CIMMYT researcher Bram Govaerts participates in the World Food Prize and Borlaug Dialogue.
Expertise, multiple achievements and a significant contribution to sustainable agri-food systems in Mexico and globally, have merited Bram Govaerts, director of the Integrated Development Program and regional representative for the Americas at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Cornell University’s appointment as Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large. This is a distinction granted to individuals whose work in science, education, social sciences, literature and creative arts has had great impact and international visibility.
Cornell University launched the Professors-at-Large program to commemorate its centenary and to honor its first president, Andrew D. White. The program secures a connection between the university and its faculty with the world, global issues, great thinkers and outstanding intellectuals. Since then, personalities such as philosopher Jacques Derrida, writer and poet Octavio Paz, geneticist M. S. Swaminathan, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Norman Borlaug have received this distinction.
“I was honored to learn about my nomination and glad to be interviewed, but I was happily surprised and humbled to learn that I had been chosen to join this group of distinguished thinkers and artists, which has welcomed such outstanding members as Norman Borlaug and Octavio Paz,” said Govaerts.
Professors-at-Large take the responsibility to participate, over a six-year period, in several activities that strengthen the international academic community and are, afterwards, considered distinguished and lifetime members of the university.
Govaerts takes inspiration from the “take it to the farmer” vision, and has been instrumental to the development of CIMMYT’s project portfolio, which integrates innovations in maize and wheat production systems by minimizing their environmental impact.
Govaerts shares this acknowledgement with his team and collaborators who have joined efforts to achieve the objectives set in Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mexico and many other countries that have taken the decision to make a difference.
In 2014, Bram Govaerts received from the World Food Prize Foundation the Norman E. Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation, for leading the MasAgro project and finding innovative ways of applying science to improve the productivity and resilience of small and medium-sized maize and wheat farmers in Mexico.
Experimental harvest of provitamin A-enriched orange maize, Zambia. (Photo: CIMMYT)
In just over a decade there will be around 8.5 billion people on earth, and almost 10 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights.
The report said the newcomers will be concentrated in regions already facing grave food insecurity, rising temperatures, scarce water and erratic rainfall, such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Even now, hungry persons worldwide exceed 850 million and an estimated 2 billion suffer micronutrient malnutrition, with costly health and social impacts.
By mid-century 7 of every 10 people will live in cities, according to United Nations data. With more mouths to feed and fewer farmers, food systems will be hard-pressed to grow and supply enough nutritious fare at affordable prices, while mitigating environmental damage.
Facing the challenges
As the examples below show, applied science and partnerships can help address these complex issues.
Decades of research and application by scientists, extension workers, machinery specialists, and farmers are refining and spreading practices that conserve soil and water resources, improve yields under hotter and drier conditions, and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and pollution associated with maize and wheat farming in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
A farmer tends a long-term on-farm conservation agriculture trial for a rice-wheat-mungbean cropping system in Rajshahi district, Bangladesh. (Photo: CIMMYT)
The sustained support of funders and policymakers will help ensure that CIMMYT staff and partners are able to continue improving the livelihoods and food security of smallholder farmers and resource-poor consumers, as world population density increases.
Sometimes innovations fail to make an impact. Take 3D televisions, for example; launched at a large scale more than a decade ago, they did not achieve the expected commercial success. On paper, the technology was an affordable and thrilling breakthrough in home entertainment, but in practice many viewers failed to embrace it due to poor implementation. Today, it has largely fallen by the wayside.
Farming innovations can suffer similar fates if product designers do not consider the overall socioeconomic picture during development, warns Munyaradzi Mutenje, an agricultural economist with the Socioeconomics program of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
“When the direct seed drill was first launched in Zimbabwe, farmers did not take to it,” Mutenje explains. “Here was a technology that could reduce the drudgery of hand sowing — vastly reducing labor costs and saving time — but no one wanted it. The scientists asked ‘why is no-one adopting this seed drill we designed? It solves so many production challenges… Why don’t people want it?’”
It transpired that women, who constitute a significant portion of the farming community in Zimbabwe, simply found the direct seed drill too heavy and awkward for practical use. They chose to stick with traditional farming methods and were skeptical of the new technology. In short, the product was not designed with the end user in mind.
Design that meets farmers’ needs
Mutenje stands next to a demonstration plot of maize during a field day organized by CIMMYT and Agriseeds. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Mutenje works in close association with CIMMYT’s sustainable intensification team in Zimbabwe, adding value by opening a dialogue with many different types of farmers. “From the basket of sustainable intensification technologies available, which one is appropriate for each type of farmer?” she asks herself when designing new interventions.
Technologies can seem good to scientists, but they might not be suitable for farmers, who operate within a system of which agriculture is only one component.
“You have to look at the situation from the farmers’ perspective,” Mutenje explains. “In order to assess the economic viability of innovations and to understand how and where to target them, we have to look at factors like social acceptance and cultural barriers that might constrain adoption within farming communities.”
Once technologies are rolled out to farmers, it is vital to seek feedback about the demand for new, and reviews of existing, technologies. This allows scientists to tailor their innovations to the needs and objectives of farmers.
“When we design technologies that meet farmers’ needs because we have interacted with them and understood the whole system; that is our greatest impact.”
All roads lead to CIMMYT
Growing up on a farm in rural Zimbabwe instilled in Mutenje a deep respect for women’s role in agriculture in southern Africa. With her father engaged in off-farm work, her mother tended the farm. She grew curious about household decision-making and was inspired to pursue a career in agricultural science, first studying at the University of Zimbabwe before obtaining her doctoral degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa with a thesis on the effects of AIDS on rural livelihoods.
“I was inspired by the multidisciplinary nature of science and how its application to farming allows scientists to directly help feed people and really transform people’s lives.”
During her undergraduate studies, Mutenje learned from CIMMYT scientists who offered her class practical agronomic examples and taught the students how to apply data analysis to solve complex problems. Fascinated by the power of data to elucidate patterns that can help scientists, she resolved, “One day I will work for CIMMYT to address food and nutritional security issues in southern Africa!”
In 2012, her aspirations became reality as she joined CIMMYT in Zimbabwe as a postdoctoral fellow. Today, she is a CIMMYT scientist.
Work that sparks joy
Working with the CIMMYT sustainable intensification program on projects spanning five countries in southern Africa, Mutenje finds joy in working alongside partners as part of a large team. “You become one big family,” she reflects.
She feels pride in working with smallholder farmers and transforming their livelihoods through science. By boosting the knowledge and potential of women in particular, she believes that sustainable, positive change is possible.
“Women are the custodians of food and nutritional security, so we need to understand their challenges and opportunities. If you help women and offer them training, their impact will go far since they will pass their knowledge on to their children.”
Mutenje carries out a qualitative vulnerability assessment in Bvukuru community, Masvingo province, Zimbabwe, to feed into a study for a project funded by the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) and Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ). (Photo: CIMMYT)
Policy change to help farmers
Although working directly with farmers is what Mutenje enjoys the most, she concedes that prompting widespread change often calls for deeper scrutiny of the value chain, to identify bottlenecks that constrain adoption. Gathering empirical data and presenting evidence of the complete story to policymakers has enabled Mutenje to influence policy change on a national scale.
“In Mozambique, we discovered fertilizer costs were too high for farmers, so they were missing out on a technology that would enable increased yields.”
Mutenje’s work analyzed the whole system and found the import tax on fertilizer component materials was too high and that manufacturers were simply handing that cost down to the farmers. By highlighting this issue to government representatives, she triggered a change in import tax policy. This initiative resulted in fertilizer prices that are affordable to farmers, facilitating improved yields and livelihoods.
“An evidence-based approach, based on quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources allows scientists to present the complete story,” she explains. “Armed with this, we can convince policymakers to make changes to help farmers and improve food security.”
Halima Begum wanted to increase her income by providing mechanization services to other farmers in Bangladesh’s Chuadanga district, but she was limited by the level of physical effort required. Starting the engine of her tractor was difficult and embarrassing — cranking it required a lot of strength and she had to rely on others to do it for her. She was also afraid she would get injured, like other local service providers.
Women in rural areas of Bangladesh are often hesitant to work in the fields. Social norms, limited mobility, physical exertion, lack of time and other constraints can cause aspiring female entrepreneurs to step back, despite the prospect of higher income. The few women like Halima who do step out of their comfort zone and follow their dreams often have to overcome the physical effort required to operate these machines.
Starting the tractor is a daunting task on its own and the possibility of having to do it multiple times a day adds to the reluctance of ownership.
To make manual cranking a thing of the past for Bangladeshi women entrepreneurs, and to encourage others, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), through the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI), is supporting small businesses who manufacture and sell affordable mechanical self-starter attachments for two-wheel tractors.
The self-starter is a simple spring-loaded device mounted over the old crank handle socket, which allows users to start the engine with the flick of a lever.
Halima Begum operates her two-wheel tractor, equipped with a self-starter device. (Photo: Mostafa Kamrul Hasan/CIMMYT)
For women like Begum, manually starting a tractor was a difficult task that is now gone forever.
“I used to struggle quite a lot before, but now I can easily start the machine, thanks to this highly convenient self-starter,” Begum said.
The self-starter reduces the risk of accidents and coaxes hesitant youth and women to become entrepreneurs in the agricultural mechanization service industry.
CIMMYT is supporting businesses like Janata Engineering, which imports self-starter devices and markets them among local service providers in the district of Sorojgonj, Chuadanga district. The project team worked with the owner, Md. Ole Ullah, to organize field demonstrations for local service providers, showing how to use and maintain the self-starter device.
The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project focuses on upstream market interventions in Bangladesh, ensuring technologies are reliably available in local markets and supported by an extensive value chain.
Farmers in low- and middle-income countries are benefiting from CIMMYT’s improved maize and wheat varieties, suitable for drought- and disease-affected areas. (Photo: Apollo Habtamu/ILRI)
A new urgency is being felt on climate change. Schoolchildren are striking, there are protests in the streets, and politicians across the world, including the UK, are pushing to call climate change a national emergency.
A cruel irony is that climate change will not be felt equally by all—those who have contributed the least to rising temperatures are set to suffer the most.
Read the full op-ed authored by Elwyn Grainger-Jones, Executive Director of the CGIAR System Organization, in Diplomatic Courier’s special G20 Edition.
Many maize farmers in sub-Saharan Africa grow old varieties that do not cope well under drought conditions. In the Oromia region of Ethiopia, farmer Sequare Regassa is improving her family’s life by growing the newer drought-tolerant maize variety BH661. This hybrid was developed by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), using CIMMYT’s drought-tolerant inbred lines and one of EIAR’s lines. It was then officially released in 2011 by the EIAR as part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and continued under the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) initiative.
“Getting a good maize harvest every year, even when it does not rain much, is important for my family’s welfare,” said Regassa, a widow and mother of four, while feeding her granddaughter with white injera, a flat spongy bread made of white grain maize.
Since her husband died, Regassa has been the only breadwinner. Her children have grown up and established their own families, but the whole extended family makes a living from their eight-hectare farm in Guba Sayo district.
Sequare Regassa (wearing green) and her family stand for a group photo at their farm. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
On the two hectares Regassa cultivates on her own, she rotates maize with pepper, sweet potato and anchote, a local tuber similar to cassava. Like many farming families in the region, she grows maize mainly for household food consumption, prepared as bread, soup, porridge and snacks.
Maize represents a third of cereals grown in Ethiopia. It is cheaper than wheat or teff — a traditional millet grain — and in poor households it can be mixed with teff to make the national staple, injera.
In April, as Regassa was preparing the land for the next cropping season, she wondered if rains would be good this year, as the rainy season was coming later than usual.
In this situation, choice of maize variety is crucial.
She used to plant a late-maturing hybrid released more than 25 years ago, BH660, the most popular variety in the early 2000s. However, this variety was not selected for drought tolerance. Ethiopian farmers face increasing drought risks which severely impact crop production, like the 2015 El Nino dry spell, leading to food insecurity and grain price volatility.
Under the DTMA project, maize breeders from CIMMYT and the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR) developed promising drought-tolerant hybrids which perform well under drought and normal conditions. After a series of evaluations, BH661 emerged as the best candidate with 10% better on-farm grain yield, higher biomass production, shorter maturity and 34% reduction in lodging, compared to BH660.
The resulting BH661 variety was released in 2011 for commercial cultivation in the mid-altitude sub-humid and transition highlands.
The year after, as farmers experienced drought, the Ethiopian extension service organized BH661 on-farm demonstrations, while breeders from CIMMYT and EIAR organized participatory varietal selection trials. Farmers were impressed by the outstanding performances of BH661 during these demos and trials and asked for seeds right away.
Seed companies had to quickly scale up certified seed production of BH661. The STMA project team assisted local seed companies in this process, through trainings and varietal trials. Companies decided to replace the old hybrid, BH660.
Comparison of the amount of certified seed production of BH660 (blue) and BH661 (red) from 2012 to 2018. (Source: Ertiro B.T. et al. 2019)
“In addition to drought tolerance, BH661 is more resistant to important maize diseases like Turcicum leaf blight and grey leaf spot,” explained Dagne Wegary, a maize breeder at CIMMYT. “For seed companies, there is no change in the way the hybrid is produced compared to BH660, but seed production of BH661 is much more cost-effective.”
EIAR’s Bako National Maize Research Center supplied breeder seeds to several certified seed producers: Amhara Seed Enterprise (ASE), Bako Agricultural Research Center (BARC), Ethiopian Seed Enterprise (ESE), Oromia Seed Enterprise (OSE) and South Seed Enterprise (SSE). Certified seeds were then distributed through seed companies, agricultural offices and non-governmental organizations, with the technical and extension support of research centers.
Sequare Regassa stands next to her fields holding a wooden farming tool. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
From drought risk to clean water
After witnessing the performance of BH661 in a neighbor’s field, Regassa asked advice from her local extension officer and decided to use it. She is now able to produce between 11-12 tons per hectare. She said her family life has changed forever since she started planting BH661.
With higher maize grain harvest, she is now able to better feed her chickens, sheep and cattle. She also sells some surplus at the local market and uses the income for her family’s needs.
Sequare Regassa feeds her granddaughter with maize injera. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)
“If farmers follow the recommended fertilizer application and other farming practices, BH661 performs much better than the old BH660 variety,” explained Regassa. “If we experience a drought, it may be not that bad thanks to BH661’s drought tolerance.”
Regassa buys her improved seeds from the Bako Research Station, as well as from farmers’ cooperative unions. These cooperatives access seeds from seed companies and sell to farmers in their respective districts. “Many around me are interested in growing BH661. Sometimes we may get less seeds than requested as the demand exceeds the supply,” Regassa said.
She observed that maize prices have increased in recent years. A 100 kg bag of maize that used to sell for 200–400 Ethiopian birr (about $7–14) now sells for 600–700 Ethiopian birr (about $20–23). With the increased farmers’ wealth in her village, families were able to pay collectively for the installation of a communal water point to get easy access to clean water.
“Like women’s role in society, no one can forget the role maize has in our community. It feeds us, it feeds our animals, and cobs are used as fuel. A successful maize harvest every year is a boon for our village,” Regassa concluded.
In a blog post and video released today, Bill Gates talks about the essential role the CGIAR system plays in feeding the world. He highlights the work the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is doing to develop and spread the use of drought-tolerant maize varieties. “One of the leading CGIAR research centers is CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. They are working on improvements to maize that are more productive, that are resistant to drought and diseases. It’s a leading example of the amazing work the CGIAR system does to help smallholder farmers,” Gates says.
In 2018, Bill Gates launched a campaign about climate change, because he worried not enough people understood the dimensions of the problem. In a previous blog post, he reminded readers that not only the energy sector is concerned, but also “the other 75%” — in particular agriculture and food systems. We need innovations to reduce our carbon footprint, Gates explained, but also to help the most vulnerable to cope with the effects of growing climate risks.
Rainfed smallholder farming families in sub-Saharan Africa are particularly at risk, as their livelihoods depend on unpredictable rainfall patterns. By the 2030s drought and rising temperatures could render 40% of the continent’s maize-growing area unsuitable for current varieties.
Drought-tolerant maize varieties could improve the climate resilience and the livelihoods of millions family farmers across Africa. The innovations offered by these varieties are affordable and scalable.
Behind the scenes
The video crew films and interview in a seed storage room. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)
A team from Gates Notes came to drought-prone Machakos county in Kenya to visit farmers who are growing drought-tolerant hybrid maize. This variety, developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and sold in the county by Dryland Seeds Limited under the SAWA brand, can yield up to 20% more than other drought-tolerant hybrids, explained the company’s managing director, Ngila Kimotho.
Despite limited rainfall in the village of Vyulya, Veronica Nduku harvested well-filled maize cobs. Her neighbour, who grows a local variety, had a less successful harvest.
CIMMYT developed these varieties under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) initiative, a ten-year project which finished in 2015. This work is continuing under the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) initiative, which is developing maize varieties that cope well with drought and other climate stresses. So far 3.5 million farmers in 13 African countries are benefitting from stress-tolerant maize varieties.
The video crew sets up the interview with Veronica Nduku. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)
Expert Mexican scientists and farmer cooperatives have formed a non-profit organization to support small-scale landrace maize farmers who continue to conserve and plant seeds of their own native heirloom varieties. The civil association, known as ProMaíz Nativo, intends to work collaboratively on projects to improve the lives of native maize and milpa farm families. Group members include national and internationally recognized maize experts, ethnobotanists, socioeconomists, food and nutrition scientists, marketing experts, maize farmers and farmer groups.
The civil association has also created a collective trademark, Milpaiz, which can be used by farmers to demonstrate the authenticity of the native maize varieties they grow and sell. This trademark will certify that a farmer’s maize is native to their community and derived from their continuous selection of seed. It will also certify that it is grown by small farmers and that they are selling only the surplus of their crops after feeding their own family. The trademark will also make a transparent effort to connect these farmers to a culinary market which values the quality, rarity and history of their production.
“Mexico is the center of origin of maize, and home to much of its genetic diversity. This initiative will allow us to certify that products are truly landrace maize from smallholder farmers, so that the benefits reach the smallholder farmers that have provided us with this biodiversity,” said Flavio Aragón, a genetic resources researcher with Mexico’s National Institute for Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research (INIFAP).
Members of the association gather for a photo at the launch event. (Photo: ProMaíz Nativo)
Researchers like Aragon, members of farmer groups and local chefs attended the official launch of ProMaíz Nativo on June 14, 2019, at the World Trade Center in Mexico City, during restaurant trade fair ExpoRestaurantes.
Edelmira Linares, ethnobotanist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and member of the association, emphasized that the collective trademark Milpaiz covers all crops grown in the traditional milpa intercrop farming system in Mexico: maize, beans, squash, edible greens, amaranth, pumpkin seeds, and certain vegetables.
“The trademark will make it easier for income to reach the farmers, will allow smallholder farmers to sell their products in supermarkets and to have a legal presence,” said Amanda Galvez, a food chemist at UNAM and president of ProMaíz Nativo.
Traditional milpa products: native maize, beans, squash, chilies and other local fruits and vegetables. (Photo: Martha Willcox/CIMMYT)
Fair and sustainable market growth
Many smallholder farmers continue to plant the same native maize varieties that their parents and grandparents planted, developed in their villages and regions and improved by farmer selection dating back to their ancestors. These varieties are prized by their local communities for their unique flavors, colors, texture and use in special dishes — and the global culinary community is catching on. Native maize, or landraces, have become extremely popular with chefs and consumers in the past few years, drawing attention and imports from across the world. However, increased demand can mean increased vulnerability for farmers.
Many maize experts in Mexico were concerned with how to best support and protect smallholder farmers navigating this increase in demand. Without guidelines and transparency, it is difficult to ensure that farmers are being fairly compensated for their traditional maize, or that they are able to save enough to feed their own families.
In a discerning culinary market, a symbol of certification such as the collective trademark could serve to differentiate the families who have long been the guardians of these native varieties from larger commercial farmers who acquire these heirloom seeds. But there was no pre-existing space for these guidelines to be determined and developed.
Martha Willcox (left) with farmers and their milpa products in Santa María Yavesía, Oaxaca state, México. (Photo: Arturo Silva/CIMMYT)
“There is a depth of expertise on maize in Mexico, but these experts all work at different institutions, making it more difficult for all of them to collaborate on a project like this,” said Martha Willcox, landrace improvement coordinator at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
“The formation of this civil association is truly novel in the history of native maize in Mexico, and its strength comes from the expertise of its members, made up entirely of Mexican scientists and Mexican farmer co-ops,” Willcox explained.
She initiated and facilitated the formation of this group of scientists and continues to work closely with them as an advisor. “This association will help provide a space and network where these experts can work together and speak in one voice to support maize and maize farmers.”
CIMMYT does not have a seat in the association but has played a key role in its facilitation and has provided funding to cover logistics and fees related to the formation of the organization, through the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). Mexico’s National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) has also participated in the logistics and facilitation of the formation of the organization.
Members of the association pose with CIMMYT staff that helped facilitate the creation of the group. (Photo: ProMaíz Nativo)
Derek Byerlee has worked and published worldwide to promote food security and improved livelihoods through sustainable agriculture. (Photo: Elizabeth Powell/Georgetown University)
Derek Byerlee, former director of CIMMYT’s economics program, has been named an Officer of the Order of Australia, the country’s second-highest membership honor, for his distinguished service to sustainable development, poverty reduction, and food security.
The award was among those announced by Australia on June 10, 2019, as part of birthday commemorations for Queen Elizabeth II.
“This was all quite a surprise to me,” said Byerlee, currently an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and making arrangements to attend the award ceremony in Australia in September.
Byerlee holds CIMMYT in special regard. “CIMMYT was the highlight of my career,” he explained.
Interested in agriculture since his childhood on a sheep and wheat farm near Orroroo in the South Australian Wheat Belt, Byerlee joined CIMMYT in 1977 as one of its first economists, with stints in Mexico and South Asia. He led CIMMYT economics research during 1987-94 and is fondly remembered by colleagues and support staff from that period.
“Derek has made an immense contribution to the developing world and the profession,” said Olaf Erenstein, current director of the CIMMYT socioeconomics program. “He helped put CIMMYT and its economics program on the global map of research for development. His humble yet insightful contributions guided the way for many, including myself.”
Byerlee moved to the World Bank in 1994, heading its support to agricultural research before becoming Rural Strategy Adviser. He later led the team that produced the agency’s influential 2008 World Development Report Agriculture for Development, one of the Bank’s most respected and widely quoted publications and its first ever to focus on agricultural development.
With a Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences from the University of Adelaide, a master’s degree on Agricultural Economics from the University of New England, New South Wales, and a doctoral degree in agricultural economics from Oregon State University, prior to CIMMYT Byerlee worked in the Agricultural Economics program of Michigan State University and at Njala University, Sierra Leone.
Since retiring from the World Bank, he has held diverse consultancy and advisory roles, including Chair of the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment of CGIAR, Member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Agricultural and Food Security Program, and Visiting Scholar at Stanford University.
Byerlee has published widely on agriculture research policy and impacts, farming systems and technology adoption, food pricing policy and land-use changes, and is a Fellow of the American Association of Agricultural Economics.
“Working with these excellent students gives me a sense of optimism about the future of the world,” Byerlee stated in a recent article in The Flinders News.
Northwestern India is home to millions of smallholder farmers making it a breadbasket for grain staples. Since giving birth to the Green Revolution it has continued to increase its food production through rice and wheat farming providing food security to the region.
This high production has not come without shortfalls; groundwater tables are falling from excessive irrigation and climate change has brought erratic rainfall. In response, the state governments of Haryana and Punjab introduced separate legislation forcing farmers to delay rice planting to coincide with the arrival of the monsoonal rains in late June.
With rice sowing pushed back to tackle a looming water crisis, the time available between harvesting rice and planting wheat has been reduced. Consequently, the majority of farmers opt to burn the post-harvest rice straw to quickly prepare their fields for wheat. The majority of the 34 tons of rice residues the region produces is burned in a short window of time, throwing a lot of toxic smoke into the air.
New research, by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), delved into linkages between groundwater and agricultural burning policies. The study uncovered that groundwater conservation policies in Haryana and Punjab are exacerbating the nation’s air pollution crisis by concentrating crop residue burning in the late fall.
“Despite being illegal, the burning of post-harvest rice residues continues to be the most common practice of crop residue management, and while groundwater policies are helping arrest water depletion, they also appear to be exacerbating one of the most acute public health problems confronting India – air pollution,” said CIMMYT scientist and author of the study, Balwinder Singh.
Millions of farmers burn the straw that remains after the rice harvest to prepare their fields for a wheat crop. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)
Getting to the guts of air pollution’s chokehold on India
Air pollution in India has increased significantly since 2000. Each fall, from late October to November, a toxic fog containing a mixture of dust, carbon and particles covers northwestern India. For the 18.6 million who live in New Delhi the smog not only brings daily life to a standstill but slices years off life expectancy. It kills an estimated 1.5 million people every year, with nearly half of these deaths occurring in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the northernmost part of the country that includes New Delhi.
The analysis suggests that temporal changes in burning are a prime contributor to the air quality crisis. The limited amount of time to prepare fields for wheat planting has caused fire intensity to increase by 39 percent, peaking in November with a maximum of 681 fires per day. This increase occurs when temperatures in New Delhi are lower and winds are weak. The still conditions trap pollution and limit the amount that can escape.
Recognizing policy tradeoffs is important for sustainable agricultural intensification
Agriculture for development researchers with CIMMYT investigate how best to sustainably intensify food production. This seeks to produce more food, improve nutrition and livelihoods, and boost rural incomes without an increase in inputs – such as land and water – while reducing environmental impacts. Policies can help to shape efforts towards sustainable intensification by encouraging farming practices that save resources and protect the environment. However, it is important that governments strike the right balance between food security, resource depletion and environmental quality.
The research results shed light on the sustainability challenges confronting many highly productive agricultural systems, where addressing one problem can exacerbate others, said Andrew McDonald, a professor at Cornell University and co-author of the study.
“Identifying and managing tradeoffs and capitalizing on synergies between crop productivity, resource conservation, and environmental quality is essential,” he said.
Policies to promote sustainable intensification can also burst India’s pollution bubble
Surface crop residue retention and incorporation are the promising on-farm management options to address the issue of burning as well as maintaining soil health and long-term sustainability, said M.L. Jat, a scientist with CIMMYT who coordinates sustainable intensification programs in northwestern India.
Apart from pumping toxic smoke into the air, ash left on fields after residue burning can negatively affect soil health in the long term. However, if residue is mulched into the soil, nutrient levels improve and carbon sequestration capacity increases, lowering the release of greenhouse gases. Additionally, residue retention reduces evaporation and increases soil moisture by as much as 10 percent during the wheat-growing season.
“A sensible approach for overcoming tradeoffs will embrace agronomic technologies such as the Happy Seeder, a seed drill that plants seeds without impacting crop residue, providing farmers the technical means to avoid residue burning,” he explained.
“When rice is ready to be reaped, a tractor or a harvester collects the grain, a spreader distributes the straw that remains on the ground and the Happy Seeder drills into the land to seed wheat,” Jat said. “Farmers no longer need to till the land to plant their wheat, instead they practice a form of conservation agriculture.”
M. L. Jat, CIMMYT Cropping Systems Agronomist with a no-till planter that facilitates no-burn farming. (Photo: Dakshinamurthy Vedachalam/CIMMYT)
Researchers at CIMMYT and Punjab Agricultural University have undertaken extensive trials in farmer fields and the new technology has proven itself as a step forward for developing viable solution to rice crop residue burning.
The Indian government launched a $157 million initiative to discourage burning through agricultural machinery innovations. However, the Happy Seeder is yet to be adopted widely. It is estimated that to cover 50 percent, 5 million ha, of the total acreage under rice-wheat cropping systems in India, about 60,000 Happy Seeders are needed. At present, there are only about 10,000 available.
A recent policy brief suggests rapid adoption needs a major government push to publicize and popularize the technology. The brief suggests delivery of machinery hire services through Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies and private entrepreneurs with ongoing government support is a viable tool to equitably reach farmers.
Mechanization demonstration during a field visit to Makonde, Zimbabwe, as part of the FACASI Phase 2 final review meeting. Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT
African farmers have ten times fewer mechanized tools per farm area than farmers in other developing regions, according to the Malabo Panel’s mechanization report. For the past six years, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project has explored ways to address poor access to appropriate mechanization solutions, which is costing smallholders a lot in lost productivity.
“One of the key outcomes of the FACASI initiative has been to present women and youth with pathways into diverse profitable income generating businesses using small mechanization,” says Alice Woodhead, professor in rural economies at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia. Woodhead shared her impressions following a field visit to Makonde, in northwestern Zimbabwe, as part of the FACASI Phase 2 final review meeting held in May. Almost 40 public and private sector project partners from Zimbabwe and Ethiopia attended the event in Harare as well as ACIAR representatives.
Farm machinery: women entrepreneurs thrive on two wheels
Agatha Dzvengwe and Marianne Jaji shared their business experience as two-wheel tractor (2WT) service providers in Makonde. The 2WT, which can be used for multiple purposes from transporting, planting, fertilizer application and shelling, allows them to plant efficiently and provides additional income through hiring out their tractors to neighboring farmers. For instance, during the 2018/19 season, Dzvengwe used the Fitarelli planter to plant ten hectares of maize, two hectares of sugar beans and five hectares of soybeans. Because of the planter’s efficiency, she had enough extra time to hire out planting services to neighboring farmers, earning $100 for one hectare of maize, and double for the planting of soybean or sugar beans.
Marianne Jaji provides 2WT based shelling services, which she says generates steady income for her household, enabling her to contribute to important household decisions. Despite the 2018/19 season being characterized by drought, Jaji was confident that she could still earn a decent income from neighboring farmers engaging the 2WT harvesting services. Other women service providers reported relief from labor drudgery and empowerment. “We have been freed from the burden of toiling in the field. Now that I own a 2WT, the society respects me more.”
“In a business dominated by men, women like Agatha and Marianne can become successful entrepreneurs, providing crucial farming services for the community such as shelling, planting and transport,” explains Bertha Tandayi, a FACASI research assistant at the University of Zimbabwe, where she studies the adoption of 2WT based technologies by women entrepreneurs in Makonde and Nyanga districts.
Small-scale mechanization has higher adoption rates in areas where the most profitable services are provided, such as shelling. The benefits for entrepreneurs and the community are visible and include the creation of employment, home renovations, asset accumulation, livestock rearing, borehole drilling and the purchasing of agricultural inputs.
Mechanization demonstration during a field visit to Makonde, Zimbabwe, as part of the FACASI Phase 2 final review meeting. Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT
Sustainable shelling enterprise for Mwanga youth group
Since establishing their enterprise in 2016 following training under the FACASI project, the Mwanga youth group is still going strong in Makonde. During a live demonstration of the medium sized sheller, Masimba Mawire remarked that the shelling business has provided steady and reliable income for the group. Brothers Shepherd and Pinnot Karwizi added that the group has gained from further training in maintenance, facilitated through the FACASI project. “It is evident that the youths have found a way to work as a business team, giving them purpose and to realize aspirations of being a business owner and not just an employee,” said Woodhead.
Of the services provided through the 2WT technologies, shelling services are in greatest demand, as this simple technology significantly reduces the time spent on shelling maize cobs. A medium sized sheller, for example, produces between five and six tons of shelled maize grain per day, over ten times more than manual shelling.
The combined benefits of income, reduced drudgery and high efficiency of the 2WT based technologies have transformed the lives of the youths and women services providers. Confident in their future, they plan to expand their business portfolios, looking at value addition options such as post-harvest processing of other crops.
Over the last few years, the research and development communities have deemed “scaling” a priority in order to help contribute to and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On smaller scales, there has been great success in reducing hunger and poverty, but it has rarely expanded to regional or national levels.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) scaling head Lennart Woltering, in collaboration with colleagues Kate Fehlenberg and Bruno Gerard, as well as with international development experts Jan Ubels of SNV and Larry Cooley of Management Systems International, have been studying the process of scaling to understand why successful pilot projects are no guarantee for success at scale.
In a new paper published in Agricultural Systems, they argue that pilot projects are usually set up and managed in heavily controlled environments that do not reflect the reality at scale. Furthermore, confusion of what scaling is and how it can be executed often results in a narrow focus on solely reaching numbers.
“Counting household adoption of a practice at the end of a project is a poor metric of whether these people can and will sustain adoption after the project ends, let alone if adoption will reach others and actually contributes to improved livelihoods,” Woltering states.
According to Woltering, “This paper is a call for a new scaling narrative, from one that is short-term and piecemeal, to one that recognizes the systemic nature of problems and solutions to achieve sustainable change at scale.”
This requires a change in mindset, skills and ways of collaborating than what we currently consider normal. “Meaningful impact at scale hardly occurs within a project context, but when new ways of working are becoming ‘the new normal’ by a critical mass of actors ‘in the real world’,” Woltering explained.
The authors present a number of frameworks that help to assess the scalability of innovations and the design of scaling strategies from the onset of projects and how to systematically think through key elements needed for scaling success. This includes CIMMYT’s very own Scaling Scan. Reaching the SDGs requires scaling interventions to be seen as building blocks within a system of other initiatives with the same goals.
Nominations are now open for the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards – Latin America!
These awards are part of the efforts that the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) is undertaking to promote youth participation in maize agri-food systems. These awards recognize the contributions of young women and men under 35 who are implementing innovations in Latin American maize-based agri-food systems, including research for development, seed systems, agribusiness, and sustainable intensification.
Latin America is the birthplace of maize and home to much of its genetic diversity. Maize is a main staple food across the continent and plays an important role in local culture and gastronomy. However, maize faces many challenges, from climate change-related stresses such as drought and heat to emerging pests and diseases. These challenges cannot be solved without the participation of young people at all levels of the maize value chain, from farmers to researchers and change agents. Over one-fourth of Latin America’s total population is between the ages of 15 and 29 – approximately 156 million people, the largest proportion of young people ever in the region’s history. By encouraging and empowering young people to develop innovative solutions to these challenges we can strengthen maize agri-food systems and improve food security in Latin America and across the world.
The MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards aim to identify young innovators who can serve to inspire other young people to get involved in maize-based agri-food systems. Part of the vision is to create a global network of young innovators in maize-based systems from around the world.
Award recipients will be invited to attend the 23rd Latin American Maize Reunion (XXIII Reunión Latinoamericana del Maíz) in Monteria, Colombia October 7-10 where they will receive their awards and be given the opportunity to present their work. The project meeting and award ceremony will also allow these young innovators to network and exchange experiences with MAIZE researchers and partners. Award recipients may also get the opportunity to collaborate with MAIZE and its partner scientists in Latin America on implementing or furthering their innovations.
MAIZE invites young innovators to apply and CGIAR researchers and partners to nominate eligible applicants for any of the following three categories:
Researcher: Maize research for development (in any discipline)
Farmer: Maize farming systems in Latin America
Change agent: Maize value chains (i.e., extension agents, input and service suppliers, transformation agents).
We ask nominators/applicants to take into account the following criteria and related questions:
Novelty and Innovative Spirit: To which specific novel findings or innovation(s) has this young person contributed? (in any of the three categories mentioned above)
Present/Potential Impact: What is the present/potential benefit or impact of the innovation(s) in maize-based agri-food systems?
To apply:
Applications should be submitted online, through the Application Form by July 22, 2019.
Key dates:
Opening date for nominations: June 19, 2019
Closing date for nominations: July 22, 2019
Notification of winners: August 6, 2019
NOTE: Nominations received after the closing date will not be considered.
Additional information:
A PDF version of this Call for Nominees is available here.
Nomination/Application Guidelines can be found here.
The Application Form can be found here and is also available on the MAIZE and YPARD websites.
Fred Palmer, former CIMMYT maize agronomist, in his office at Egerton University, Kenya, in 1994.
With sorrow we report the passing on June 14 of Anthony F. E. (Fred) Palmer, former maize agronomist and physiologist who contributed notably to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) networking and capacity building during crucial periods.
A British national, Palmer joined CIMMYT as a post-doctoral fellow in 1968 and retired from the center in 1996. With undergraduate studies in Agronomy at the University of Reading, Palmer completed masters and doctoral degrees in Crop Physiology at Cornell University. His early years at CIMMYT headquarters included work in maize physiology, agronomy and training.
In 1972 Palmer moved to Pakistan, serving as a production agronomist in that key Green Revolution setting until 1978, when he returned to Mexico as a training officer. “Fred was a true gentleman as a researcher and trainer,” said Stephen Waddington, retired CIMMYT maize agronomist who worked with Fred in Africa. “He was a mentor and friend to many junior CIMMYT staff, including myself, and countless trainees and visiting scientists from partner countries.”
Capitalizing on his experience and accomplishments, in 1985 CIMMYT posted Palmer to Nairobi, Kenya, as the team leader of the East African Cereal Project, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). During the project’s third phase, Palmer helped to establish and guide an entry-level crop management training program, in conjunction with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) and Egerton University, targeting maize researchers from eastern and southern Africa. Based at the university’s Njoro campus, the effort included construction of training facilities and guest rooms and Palmer successfully prepared Egerton administrators and faculty to take over the program, according to Joel Ransom, a North Dakota State University professor who served as a CIMMYT maize agronomist in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
“Scores of young agronomists mastered the fundamentals of on-farm research through that program,” Ransom said. “Palmer’s mentoring, training, and leadership greatly advanced the professional development of African maize and wheat scientists.”
Matthew Reynolds, CIMMYT distinguished scientist and wheat physiologist, recalls talking to Palmer about the latter’s efforts to apply fledgling tools for measuring photosynthesis in the field, a topic in which he had specialized at Cornell. “Fred was a very kind and unassuming man who treated everyone with respect, qualities that made him a great training officer and a well-regarded colleague,” said Reynolds.
Palmer firmly believed that national partners needed the capacity to train staff, particularly those fresh out of university studies, strengthening both their knowledge and professional linkages.
“By bringing young scientists together and working with them as a multidisciplinary research team,” Palmer wrote in a report on CIMMYT training in eastern and southern Africa, “it is anticipated that these scientists will learn to value each other’s work as essential to successful research.”
The CIMMYT community sends its warmest condolences to the Palmer family.
