read More about The potential of spot urine as a biomarker for zinc assessment in Malawian children and adults.

Linkages between soil, crop, livestock, and human selenium status in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review (2022)
Journal Article
Mutonhodza, B., Joy, E. J., Bailey, E. H., Lark, M. R., Kangara, M. G., Broadley, M. R., …Chopera, P. (2022). Linkages between soil, crop, livestock, and human selenium status in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 57(10), 6336-6349. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.15979

Selenium (Se) is essential for human health, however, data on population Se status and agriculture-nutrition-health linkages are limited in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The scoping review aims to identify linkages between Se in soils/crops, dietary Se i... Read More about Linkages between soil, crop, livestock, and human selenium status in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

Sub-sampling a large physical soil archive for additional analyses to support spatial mapping; a pre-registered experiment in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia (2022)
Journal Article
Alemu, R., Gelaw, A. M., Gashu, D., Tafere, K., Mossa, A. W., Bailey, E., …Lark, R. M. (2022). Sub-sampling a large physical soil archive for additional analyses to support spatial mapping; a pre-registered experiment in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. Geoderma, 424, Article 116013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.116013

The value of physical archives of soil material from field sampling activities has been widely recognized. If we want to use archive material for new destructive analyses to support a task, such as spatial mapping, then an efficient sub-sampling stra... Read More about Sub-sampling a large physical soil archive for additional analyses to support spatial mapping; a pre-registered experiment in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia.

Selenium Concentration in Cattle Serum and Fodder from Two Areas in Ethiopia with Contrasting Human Selenium Concentration (2022)
Journal Article
Hailu, K., Gashu, D., Joy, E. J. M., Alonso, S., Gizaw, S., Gameda, S., …Broadley, M. R. (2022). Selenium Concentration in Cattle Serum and Fodder from Two Areas in Ethiopia with Contrasting Human Selenium Concentration. Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark, 27(7), Article 200. https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2707200

INTRODUCTION: Selenium (Se) is an essential mineral for livestock health and productivity. In cattle, Se deficiency is associated with delayed conception, growth retardation, and increased morbidity and mortality. METHODS: We conducted a survey of ca... Read More about Selenium Concentration in Cattle Serum and Fodder from Two Areas in Ethiopia with Contrasting Human Selenium Concentration.

Folate Deficiency Is Spatially Dependent and Associated with Local Farming Systems among Women in Ethiopia (2022)
Journal Article
Sisay, B. G., Tamirat, H., Sandalinas, F., Joy, E. J., Zerfu, D., Belay, A., …Gashu, D. (2022). Folate Deficiency Is Spatially Dependent and Associated with Local Farming Systems among Women in Ethiopia. Current Developments in Nutrition, 6(5), Article nzac088. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdn/nzac088

Background: Folate is essential for the synthesis and integrity of DNA, normal cell formation, and body growth. Folate deficiency among women of reproductive age (WRA) increases the risk of poor birth outcomes including neural tube defect (NTD)-affec... Read More about Folate Deficiency Is Spatially Dependent and Associated with Local Farming Systems among Women in Ethiopia.

Soil and landscape factors influence geospatial variation in maize grain zinc concentration in Malawi (2022)
Journal Article
Botoman, L., Chagumaira, C., Mossa, A. W., Amede, T., Ander, E. L., Bailey, E. H., …Nalivata, P. C. (2022). Soil and landscape factors influence geospatial variation in maize grain zinc concentration in Malawi. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 7986. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-12014-w

Dietary zinc (Zn) deficiency is widespread globally, and in particular among people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In Malawi, dietary sources of Zn are dominated by maize and spatially dependent variation in grain Zn concentration, which will affect di... Read More about Soil and landscape factors influence geospatial variation in maize grain zinc concentration in Malawi.

Accessing and assessing legacy soil information, an example from two provinces of Zambia (2022)
Journal Article
Mukumbuta, I., Chabala, L. M., Sichinga, S., & Lark, R. M. (2022). Accessing and assessing legacy soil information, an example from two provinces of Zambia. Geoderma, 420, Article 115874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2022.115874

Soil information is essential for agricultural research and development. In developing countries like Zambia, the availability of soil information is limited by the cost of new soil surveys. Legacy soil information could be useful to fill this gap. T... Read More about Accessing and assessing legacy soil information, an example from two provinces of Zambia.

Stakeholder interpretation of probabilistic representations of uncertainty in spatial information: an example on the nutritional quality of staple crops (2022)
Journal Article
Chagumaira, C., Nalivata, P. C., Chimungu, J. G., Gashu, D., Broadley, M. R., Milne, A. E., & Lark, R. M. (2022). Stakeholder interpretation of probabilistic representations of uncertainty in spatial information: an example on the nutritional quality of staple crops. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 36(12), 2446-2472. https://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2021.2020278

Spatial information, inferred from samples, is needed for decision-making, but is uncertain. One way to convey uncertain information is with probabilities (e.g. that a value falls below a critical threshold). We examined how different professional gr... Read More about Stakeholder interpretation of probabilistic representations of uncertainty in spatial information: an example on the nutritional quality of staple crops.

Mineral micronutrient status and spatial distribution among the Ethiopian population (2022)
Journal Article
Belay, A., Gashu, D., Joy, E. J., Lark, R. M., Chagumaira, C., Zerfu, D., …Broadley, M. R. (2022). Mineral micronutrient status and spatial distribution among the Ethiopian population. British Journal of Nutrition, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007114522000319

Multiple micronutrient deficiencies are widespread in Ethiopia. However, the distribution of selenium and zinc deficiency risks has previously shown evidence of spatially dependent variability, warranting the need to explore this aspect for wider mic... Read More about Mineral micronutrient status and spatial distribution among the Ethiopian population.

Decisions, uncertainty and spatial information (2022)
Journal Article
Lark, R., Chagumaira, C., & Milne, A. E. (2022). Decisions, uncertainty and spatial information. Spatial Statistics, Article 100619. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spasta.2022.100619

In this paper we review how the uncertainty in spatial information has been characterized. This includes both continuous predictions of spatial variables, and thematic maps of landcover classes. We contend that much work in this area has failed to en... Read More about Decisions, uncertainty and spatial information.

Biofortified Maize Improves Selenium Status of Women and Children in a Rural Community in Malawi: Results of the Addressing Hidden Hunger With Agronomy Randomized Controlled Trial (2022)
Journal Article
Joy, E. J., Kalimbira, A. A., Sturgess, J., Banda, L., Chiutsi-Phiri, G., Manase, H., …Allen, E. (2022). Biofortified Maize Improves Selenium Status of Women and Children in a Rural Community in Malawi: Results of the Addressing Hidden Hunger With Agronomy Randomized Controlled Trial. Frontiers in Nutrition, 8, Article 788096. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.788096

Background: Selenium deficiency is widespread in the Malawi population. The selenium concentration in maize, the staple food crop of Malawi, can be increased by applying selenium-enriched fertilizers. It is unknown whether this strategy, called agron... Read More about Biofortified Maize Improves Selenium Status of Women and Children in a Rural Community in Malawi: Results of the Addressing Hidden Hunger With Agronomy Randomized Controlled Trial.

Assessing land suitability for rainfed paddy rice production in Zambia (2021)
Journal Article
Makungwe, M., Chabala, L. M., Van Dijk, M., Chishala, B. H., & Lark, R. M. (2021). Assessing land suitability for rainfed paddy rice production in Zambia. Geoderma Regional, 27, Article e00438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2021.e00438

Rice is one of the staple food crops and is a profitable smallholder cash crop in Zambia. It has the potential to contribute significantly to increased incomes and employment among rural producers. However, rice is the only staple crop in the country... Read More about Assessing land suitability for rainfed paddy rice production in Zambia.

Ten challenges for the future of pedometrics (2021)
Journal Article
Wadoux, A. M., Heuvelink, G. B., Lark, R. M., Lagacherie, P., Bouma, J., Mulder, V. L., …McBratney, A. B. (2021). Ten challenges for the future of pedometrics. Geoderma, 401, Article 115155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2021.115155

Pedometrics, the application of mathematical and statistical methods to the study of the distribution and genesis of soils, has broadened its scope over the past two decades. The primary focus of pedometricians has traditionally been on spatial and s... Read More about Ten challenges for the future of pedometrics.