News – Page 57

A farmer in Morogoro, Tanzania, discusses differences in his maize ears caused by differences in on-farm conditions. (Photo: Anne Wangalachi/CIMMYT)

What can the last 30 years of research tell us?

Written by Steven M on November 4, 2020. Posted in News.

Global climate change represents an existential threat to many of the world’s most vulnerable farmers, introducing new stresses and amplifying the unpredictability and risk inherent in farming. In low- and middle-income countries that are heavily reliant on domestic production, this increased risk and unpredictability threatens disastrous consequences for the food security and wellbeing of rural and urban populations alike.

Given the stakes, substantial investments have been made towards developing climate-resilient crops. But what happens when the innovations widely considered to be beneficial don’t gain traction on the ground, among those who stand to lose the most from inaction? What can researchers, policymakers and funders do to ensure that the most vulnerable rural populations don’t lose out on the benefits?

These are the questions posed by a new scoping review co-authored by Kevin Pixley, interim deputy director general for research and partnerships and director of the Genetic Resources Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

The paper relies on a descriptive analysis of 202 studies from the past 30 years which assess the determinants of climate-resilient crop adoption by small-scale producers in low- and middle-income countries. These were identified through an extensive search and screening process of multiple academic databases and grey literature sources, and selected from an initial pool of over 6,000 articles.

Taking stock

The authors identified interventions determining adoption across the literature surveyed. A key theme which emerged was the need for context-sensitive technical and financial support for climate-resilient crop adoption. Nearly 16% of the studies found that adoption depended on access to relevant extension programs. Around 12% identified access to credit and other financial instruments as key, while a further 12% identified the implementation of community programs supporting climate-resilient crops as a determining factor.

However, the study stresses that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Increased adoption of climate-resilient agricultural innovations will depend on interventions being highly context informed. For example, the review shows that while some studies identified older farmers as more reluctant to adopt new technologies, an equal number of studies found the opposite.

Moreover, the review identified important opportunities for further research. Gender-based approaches, for example, remain a blind spot in the literature. The majority of studies reviewed only included women if they were household heads, thus overlooking the role they may play in influencing the adoption of new agricultural technologies in male-headed households.

A community-based seed producer in Kiboko, Kenya, inspects her crop of drought-tolerant maize. (Photo: Anne Wangalachi/CIMMYT)

Driving evidence-based policymaking

The review was published as part of a collection of 10 research papers produced as part of Ceres2030: Sustainable Solutions to End Hunger. The project, a partnership between Cornell University, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), distills decades of scientific and development research into a clear menu of policy options for funders committed to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 2: Ending world hunger by 2030.

The full collection of papers was published on October 12 across various Nature Research journals.

Speaking at a German government event on achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2, Bill Gates praised the Ceres2030 initiative, noting that “nothing on this scale has ever been done because we lacked the tools to analyze this complex information. But with the new research, solid evidence will drive better policymaking.”

He went on to highlight the CGIAR’s leadership role in these efforts, saying: “The CGIAR system is a key global institution that is investing in these approaches. It’s a critical example of how innovation can lead the way.”

A researcher demonstrates the use of the AgroTutor app on a mobile phone in Mexico. (Photo: Francisco Alarcón/CIMMYT)

Digital revolution can transform agri-food systems

Written by Alison Doody on November 4, 2020. Posted in Features.

A digital transformation is changing the face of international research for development and agri-food systems worldwide. This was the key takeaway from the 4^th annual CGIAR Big Data in Agriculture Convention held virtually last month.

“In many countries, farmers are using data to learn about market trends and weather predictions,” said Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in a video address to convention participants. “But many still do not have access to everything that big data offers, and that is where CIMMYT and partners come in.”

As a member of CGIAR, CIMMYT is committed to ensuring that farmers around the world get access to data-driven solutions and information, while at the same time ensuring that the data generated by farmers, researchers and others is used ethically.

According to CGIAR experts and partner organizations, there are four key areas with the potential to transform agriculture in the next 10 years: data, artificial intelligence (AI), digital services and sector intelligence.

Key interventions will involve enabling open data and responsible data use, developing responsible AI, enabling and validating bundled digital services for food systems, and building trust in technology and big data — many of which CIMMYT has been working on already.

Harnessing data and data analytics

Led by CIMMYT, the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB) team have been developing the Enterprise Breeding System (EBS) — a single data management software solution for global breeding programs. The software aims to provide a solution to manage data across the entire breeding data workflow — from experiment creation to analytics — all in a single user-friendly dashboard.

CIMMYT and partners have also made significant breakthroughs in crop modelling to better understand crop performance and yield gaps, optimize planting dates and irrigation systems, and improve predictions of pest outbreaks. The Community of Practice (CoP) on Crop Modeling, a CGIAR initiative led by CIMMYT Crop Physiologist Matthew Reynolds, aims to foster collaboration and improve the collection of open access, easy-to-use data available for crop modelling.

The CIMMYT-led Community of Practice (CoP) on Socio-Economic Data continues to work at the forefront of making messy socio-economic data interoperable to address urgent and pressing global development issues in agri-food systems. Data interoperability, one of the foundational components of the FAIR data standards supported by CGIAR, addresses the ability of systems and services that create, exchange and consume data to have clear, shared expectations for its content, context and meaning. In the wake of COVID-19, the world witnessed the need for better data interoperability to understand what is happening in global food systems, and the CoP actively supports that process.

The MARPLE team carries out rapid analysis using the diagnostic kit in Ethiopia. (Photo: JIC)

Improving data use and supporting digital transformation

In Ethiopia, the MARPLE (Mobile And Real-time PLant disEase) diagnostic kit — developed by CIMMYT, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and the John Innes Centre (JIC) — has helped researchers, local governments and farmers to rapidly detect diseases like wheat rust in the field. The suitcase-sized kit cuts down the time it takes to detect this disease from months to just 48 hours.

In collaboration with research and meteorological organizations including Wageningen University and the European Space Agency (ESA), CIMMYT researchers have also been developing practical applications for satellite-sourced weather data. Crop scientists have been using this data to analyze maize and wheat cropping systems on a larger scale and create more precise crop models to predict the tolerance of crop varieties to stresses like drought and heatwaves. The aim is to share the climate and weather data available on an open access, user-friendly database.

Through the AgriFoodTrust platform — a new testing and learning platform for digital trust and transparency technologies – CIMMYT researchers have been experimenting with technologies like blockchain to tackle issues such as food safety, traceability, sustainability, and adulterated and counterfeit fertilizers and seeds. Findings will be used to build capacity on all aspects of the technologies and their application to ensure this they are inclusive and usable.

In Mexico, CIMMYT and partners have developed an application which offers tailored recommendations to help individual farmers deal with crop production challenges sustainably. The AgroTutor app offers farmers free information on historic yield potential, local benchmarks, recommended agricultural practices, commodity price forecasting and more.

Stepping up to the challenge

As the world becomes increasingly digital, harnessing the full potential of digital technologies is a huge area of opportunity for the agricultural research for development community, but one that is currently lacking clear leadership. As a global organization already working on global problems, it’s time for the CGIAR network to step up to the challenge. Carrying a legacy of agronomic research, agricultural extension, and research into adoption of technologies and innovations, CGIAR has an opportunity to become a leader in the digital transformation of agriculture.

Currently, the CGIAR System is coming together as One CGIAR. This transformation process is a dynamic reformulation of CGIAR’s partnerships, knowledge, assets, and global presence, aiming for greater integration and impact in the face of the interdependent challenges facing today’s world.

“One CGIAR’s role in supporting digitalization is both to improve research driven by data and data analytics, but also to foster the digitalization of agriculture in low and lower-middle income countries,” said CIMMYT Economist Gideon Kruseman at a session on Exploring CGIAR Digital Strategy at last month’s Big Data convention.

“One CGIAR — with its neutral stance and its focus on global public goods — can act as an honest broker between different stakeholders in the digital ecosystem.”

Cover photo: A researcher demonstrates the use of the AgroTutor app on a mobile phone in Mexico. (Photo: Francisco Alarcón/CIMMYT)

Wheat disease common to South America jumps to Africa

Written by Mary Donovan on November 3, 2020. Posted in In the media.

Pawan Kumar Singh, head, wheat pathology, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) says that the fast-acting and devastating fungal disease known as wheat blast was first spotted in Africa in the Zambian rainfed wheat production system in the 2017-2018 crop cycle.

Reaping carbon credits from agriculture

Written by Mary Donovan on October 30, 2020. Posted in In the media.

Agriculture contributes significantly to greenhouse gases (GHGs), so can farmers be incentivized to cultivate in a less earth-warming manner, with tradable carbon credits giving them an additional source of income?

Read here: https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/reaping-carbon-credits-from-agriculture/2116860/

CIMMYT-supported researcher earns doctorate for work on gender, maize value chains and food security

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on October 30, 2020. Posted in News.

Gebre received his doctorate in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Kyushu University, Japan.

On September 25, with financial and academic support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Girma Gezimu Gebre upgraded his honorific from mister to doctor. Born in Dawuro zone, in southern Ethiopia, Gebre received his doctorate in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Kyushu University, Japan.

His dissertation—Gender Dimensions of the Maize Value Chain and Food Security: The Case of Dawuro Zone in Southern Ethiopia—was supported by CIMMYT through the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project. Dil Rahut, global program manager of the socioeconomics and sustainable intensification programs at CIMMYT, served on his committee.

Asked about Gebre’s achievement, Rahut alluded to his hard work and dedication. “Desire is the starting point of all achievements while hard work and commitment are the end points of all the high achievements,” he said.

Gebre’s research explores how and to what degree gender plays a role in the adoption of improved maize varieties, maize productivity, maize market participation, and marketing channel choices, as well as food security among smallholder households across the maize value chain. Gebre already boasts published articles on the impact of gender on various dimensions of agriculture and agricultural development as well as various other topics— from the development of sustainable banana value chains in Ethiopia to barriers to farmers’ innovativeness.

At Kyushu University Gebre was awarded the 2020 Graduate School of Bioresources and Bioenvironmental Science “Outstanding Student Prize.” He was also awarded the 2020 Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Prize in recognition of his excellent academic achievements and quality as a role model for other students.

Before pursuing a Ph.D., Gebre received a Master’s degree in Economics (Development Policy Analysis) from Mekelle University, Ethiopia, and a Master’s degree in Agricultural Production Chain Management—Horticulture Chain from Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. He has served as the coordinator of the postgraduate program in Agribusiness and Value Chain Management and as the head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Aksum University, Ethiopia.

A rice farmer in central Bangladesh tends to his crop. (Photo: Scott Wallace/World Bank)

New publications: COVID-19 induced economic loss and ensuring food security for vulnerable groups

Written by Emma Orchardson on October 29, 2020. Posted in Publications.

At present, nearly half of the world’s population is under some form of government restriction to curb the spread of COVID-19. In Bangladesh, in the wake of five deaths and 48 infections early in the year, the government imposed a nationwide lockdown between March 24 and May 30, 2020. Until April 17, 38 of the country’s 64 districts were under complete lockdown.

“While this lockdown restricted the spread of the disease, in the absence of effective support, it can generate severe food and nutrition insecurity for daily wage-based workers,” says Khondoker Mottaleb, an agricultural economist based at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Of the 61 million people who make up Bangladesh’s employed labor force, nearly 35% are paid daily. In a new study published in PLOS ONE, Mottaleb examines the food security and welfare impacts of the lockdowns on these daily-wage workers — in both farm and non-farm sectors — who are comparatively more resource-poor in terms of land ownership and education, and therefore likely to be hit hardest by a loss in earnings.

Using information from 50,000 economically active workers in Bangladesh, collected by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the study quantifies the economic losses from the COVID-19 lockdowns based on daily-wage workers’ lost earnings and estimates the minimum compensation packages needed to ensure their minimum food security during the lockdown period.

Using the estimated daily wage earnings, the authors estimate that a one-day, complete lockdown generates an economic loss equivalent to $64.2 million. After assessing the daily per capita food expenditure for farm and non-farm households, the study estimates the need for a minimum compensation package of around $1 per day per household to ensure minimum food security for the daily wage-based worker households.

In May 2020, the Government of Bangladesh announced the provision of approximately $24 per month to two million households, half of whom will receive additional food provision. While this amount is in line with Mottaleb’s findings, he stresses than this minimum support package is only suitable for the short-term, and that in the event of a prolonged lockdown period it will be necessary to consider additional support for other household costs such as clothing, medicine and education.

“Without effective support programs, the implementation of a strict lockdown for a long time may be very difficult, if poor households are forced to come out to search for work, money and food,” explains Mottaleb. “In the event of a very strict lockdown scenario, the government should consider issuing movement passes to persons and carriers of agricultural input and output to support smallholder agriculture, wage workers and agricultural value chains.”

Read the full article:
COVID-19 induced economic loss and ensuring food security for vulnerable groups: Policy implications for Bangladesh

Read more recent publications from CIMMYT researchers:

Potential of climate-smart agriculture in reducing women farmers’ drudgery in high climatic risk areas. 2020. Khatri-Chhetri, A., Punya Prasad Regmi, Nitya Chanana, Aggarwal, P.K. In: Climatic Change v. 158, pg. 29-42.
Crop–livestock integration in smallholder farming systems of Goromonzi and Murehwa, Zimbabwe. 2020. Mkuhlani, S., Mupangwa, W., MacLeod, N., Lovemore Gwiriri, Nyagumbo, I., Manyawu, G., Ngavaite Chigede. In: Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems v. 35, no. 3, pg. 249-260.
Effects of maize residue and mineral nitrogen applications on maize yield in conservation-agriculture-based cropping systems of Southern Africa. 2020. Mupangwa, W., Thierfelder, C., Cheesman, S., Nyagumbo, I., Muoni, T., Mhlanga, B., Mwila, M., Sida T.S., Ngwira, A. In: Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems v. 35, no. 2, pg. 322-335.
From interest to implementation: exploring farmer progression of conservation agriculture in Eastern and Southern Africa. 2020. Brown, B., Nuberg, I., Llewellyn, R. In: Environment, Development and Sustainability v. 22, pg. 3159-3177.
Spatial variability of soil physicochemical properties in agricultural fields cultivated with sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) in southeastern Mexico. 2020. Salgado-Velázquez, S., Salgado-García, S., Rincón-Ramírez, J.A., Rodrigues, F., Palma-López, D.J., Córdova-Sánchez, S., López-Castañeda, A. In: Sugar Tech v. 22, pg. 65-75.
Apparent gains, hidden costs: examining adoption drivers, yield, and profitability outcomes of rotavator tillage in wheat systems in Nepal. 2020. Paudel, G.P., Krishna, V.V., McDonald, A. In: Journal of Agricultural Economics v. 71, no. 1, pg. 199-218.
Multi‐site bundling of drought tolerant maize varieties and index insurance. 2020. Awondo, S.N., Kostandini, G., Setimela, P.S., Erenstein, O. In: Journal of Agricultural Economics v. 71, no.1, pg. 239-259.
Leaving no one behind: how women seize control of wheat–maize technologies in Bangladesh. 2020. Farnworth, C.R., Jafry, T., Rahman, S., Badstue, L.B. In: Canadian Journal of Development Studies v. 41, no. 1, pg. 20-39.
Learning adaptation to climate change from past climate extremes: evidence from recent climate extremes in Haryana, India. 2020. Aryal, J.P., Jat, M.L., Sapkota, T.B., Rahut, D.B., Rai, M., Jat, H.S., Sharma, P.C., Stirling, C. In: International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management v. 12. No. 1, pg. 128-146.
Climate change mitigation options among farmers in South Asia. 2020. Aryal, J.P., Rahut, D.B., Sapkota, T.B., Khurana, R., Khatri-Chhetri, A. In: Environment, Development and Sustainability v. 22, pg. 3267-3289.
Does climate-smart village approach influence gender equality in farming households? A case of two contrasting ecologies in India. 2020. Hariharan, V.K., Mittal, S., Rai, M., Agarwal, T., Kalvaniya, K.C., Stirling, C., Jat, M.L. In: Climatic Change v. 158, pg. 77-90.
First Report of TTRTF race of wheat stem rust, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, in Ethiopia. 2020. Tesfaye, T., Chala, A., Shikur, E., Hodson, D.P., Szabo, L.J. In: Plant Disease v. 104, no. 1, 293-293.
Multi-level socioecological drivers of agrarian change: longitudinal evidence from mixed rice-livestock-aquaculture farming systems of Bangladesh. 2020. Aravindakshan, S., Krupnik, T.J., Groot, J.C.J., Speelman, E. N., Amjath Babu, T.S, Tittonell, P. In: Agricultural Systems v. 177, art. 102695.
Carbon sequestration potential through conservation agriculture in Africa has been largely overestimated: comment on: “Meta-analysis on carbon sequestration through conservation agriculture in Africa”. 2020. Corbeels, M., Cardinael, R., Powlson, D.S., Chikowo, R., Gerard, B. In: Soil and Tillage Research v. 196, art. 104300.
Operationalizing the concept of robustness of nitrogen networks in mixed smallholder systems: a pilot study in the mid-hills and lowlands of Nepal. 2020. Alomia-Hinojosa, V., Groot, J.C.J., Speelman, E. N., Bettinelli, C., McDonald, A., Alvarez, S., Tittonell, P. In: Ecological Indicators v. 110, art. 105883.
The spread of smaller engines and markets in machinery services in rural areas of South Asia. 2020. Justice, S., Biggs, S. In: Journal of Rural Studies v. 73, pg. 10-20.
Functional farm household typologies through archetypal responses to disturbances. 2020. Tittonell, P., Bruzzone, O., Solano-Hernández, A., Lopez-Ridaura, S., Easdale, M.H. In: Agricultural Systems v. 178, art. 102714.
Data on a genome-wide association study of type 2 diabetes in a Maya population. 2020. Totomoch-Serra, A., Domínguez-Cruz, M.G., Muñoz, M. de L., García-Escalante, M.G., Burgueño, J., Diaz-Badillo, A., Valadez-González, N., Pinto-Escalantes, D. In: Data in Brief v. 28, art. 104866.
On-farm performance and farmers’ participatory assessment of new stress-tolerant maize hybrids in Eastern Africa. 2020. Regasa, M.W., De Groote, H., Munyua, B., Makumbi, D., Owino, F., Crossa, J., Beyene, Y., Mugo, S.N., Jumbo, M.B., Asea, G., Mutinda, C.J.M., Kwemoi, D.B., Woyengo, V., Olsen, M., Prasanna, B.M. In: Field Crops Research v. 246, art. 107693.
Different uncertainty distribution between high and low latitudes in modelling warming impacts on wheat. 2020. Wei Xiong, Asseng, S., Hoogenboom, G., Hernandez-Ochoa, I.M., Robertson, R., Sonder, K., Pequeno, D.N.L., Reynolds, M.P., Gerard, B. In. Nature Food v. 1, pg. 63-69.
Gender relations along the maize value chain in Mozambique. 2020. Adam, R.I., Quinhentos, M., Muindi, P., Osanya, J. In: Outlook on Agriculture v. 49, no. 2, pg. 133–144.
Genetic dissection of zinc, iron, copper, manganese and phosphorus in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain and rachis at two developmental stages. 2020. Cu, S.T., Guild, G., Nicolson, A., Velu, G., Singh, R.P., Stangoulis, J. In: Plant Science v. 291, art. 110338.
Indigenous knowledge of traditional foods and food literacy among youth: insights from rural Nepal. 2020. Gartaula, H., Patel, K., Shukla, S., Devkota, R. In: Journal of Rural Studies v. 73, pg. 77-86.
Analysis of household access to drinking water, sanitation, and waste disposal services in urban areas of Nepal. 2020. Behera, B., Rahut, D.B., Sethi, N. In: Utilities Policy v. 62, art. 100996.
Mapping of QTL for partial resistance to powdery mildew in two Chinese common wheat cultivars. 2020. Xiaoting Xu, Zhanwang Zhu, Aolin Jia, Fengju Wang, Jinping Wang, Yelun Zhang, Chao Fu, Luping Fu, Guihua Bai, Xianchun Xia, Yuanfeng Hao, He Zhonghu In: Euphytica v. 216, no. 1, art. 3.
Enabling smallholder farmers to sustainably improve their food, energy and water nexus while achieving environmental and economic benefits. 2020. Gathala, M.K., Laing, A.M., Tiwari, T.P., Timsina, J., Islam, Md.S., Chowdhury, A.K., Chattopadhyay, C., Singh, A.K., Bhatt, B. P., Shrestha, R., Barma, N.C.D., Dharamvir Singh Rana, Jackson, T., Gerard, B. In: Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews v. 120, art. 109645.
Harnessing wheat Fhb1 for Fusarium resistance. 2020. Yuanfeng Hao, Rasheed, A., Zhanwang Zhu, Wulff, B.B.H., He Zhonghu In: Trends in Plant Science v. 25, no. 1, pg. 1-3.
Energy-efficient, sustainable crop production practices benefit smallholder farmers and the environment across three countries in the Eastern Gangetic Plains, South Asia. 2020. Gathala, M.K., Laing, A.M., Tiwari, T.P., Timsina, J., Saiful Islam, Bhattacharya, P.M., Dhar, T., Ghosh, A., Sinha, A.K., Chowdhury, A.K., Hossain, S., Hossain, M.I., Molla, M.S.H., Rashid, M., Kumar, S., Kumar, R., Dutta, S.K., Srivastwa, P.K., Chaudhary, B., Jha, S.K., Ghimire, P., Bastola, B., Chaubey, R.K., Kumar, U., Gerard, B. In: Journal of Cleaner Production v. 246, art. 118982.

Feature image: A rice farmer in central Bangladesh tends to his crop. (Photo: Scott Wallace/World Bank).

Breaking Ground: Andrea Gardeazábal transforms data into meaningful information

Written by Mary Donovan on October 29, 2020. Posted in Features.

Andrea Gardeazábal has many titles — Monitor, Evaluation and Learning Manager, ICT for Agriculture — but the core of what she does is knowledge management. She merges monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) with information communication technologies (ICT) to transform data into something meaningful.

A political scientist by training, Gardeazábal knows the power of data and statistics. As she began working on ICT-for-development projects in the field, she observed a lack of understanding of ICT and how the development sector could take advantage of these tools.

“I knew this was progressing very fast; that this was the future. Everyone was talking about ICT and the future with the internet of things, and social media was just getting started,” she said. So she asked herself, how could the development sector take advantage of these new technologies?

Gardeazábal was working on projects bringing computers to rural areas in Colombia, which did not have internet connection or electricity. The problem could not be solved simply with a machine. She wanted to understand how to use ICT for development in a meaningful way. This triggered an interest in MEAL, to understand how ICT benefits the development sector, or does not, and to reintegrate that information into project design and impact.

After working in ICT for civil participation, education and microfinance, she joined CIMMYT with the mission to understand ICT for agriculture. Now she merges ICT tools with MEAL, leading the design, development and operation of systems for data collection, data cleaning, data analysis and data visualization with the Integrated Development program’s projects in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico.

Ensuring intended results

Monitoring, learning, accountability and evaluation is crucial to ensure CIMMYT delivers on its objectives. Monitoring means ensuring that operations in the field are happening as planned. Rather than waiting until the end of the project when the donor asks for a report, Gardeazábal’s team monitors operations in the field on a quarterly or yearly basis. The team, both in the field and at headquarters, uses this data to check that the project is achieving what was intended and make interventions or adjustments if necessary.

Evaluation looks at project results and evidence. The team collects evidence for every single data point that they have, and then evaluates that evidence for impact and results in the field. This data is not only related to yield increase, but includes sustainable production, capacity development, and adequate technology adaptation and adoption processes.

Accountability is transparency with funders, so that everyone involved in a project is accountable for the processes, decisions and impact. CIMMYT is able to show progress through a transparent relationship with funders.

Learning happens after the team collects information, produces results evaluations, and understands what was done well and where the process had to be redirected. This information can then inform design of new projects or project phases. “We use the data and analysis of each project to redesign or modify our plans for the next project or even what kinds of projects we want to conduct,” Gardeazábal said.

Andrea Gardeazábal merges ICT tools with monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning to improve project design. (Photo: Francisco Alarcón/CIMMYT)

What ICT can offer

In the past, a MEAL team would collect data from a representative sample at the start of the project, then go back to the office and analyze that data. At the end of the project, the team would complete the same exercise, to see the difference from what they gathered at the beginning.

With ICT tools, researchers are able to gather and analyze robust data more quickly and can communicate efficiently with the beneficiaries of a project throughout its course. Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms can help in understanding large sets of data so that this information can strengthen and streamline the MEAL process and project impact.

“We don’t need to wait until the end of the project for the results in the field or to have a sense of what the farmers are saying and achieving. We have a lot of tools, from the ICT side, that help make monitoring and evaluation more efficient,” Gardeazábal explained.

An international award recognized some of these ICT tools earlier this year. Gardeazábal formed part of the winning team with members from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) working on groundbreaking data systems and tools that help over 150,000 farmers in Mexico.

The team tracked over 500 variables over different farming plots and analyzed them with geographic, weather and market data to help identify the best management practices for each plot. This information — including historic yield potential, local benchmarks, windows of opportunity, recommended agricultural practices and commodity price forecasting — is available to farmers through an app called AgroTutor (Android, iOS).

The importance of an enabling environment

However, Gardeazábal cautions against the idea that technology on its own is going to end poverty or increase food security.

“ICT is a vehicle for innovation in agriculture. Just having an app in the field is not enough to generate the change that we are actually looking for. You need an enabling environment, a network, engagement of the farmers and the buy-in of scientists to take advantage of ICT tools.”

From drones and satellite imagery to artificial intelligence, ICT tools can help CIMMYT carry out its mission by streamlining the data gathering and analytics processes.

However, this work is not done in isolation from the environment surrounding it. CIMMYT does not only work on increasing yields, but also manages resources and local networks in efficient ways. Teams must monitor data on air quality, water use and efficient information flows, analyze this data, and then return to the field with recommendations for the most sustainable production within integrated agri-food systems.

Farmers participating in mother trials learn climate-smart agriculture principles and conservation agriculture technologies.

Reflections on resilience

Written by Shiela Chikulo on October 27, 2020. Posted in Features.

Approaching Ward 6 in Mwenezi, southern Zimbabwe, tracts of empty fields around homesteads on either side of the road signal the end of harvesting for the 2019/20 farming season. Farmers have stored away maize fodder on tree branches or inside the family compounds.

At one of the homesteads in the village of Chikwalakwala A, ten farmers are gathered while agricultural extension officers weigh grain and legume samples. They are participating in mother trials from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), using improved farming practices and drought-resilient seed varieties. This is one of the eight villages in Ward 6 where CIMMYT has established demonstration sites, as part of the Zambuko Livelihoods Initiative, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

“Most of us here were born and raised in this ward, helping our parents with farming activities and continuing with farming when we finally had our own families,” farmer Tevera Romichi explains. However, the dry spells, high temperatures and erratic rainfall have become increasingly disturbing for him in recent years. “It became difficult to determine when we would receive enough rain to plant our crops without risking long dry spells,” he says.

The onset of rains in Mwenezi has shifted over the years, from late September to the end of October or early November. With most families in the district depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, the adverse change in climatic conditions has compromised food security. These farmers grow crops such as millet, sorghum and groundnut.

Clemence Hlungwane, another farmer participating in mother trials, further explains how traditional practices of repeated tillage with ox-drawn ploughs weakened the soil structure, exposing it to soil erosion and loss of fertility. “These soils have been overused without any thought of how to replenish all the nutrients that were found in the soil in past years,” he says. The result for families like Hlungwane’s were poor germination, susceptibility to pests and diseases and poor yields.

Lablab fixes nitrogen into the soil and provides residue for mulching and feed for livestock. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)

Being smart in the field

The introduction of climate-smart technologies by CIMMYT provided a channel through which mother-trial farmers in Ward 6 could explore alternative farming practices in a sustainable way while adapting to climate-induced risks. The principles of conservation agriculture, which encourage the preservation of soil moisture and nutrients, underpinned the technologies introduced by CIMMYT.

Initially, mother trial farmers expressed mixed feelings when the CIMMYT team and the Agricultural Extension and Technical Services (AGRITEX) officials took them through the process of establishing the demonstration plots. “It seemed like a lot of work,” Charleton Midzi recalls. “There was a lot of measuring, pegging and marking the demonstration plots but we soon realized that this would be important when planting the small grains and legumes.”

“At the same time, I was curious to see how ploughing with a ripper would help the soil and crops along with the practice of mulching,” Midzi says. “Where mulch was applied, the moisture was well preserved, and the crops looked much healthier and vibrant than in portions without mulch.” Another important lesson was understanding the importance of record keeping for planting dates, harvesting dates and rainfall records to inform the next season. In addition, good agronomy practices such as spacing, correct application of nutrients and use of pesticides contributed to the successful production at the demonstration plots.

“We no longer waste inputs,” says Caleb Matandare, a farmer in the village of Chikwalakwala C. “Being smart in the field means applying the correct amount of fertilizer using the measuring cups provided and keeping a record of the suitable amount for the crop.”

By the end of the season, the mother farmers observed the evident difference in the higher quality of the millet and sorghum planted on the conservation agriculture plots, compared to the conventional plots. From the yields of sorghum, millet and cowpeas, Matandare’s family of 13 are guaranteed enough diverse and nutritious food, particularly in the “lean season,” the period between harvests.

Margaret Mapuranga, a mother-trial farmer in Ward 6, Mwenezi district, shows a sample of velvet bean from the demonstration plot. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)

Baby-trial farmers eager to learn

Since the establishment of the mother trials in Ward 6, several farmers witnessing the advantages of producing under conservation agriculture and using drought-resilient varieties are keen to adopt the improved technologies.

Margaret Mapuranga shares how her neighbor inquired about the legume crops. “I explained to her how lablab, velvet bean and cowpeas fix nitrogen in the soil, which will be useful for the grain crops in the next season. She would like to try out the same in her own field in the coming season.” Mapuranga is confident that she can promote these sustainable practices with farmers selected for the baby trials in her village.

The coming 2020/21 season looks promising as more farmers in Ward 6 adopt the improved technologies. Mother-trial farmers are eager to expand conservation agriculture practices to other portions of their land as a safeguard against climate risks. For them, the ability to share the climate-smart technologies promoted by CIMMYT is an empowering process that will transform agriculture in the ward and beyond.

Close up of a durum wheat spike. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)

International Wheat Yield Partnership launches European Winter Wheat Hub

Written by Marcia MacNeil on October 27, 2020. Posted in Features.

Building on a wealth of existing investment in UK wheat research and development, including the UK Research and Innovation BBSRC-funded Designing Future Wheat programme (DFW), the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP) has formed a new European Winter Wheat Hub that will accelerate research discoveries from the UK and globally into commercial plant breeding.

A public-private partnership, the IWYP-European Winter Wheat Hub will combine novel traits discovered by collaborative international teams into a range of high performing European winter wheat genetic backgrounds for assessment and use in winter wheat breeding programs.

The global agriculture companies BASF, KWS, RAGT and Syngenta, in collaboration with the UK National Institute for Agricultural Botany (NIAB), will provide a translational pipeline supporting European winter wheat improvement. In partnership with IWYP, commercial breeders will select key genetic discoveries of potential value for the European wheat community from global IWYP research projects. NIAB will then use its expertise in pre-breeding to produce genetic material for the validation and development of selected IWYP research outputs.

Joining the wider existing IWYP Hub Network of large translational pipelines operating on spring wheat at CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre) in Mexico and the recently established NIFA-IWYP Winter Wheat Breeding Innovation Hub at Kansas State University, USA, the IWYP-European Winter Wheat Hub will ensure that cutting-edge discoveries are rapidly available to both the participating wheat breeders and to the global wheat breeding community.

“This is another excellent example of how public-private partnerships (such as the DFW, the Wheat Initiative and IWYP) can work well at both the international and national level,” said Chris Tapsell from KWS, who is leading the IWYP-European Winter Wheat Hub development.

“And this hub will help ensure that the hard work of the IWYP researchers around the world will deliver impacts that address the twin challenges of increasing wheat production for food security whilst protecting the environment.”

Jeff Gwyn, who leads the IWYP program said, “The addition of this new hub further strengthens the IWYP Hub Network and enables the development of our innovations to reach a wider industry base more rapidly. It is critical for IWYP to have its research outputs taken up and utilized for the public good. Public-private partnerships such as this further demonstrate that the IWYP initiative is filling a significant gap and creating value.”

Tina Barsby, CEO of NIAB commented, “NIAB has a strong track record in pre-breeding of wheat and particularly in working closely with commercial breeders to bring new variability to the market. We are really looking forward to helping to advance IWYP project traits into breeding programs.”

This press release was originally posted on the website of the International Wheat Yield Partnership.

The IWYP program is based on an innovative model for public funding and international scientific collaboration to address the global grand challenge of food, nutritional and economic security for the future. The model employs public-private partnerships to scale and drive its research innovations for impact. Operations require active coordination of the international research and development teams whose discovery research focuses on complementary and overlapping sets of potentially high impact novel trait targets deemed likely to underpin yield increases, such as the regulation of photosynthesis, optimal plant architecture, plant biomass distribution, and grain number and size. As the results emerge, it is possible to envisage how to combine them and therefore simultaneously remove multiple constraints affecting yields in farmers’ fields. https://iwyp.org/

NIAB is an independent plant biosciences organisation working to translate fundamental research into innovative solutions and products for the agricultural sector. The IWYP-European Winter Wheat Hub will leverage established expertise in wheat genetics and breeding at NIAB, including newly developed glasshouse and molecular laboratory facilities.
https://www.niab.com/

BASF, KWS, RAGT and Syngenta are innovation-led leaders in the wheat breeding industry, developing varieties that deliver consistent year-on-year genetics gain for the benefit of wheat growers throughout Europe and North America. All companies are active members of IWYP and launched this initiative to speed up and ensure the effective utilization of deliverables from IWYP research projects, which are funded by partners across the globe including the BBSRC in the UK.
www.kws.com
www.ragt.fr
www.basf.com
www.syngenta.com

CIMMYT field workers working on wheat crossing as part of the breeding process.

Webinar explores continuous improvement approach to plant breeding

Written by Marcia MacNeil on October 26, 2020. Posted in News.

A recent webinar organized by the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB) and Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) project, invited national agricultural research systems, seed companies, other interested breeders to explore tools, techniques and transitions toward a continuous improvement culture in breeding.

Continuous improvement (CI) is an approach that is being used to modernize breeding programs, to ensure they consistently get significantly improved varieties in farmers’ fields. It helps teams create a new way of thinking and working. The goal is to ensure striving for excellence becomes part of an organizational culture. To get there, CI provides a set of clear principles and tools to help diagnose problems and then solve them.

The webinar featured a leading international CI expert —Theresa Heitman, an EiB consultant — who introduced the Lean Improvement Methodology, an approach to help breeders grow their programs and improve results without adding more resources. It examines the way breeders create value for the customer, using specific methods and tools to reduce or eliminate non-value added activities.

Other presenters included B.M. Prasanna from the CGIAR Research Program on Maize, Gustavo Teixeira and Theresa Heitman from EiB and Dan Makumbi from EiB and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Marcelo Almeida from Syngenta, and Sharifah Shahrul from the International Rice Research Center (IRRI).

The CI webinar is part of a series of webinars co-organized by EiB and AGG. Forthcoming sessions will cover assessing genetic gains and other topics.

This story was originally posted on the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform website.

Maize and wheat fields at CIMMYT's El Batán experimental station.

CIMMYT releases its first ever maize genetic resource lines

Written by Mary Donovan on October 26, 2020. Posted in News.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is pleased to announce the release of a new category of maize inbred lines called CIMMYT Maize Genetic Resource Lines (CMGRL). The CMGRLs are derived from crosses between elite CIMMYT lines and landrace accessions, populations or synthetics from the CIMMYT Germplasm Bank.

Although high standards of yield and agronomic performance are applied in their selection, CMGRLs are not intended to be used directly in commercial hybrids but rather by breeders as sources of novel alleles for traits of economic importance. These lines should also be of interest to maize researchers who are not breeders but are studying the underlying genetic mechanisms of abiotic and biotic traits.

A tar spot disease resistant line next to a non-resistant line. (Photo: Terry Molnar/CIMMYT)

Currently the maize genetic resources breeding team has projects in drought tolerance, heat tolerance, tar spot complex (TSC) disease resistance and in the development of lines and hybrids with blue kernel color. For all of these projects, the best lines identified for a given trait objective will be recombined to produce open-pollinated varieties that will be made available to the public.

The inaugural class of CMGRLs includes five subtropical adapted lines for tolerance to drought during flowering and grain-fill and four tropical adapted lines for TSC resistance. Both phenotypic and genotypic data will be published online for all CMGRL releases. CIMMYT will periodically release CMGRLs as superior lines are identified for economically important abiotic and biotic stresses as well as end-use traits.

Release Summary:

CMGRL Name	Trait Target	Type	Level	Landrace Donor Parent	Landrace Country of Origin	Recurrent Parent	Heterotic Group	Adaptation
CMGRLB001	TSC resistance	BC1	S5	OAXA280	Mexico	CML576	B	Tropical
CMGRLB002	TSC resistance	BC1	S5	OAXA280	Mexico	CML576	B	Tropical
CMGRLB003	TSC resistance	BC1	S5	GUAT153	Guatemala	CML576	B	Tropical
CMGRLB004	TSC resistance	BC1	S5	GUAT153	Guatemala	CML576	B	Tropical
CMGRLB005	Drought tolerance	BC1	S5	ARZM12193	Argentina	CML376	B	Subtropical
CMGRLB006	Drought tolerance	BC1	S5	ARZM12237	Argentina	CML376	B	Subtropical
CMGRLB007	Drought tolerance	BC1	S5	SNLP169	Mexico	CML376	B	Subtropical
CMGRLB008	Drought tolerance	BC1	S5	SNLP17	Mexico	CML376	B	Subtropical
CMGRLB009	Drought tolerance	BC1	S5	SNLP17	Mexico	CML376	B	Subtropical

Full details including phenotypic and genotypic data on the nine lines are available here. To order a 50-kernel seed sample of the CMGRLs, please contact Terry Molnar.

Can this coincidence help India breathe easier this year?

Written by Mary Donovan on October 23, 2020. Posted in In the media.

“We are unlikely to see big peaks in stubble burning unlike the previous years. The burning of paddy residue is likely to be more evenly distributed across a longer period,” said M.L. Jat, principal scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Beyond breeding: the potential of improved postharvest storage techniques for smallholder farmers

Written by Steven M on October 23, 2020. Posted in Features.

In the early days of organizations like the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the answer to improving global food security was obvious. Help people grow more food. Today the situation is far more complex. Many exciting developments in breeding are either protective or corrective in nature. Stress-tolerant seed varieties are meant to help protect against the worst effects of global climate change. Efforts to develop widely cultivatable, high-yielding varieties based on local landraces seek to reintroduce some of the biodiversity lost through the runaway success of just a handful of commercial varieties.

Yet problems of food insecurity and poverty persist, not least among smallholders. The good news is that it is precisely among these farmers that important gains remain to be made, especially if we consider the many steps from planting to final consumption where technical and processual improvements can be made. “Just having a seed is not sufficient,” said CIMMYT postharvest specialist Sylvanus Odjo. “Of course having good seed is important, but you also need good agronomic practices.”

Globally, Odjo pointed out, one third of agricultural production is lost in the postharvest phase. In tropical Mexico, postharvest losses among smallholder maize farmers can reach up to 40%.

As the recently published findings of a two-year-long research project led by CIMMYT researchers show, such losses are entirely avoidable. The study, which was conducted in 2017 and 2018 across dozens of sites in Mexico representing a broad range of altitudes and ecologies, tested multiple storage technologies to determine which are most effective at avoiding postharvest losses using real-world smallholder practices and regardless of climatic and environmental factors.

Men fill hermetic metal silo. — Filling hermetic metal silo in Peto, Yucatán. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Researchers compared storage outcomes using conventional methods such as storing untreated maize in 50 kg polypropylene bags, storing maize in polypropylene bags and treating it with one of various agents — including aluminum phosphide, deodorized malathion or inert dusts — and hermetic storage options such as hermetic metal silos, two types of GrainPro hermetic plastic bags, and low-cost alternatives like plastic bottles and silage bags.

Under controlled conditions, they found that loss outcomes were highly variable for conventionally stored maize, with or without treatment agents. While untreated grain stored in polypropylene bags in temperate conditions at Texcoco only exhibited only 2.2% insect-damaged maize, grain treated with aluminum phosphide and stored in conventional bags in tropical conditions at Cotzocón suffered 46.3% insect damage.

In contrast, maize stored in low-cost hermetic alternatives such as plastic bottles and silage bags exhibited a maximum of 1.2% insect-damaged grain across all sites. Hermetic metal silos and GrainPro bags performed similarly well across climates, with a couple of important exceptions. The percentage of insect-damaged grain for maize stored in hermetic metal silos at Zacaultipán was 13.5%. Maize stored in GrainPro bags at this site suffered 8.1% insect damage.

Overall, the study convincingly demonstrated the effectiveness of hermetic storage technologies at minimizing insect and mycotic damage as well as weight loss of stored maize regardless of climate or altitude. However, important obstacles to the effective adoption of the technologies remains. In the case of the hermetic metal silos, it was determined that despite the existence of a stringent national norm for their construction in Mexico, silos occasionally did not meet the national standard and had to retrofitted to ensure hermeticity. And, as the example of Zacaultipán demonstrated, poor pre-storage processing of grain can compromise the effectiveness of hermetic storage technologies.

Maize storage. — CIMMYT researchers tested multiple storage technologies to determine which are most effective at avoiding postharvest losses. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Over the course of carrying out the experiment, the researchers discovered other challenges. In Mexico, as is often true among smallholders globally, women are largely in charge of postharvest activities. “But we noticed that it was largely men who showed up to the trainings,” Odjo said. Researchers had to think of strategies—from being more careful about meeting timings to enlisting the support of local women leaders—to ensure that the trainings were reaching the women who actually carry out this work.

As Odjo pointed out, resolving these kinds of implementation and advocacy challenges—from ensuring adequate training and familiarity with the technologies on the ground to encouraging public and private sector partners to make the technologies more broadly available—is the next step for the project. “The less complex part of this work is the technical part,” he said. “Our job now at CIMMYT is to bring these innovations to farmers… We need to get all the relevant stakeholders involved in the game.”

The project was carried out in partnership with the Mexican government via MasAgro, and received funding from the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). Its implementation involved collaboration with dozens of local partners throughout Mexico and was carried out in response to the suggestions of smallholder farmers.

Read the full paper: Hermetic storage technologies reduce maize pest damage in smallholder farming systems in Mexico

This story was originally published on the MAIZE website.

Cover image: Evaluating grain quality after six months of storage in Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Creating impact through wider data sharing

Written by Nima Chodon on October 22, 2020. Posted in News.

The Bihar Convergence Platform for agriculture, a synergistic partnership to innovate and initiate targeted interventions that help farmers to have informed choices with proven scientific recommendations, has been consistently working to accelerate interventions and improve the lives and capacity of small and marginal farmers since its establishment in October 2019.

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), in association with CABI and the Open Data Institute, hosted a six-day virtual interactive training in September for platform members on the theme “creating impact through wider data sharing.” The training aimed at strengthening technical expertise of the participants, creating an enabling environment to unlock the benefits of data sharing and developing space for participants to discuss, brainstorm and co-design initiatives to be implemented together by the platform in coming days.

The training ended with a common understanding about the challenges and constraints in agriculture because data is in silos. Furthermore, participants agreed on the need to look at the existing data with a broader lens to accelerate the pace of development in agriculture in the state. Participants expressed that sharing the data under set norms with standardized licensing could act as a catalyst to increase the benefits for smallholder farmers.

To constructively deal with the challenges in agriculture together, the platform members stressed the need to start analyzing existing data from a wider perspective and data sharing as the key for designing fact-based interventions for larger good and impact.

Platform members interact during virtual training. (Photo: Sugandha Munshi/CIMMYT)

The platform is chaired by the Vice Chancellor of Bihar Agriculture University, with key members from Bihar Rural Livelihood Promotion Society known as Jeevika, Bihar Agriculture University, Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, Agriculture Technology Application Resource Institute, ICAR-RCER, and the CSISA project, along with private groups like IFFCO, Bayer, and ITC.

Out of the many activities jointly implemented by the platform, the Data Ecosystem is the key arena where the platform works together in strengthening the impact of data and incorporating them in accelerating quality interventions for farmers.

This story was first published on the CSISA website.

Somalia agriculture partners learn about integrated fall armyworm control practices

Written by Mary Donovan on October 21, 2020. Posted in News.

Fall armyworm continues to cause havoc in Africa. Farmers in Somalia have not been spared since this unwelcome guest showed up in the country over three years ago. As part of the mitigation measures, the Somali Agriculture Technical Group (SATG) in partnership with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recently conducted online trainings on fall armyworm management for sustainable crop protection. The online trainings, targeting national agriculture stakeholders in the country, took place on August 25 and September 30, 2020, with nearly 250 participants attending both webinars.

“This is the first of our efforts to reach out to our partners in Somalia, especially the Somali Agriculture Technical Group and the national agricultural research system, to increase the awareness on the integrated pest management approaches that can help combat this highly destructive pest,” said B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE).

“This training was designed to help participants to gain a better understanding about fall armyworm, how to identify it, how to monitor and scout for it, how to effectively implement a management strategy that is environmentally and ecologically benign, in order to protect the food security and livelihoods of farmers and their families,” Prasanna said.

An integrated pest management strategy for sustainable control of fall armyworm should consider various interventions, including regular scouting and monitoring of the pest in the fields, host plant resistance, biological and biorational control, agroecological management, and use of environmentally safer pesticides and good agronomic practices tailored for the socio-cultural and economic contexts of the farmers. Ultimately, the purpose of a functional integrated pest management approach is to suppress pest population by applying techniques that minimize human and environmental harm, while protecting the crops from economic damage.

“I am happy to see the expertise from high levels of research at CIMMYT, icipe, IITA, universities, SATG and the humanitarian sector coming together to tackle and solve problems linked to food production and consumption. I believe that such important trainings have great value for Somalia, and should be further strengthened and encouraged,” said Abdalla Togola from the ICRC.

B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, presents at the online training on integrated pest management-based fall armyworm control. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Hussein Haji, the Executive Director of Somali Agriculture Technical Group speaks at the fall armyworm online training on integrated pest management-based fall armyworm control. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Professor Dan McGrath presents at training.

Professor Dan McGrath of Oregon State University, USA, delivering a training on integrated pest management-based fall armyworm control. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

John Karonga, an agronomist at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) speaks at the online training on integrated pest management-based fall armyworm control. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Hussein Haji, the Executive Director of SATG was optimistic that the training would go a long way to empower farmers in Somalia, through their cooperatives, and could lead to better ways of tackling challenges such as fall armyworm, already made worse by other stresses like drought and desert locusts.

“Through our extension workers, we hope this information will trickle down to our cooperatives, who produce mainly maize and sorghum seed in Somalia,” he added.

This comes on the back of a partnership between the ICRC and SATG to implement activities intended to improve food production among rural communities in six regions of Somalia. The partnership would enhance quality seed production with a focus on maize and sorghum, the major staple crops in the country.

Besides Prasanna, the key resource persons included Dan McGrath (Professor Emeritus, Oregon State University, USA), Joseph Huesing (CIMMYT Consultant on integrated pest management) and Georg Goergen (Entomologist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture), Frederic Baudron (CIMMYT Systems Agronomist), Anani Bruce (CIMMYT Entomologist), Yoseph Beyene (CIMMYT Regional Breeding Coordinator for Africa) and Saliou Niassy (Head of Agricultural Technology Transfer Unit, International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology).

The fall armyworm, a voracious caterpillar officially reported for the first time in Africa in Nigeria in 2016, remains a serious pest with devastating consequences on millions of farmers’ food and livelihood security. The pest has spread quickly throughout sub-Saharan Africa, primarily attacking maize and sorghum, two main staple crops in the region. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates up to 18 million tons of maize are lost to the pest annually, at an estimated economic loss of $4.6 billion.

To reduce the losses, experts have been recommending a toolbox of integrated pest management (IPM) practices to minimize the damage on smallholder farmers’ fields. Scientists at CIMMYT are also working intensively to develop improved maize varieties with native genetic resistance to this devastating insect pest.

Cover photo: Kowthar Abdirahman Afyare studies agriculture at the Somali National University. (Photo: AMISOM Public Information)