The Mangrove Ecosystem in West Africa Specificities of Guinea-Bissau and How Mangrove Rice Cultivation Is Integrated into the Ecosystem
Year: 2026
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: The coastal areas in tropical and subtropical regions are under strong tidal influence, and mangrove presence ensures a consolidation factor by reducing erosion processes. Guinea-Bissau has the second largest mangrove coverage in Western Africa and mangrove presence plays a crucial role in rural everyday life. Rice is the major cash crop linked to mangrove and its cultivation is strongly dependent by mangrove status due to its stabilization factor. Considering mangrove for its external output this ecosystem preservation shall be a central point in environmental and agricultural policies, in order to increase resilience of fragile agriculturally based societies. Mangrove’s soil usually alternates between an aerobic state to an anaerobic condition that leads to dramatic changes in nutrient availability and production suitability for rice. Mangroves responded to this pattern with an adaptive system that coexist with a slow organic matter decomposition, resulting in a crucial factor to enrich the deeper soil of organic matter. These soils are typically classified as acid sulphate soils. The agricultural destination of those soils, determines the release of toxic form of acids and metals, resulting in high acidity and salinity. Those conditions prevent plants from taking up nutrients, resulting in a dramatic plummet in production. Traditional knowledge are major factors to face intense drought due to a constant depletion of rainfall. Rice cultivation in Guinea-Bissau has a long history, preceding the Portuguese colonial period. The Country’s geographic and hydrological conditions allow for four distinct rice cultivation systems. The most iconic and productive is mangrove rice cultivation, which exploits fertile soils reclaimed from mangrove ecosystem. This rainfed system is managed by a network of dikes and canals that balance rainfall and saline tidal flows, with salt-tolerant varieties being preferred. Close to rivers, the Bas-fond system takes advantage of naturally fertile soils, irrigated rice farming is the most reliable system thanks to infrastructure capable of regulating water flows.
Institutions: University of Cagliari, Cheikh Anta Diop University
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7214633617