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Vital Signs Highlights

Vital Signs is a monitoring system for agriculture, nature and human well-being. We have made images of farming, ecosystems and data collection in all five countries where Vital Signs is currently operating: Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Nyirabazungu Leonile mixes in eucalyptus leaves and manure before planting sweet potatoes in her heavily terraced fields in the Rwanda highlands. To achieve food security in Africa, farmers like Nyirabazungu need to increase productivity while sustaining the ecosystems that provide them with healthy soils, clean water and other benefits.
A family gathers outside their home in Mwaya, Tanzania after meeting with Vital Signs field technicians. Vital Signs collects and integrates data on agriculture, ecosystems and human well-being across several African nations.
Atuherie Shallon and Tomusherure Kofudance cook potatoes at the family's farm along the stark boundary of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. There is an urgent need for better data and risk management tools to guide sustainable agricultural development.
Adija Saidi harvests vegetables for market in Mwaya, Tanzania, just outside of Udzungwa Mountains National Park. Vital Signs tracks agricultural production, including which seeds go into the land, what fertilizer is used and what crop yields they deliver.
Fatuma Mgogoro weeds a small farm plot near Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Vital Signs is working to quantify the value of natural ecosystems to farmers like Fatuma.
Farmer Fatuma Mgogoro holds eggplant ready for market near Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania.
Men process rice, an important cash crop, outside of Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania. The data Vital Signs collects will help determine where agriculture can be intensified to maximize yields while sustaining nearby ecosystems.
Issahaku and Fatawu compete with a calf during the morning milking in the town of Nabogu in northern Ghana. Cattle provide meat, milk, manure, hides and a store of wealth and security that can be drawn upon when needed.
Mayira Boniface cleans out his cow's pen in Uwinka, Rwanda. By keeping their cows enclosed, farmers like Mayira can generate compost to use on his family's heavily terraced fields .
Avian sells dried beans and corn in a market near Iringa, Tanzania. Feeding the growing world population will require a 70 to 100 percent increase in food production through agricultural intensification.
Asani Kwabena reaches up to train vines in his yam field in Okwabena, Ghana.
Leonard Mwiti picks tea, an important cash crop, along the edge of a protected area in the Aberdare Mountains near Nyeri, Kenya. Vital Signs data can help determine which regions will support agricultural intensification in a changing climate.
Denis Ouma and Benson Ohiambo fish with a gillnet in Lake Kanya Boli in the Yala Swamp, Kenya. Fish provide a critical nutritional staple to many communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Odette, a widowed farmer, stands with her elder son, Damascene, outside of her house in Uwinka, Rwanda. She completed an extensive household survey with Vital Signs technicians on her health, agricultural practices, income and assets.
Aquinata Kinyamagoha carries fuelwood back to her home for cooking. Wood collection has become increasingly restricted outside of Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania, with few good alternatives.
Alex Byamukama makes charcoal a few meters outside the boundary of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. Charcoal production has been restricted in many countries due to the impact it can have on nearby forests.
Two men work in the smoke of an illegal charcoal production site near Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania.
Bush meat is sold along the highway in southern Tanzania. As the world’s population grows to around 9 billion by 2050, the demand for food, feed and fiber is predicted to nearly double.
Waste water turns ochre in an illegal gold mining operation in central Ghana. In addition to large multinational digs, the landscape is littered with small, illegal operations that have a significant impact on fresh water sources.
Miners dump muddy water lifted from an illegal gold mine in central Ghana. What likely began as a commercial dig is continually reworked by local prospectors threatening their community's water supply.
The processing boss holds a small ball of gold dust in central Ghana. Workers use mercury to process the ore with little to no protective gear.
Joseph Martin flags the corner of an agricultural plot during the training of Tanzania's first Vital Signs field technicians. The measurements made by Joseph and his team will help to create an accurate picture of the links between agriculture, ecosystems and human well-being.
Vital Signs technicians Jonathan Dabo, Gabriel Appiah and Benson Owusu discuss next week's fieldwork at CSIR headquarters in Accra, Ghana.
Valeriani Msofe, Jeremia Msimbe, Petro Haule, Said Habibu and Valeriani Msofe evaluate a soil sample for clay content during a training in Tanzania. Through a combination of field and laboratory anaylsis, Vital Signs measures 52 soil variables, including texture, macro and micro-nutrients and organic carbon.
Field technician Hakizimana Jacques collects a soil sample in the highlands of Rwanda. Vital Signs technicians have collected over 3000 samples from 1000 different farm fields.
Vital Signs field technician Hakizimana Jacques measures the distance between eucalyptus trees in a steep fuelwood grove in the village of Uwinka, just outside of Nyungwe Forest National Park in Rwanda.
Mayira Boniface struggles to cut a trail through the steep forests of Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda to reach a data collection point. Their sweat and hard work help provide insights and information at the scale at which agricultural investment decisions are made.
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