Reviews and syntheses: Greenhouse gas emissions in natural and agricultural lands in sub-Saharan Africa: synthesis of available data and suggestions for further studies

Abstract

This paper summarizes currently available data on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from African natural and agricultural lands, outlines the knowledge gaps and suggests future directions and strategies for GHG emission studies. GHG emission data were collected from 73 studies conducted in 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Soil GHG emissions from African natural terrestrial systems ranged from 3.3 to 57.0 Mg carbon dioxide (CO 2) ha −1 yr −1, −4.8 to 3.5 kg methane (CH 4) ha −1 yr −1 and −0.1 to 13.7 kg nitrous oxide (N 2 O) ha −1 yr −1. Soil physical and chemical properties, rewetting, vegetation type, forest management and land-use changes were all found to be important factors affecting soil GHG emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from African aquatic systems ranged from 5.7 to 232.0 Mg CO 2 ha −1 yr −1, −26.3 to 2741.9 kg CH 4 ha −1 yr −1 and 0.2 to 3.5 kg N 2 O ha −1 yr −1 and were strongly affected by discharge. Soil GHG emissions from African croplands ranged from 1.7 to 141.2 Mg CO 2 ha −1 yr −1, −1.3 to 66.7 kg CH 4 ha −1 yr −1 and 0.05 to 112.0 kg N 2 O ha −1 yr −1 and the N 2 O emission factor (EF) ranged from 0.01 to 4.1 %. Incorporation of crop residues or manure with inorganic fertilizers resulted in significant changes in GHG emissions but these were different for CO 2 and N 2 O. Soil GHG emissions in vegetable gardens ranged from 73.3 to 132.0 Mg CO 2 ha −1 yr −1 and 53.4 to 177.6 kg N 2 O ha −1 yr −1 and N 2 O EFs ranged from 3 to 4 %. Soil CO 2 and N 2 O emissions from agroforestry were 38.6 Mg CO 2 ha −1 yr −1 and 0.2 to 26.7 kg N 2 O ha −1 yr −1, respectively. Improving fallow with nitrogen (N)-fixing trees increased CO 2 and N 2 O emissions compared to conventional croplands and type and quality of plant residue is likely to be an important control factor affecting N 2 O emissions. Throughout agricultural lands, N 2 O emissions slowly increased with N inputs below 150 kg N ha −1 yr −1 and increased exponentially with N application rates up to 300 kg N ha −1 yr −1. The lowest yield-scaled N 2 O emissions were reported with N application rates ranging between 100 and 150 kg N ha −1. Overall, total CO 2 equivalent (eq) emissions from African natural and agricultural lands were 56.9 ± 12.7 Pg CO 2 eq yr −1 and natural and agricultural lands contributed 76.3 and 23.7 %, respectively. Additional GHG emission measurements throughout Africa agricultural and natural lands are urgently required to reduce uncertainty on annual GHG emissions from the different land uses and identify major control factors and mitigation options on emissions. There is also a need to develop a common strategy for addressing this data gap that may involve identifying priorities for data acquisition, utilizing appropriate technologies, and establishing networks and collaboration.