Field technicians use their cameras during the Photovoice training. (Photo: CIMMYT)
The main focus of the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project is on conservation agriculture technologies. Since farmers may face an increase in weeds after adopting zero-till planters, however, more research is needed about how farmers are dealing with weed.
One of the research objectives of the project is to understand farmersâ knowledge, perception, and practices of conservation agriculture. To this end, researchers are using the Photovoice methodology in Cooch Behar (West Bengal, India), Rongpur (Bangladesh) and Sunsari (Nepal) to collect relevant data on weed management practices.
Photovoice is a visual qualitative research method that allows people to express their perspectives through photographs. Photography can be used for evaluation purposes, through storytelling exercises.
On December 6-7, 2019, field technicians in Bangladesh, India and Nepal participated in a training about this methodology. They learned the rationale of Photovoice, its technical and logistic aspects, as well as the ethical considerations and the need to collect consent forms.
Participants also learned how to take pictures of inter-row cultivation and weeds on the farm, and how to confirm the geolocation of the farm.
Worth a thousand words
Using the Photovoice method, 30 households will be explored, including their labor allocation and decision-making dynamics around the implementation of conservation agriculture practices.
The effectiveness of this approach will emerge as smallholder farmers present their perspectives through photographs accompanied by their narratives.
Activities will be monitored on weekly basis.
The SRFSI project, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, is set to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of smallholder agriculture in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh, India and Nepal, by promoting sustainable intensification based on conservation agriculture technologies.
Hosneara Bibi (top-right) shows her zero-tillage wheat crop. (Photo: SSCOP)
Hosneara Bibi is a farmer in the village of West Ghughumari, in the Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India. She began her journey as an agricultural entrepreneur two years ago, when members of the nonprofit Satmile Satish Club o Pathagar (SSCOP), a CIMMYT partner, first came to her village.
Their visit was part of CIMMYTâs Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project. This project aims to reduce poverty in the Eastern Gangetic Plains of Bangladesh, India and Nepal by making smallholder agriculture more productive, profitable and sustainable while safeguarding the environment and involving women.
In the context of the SRFSI project and in collaboration with Godrej Agrovet, Bibi and her self-help group received training on conservation agriculture practices for sustainable intensification. Self-help groups are small associations, usually of women, that work together to overcome common obstacles. With support from SSCOP, Bibiâs fellow group members learned about a variety of improved agricultural practices, including zero tillage, which improves soil nutrient levels and water efficiency. This support helped them to increase their crop yields while promoting sustainability.
Hosneara Bibi works at the rice seedling enterprise she and her fellow self-help group members started. (Photo: SSCOP)
After adopting the improved practices, Bibi increased her wheat yield by 50 percent. This positive experience encouraged her to implement mechanically transplanted rice technology. Bibi and her self-help group have since started a rice seedling enterprise and they offer their mechanically transplanted rice services to other farmers. This has become a profitable agri-enterprise for the group.
Bibi has been able to expand her farm and now cultivates wheat, rice and jute. She has also adopted digital technologies in her farming practice and now uses a mobile app to aid in pest management for her rice crop, designed by Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya.
Because of her higher yields and the profitability of the self-help groupâs rice seedling enterprise, Bibi has successfully increased and diversified her income. Her proudest moment was when she was able to buy a motorbike for her husband.
Members of the SRFSI team consider Hosneara Bibi a role model for other farmers and entrepreneurs in her community.
Hosneara Bibi (center, in pink) poses for a photograph with other members of her self-help group, SSCOP representatives and Sagarika Bose, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility for Godrej Agrovet. (Photo: SSCOP)
Maize is currently grown on 35 million hectares of land in Africa and is easily the most important staple food crop in the continent, feeding more than 200-300 million people and providing income security to millions of smallholder farmers. Nonetheless, African maize growers face many challenges, including lower than average yields, crop susceptibility to pests and diseases, and abiotic stresses such as droughts. They generally lack access to high yielding improved seed and other farming innovations that could help them overcome those challenges.
SIMLESA is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). It is implemented by national agricultural research systems, agribusinesses and farmers in partner countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
A new video highlights the outcomes and achievements of the SIMLESA project and it features interviews with farmers and scientists.
Among the outstanding achievements of the SIMLESA project are the release of 40 new maize varieties, the selection of more than 50 legume varieties for official release in partner countries, yield increases of 10 to 30 percent and enhanced adoption of innovative technologies that will aid sustainable intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Over 230,000 farmers have adopted sustainable intensification technologies and the project has helped nurture future scientists by supporting more than 40 students pursuing MSc degrees and more than 20 PhD students.
âThe SIMLESA project has successfully adapted and disseminated many scalable technologies to smallholder farmers that will help them achieve higher yields with reduced resource use,â said CIMMYT scientist Paswel Marenya, the coordinator of the project. âWe have also sought to understand and improve the entire farming system so that farmers are supported through enabling policies, markets and institutional frameworks.â
The SIMLESA project will be coming to an end in 2019. âThe lessons learned from SIMLESA can be used by national and international decision makers to help guide their policy, programming and investment priorities in support of achieving sustainable and resilient agricultural systems in Africa,â Marenya said.
To watch a playlist of SIMLESA videos, click here.
Agricultural research for development has tremendous potential for widespread impact in poverty alleviation and food security. However, achieving real benefits for farmers is challenging and many well-intentioned projects fail to achieve large-scale impact. According to Brendan Brown, a postdoctoral research fellow with CIMMYTâs socioeconomics program in Nepal, this is where his work can help.
âThere have been decades of work trying to improve agricultural livelihoods, but many of these interventions are yet to have tangible impacts for farmers,â Brown said. âMy research seeks to help address this gap, using novel frameworks and applying participatory methods.â
Socioeconomic research at CIMMYT plays a key role at the nexus of agricultural innovations, helping to enhance interventions and initiatives for greater impact. Knowledge from such studies helps to prioritize and target resources, optimizing research capacity and accelerating the uptake of innovations.
âI attempt to understand constraints and opportunities at various scales from farms all the way up to institutional levels,â Brown explained. âI then seek to find pathways to catalyze change that lead to improved farmer livelihoods. Such research is integral to getting agronomic research into farmersâ fields.â
This area of research calls for a mixture of qualitative and quantitative tools and expertise, for which Brown is well suited. He has a bachelorâs degree in Agricultural Science with a major in Soil Science. âHowever, after working in agricultural research and development for a few years, I saw a gap in linking agronomy to the contextual realities of smallholder farming, so I opted to pursue a career that bridges the gap between the physical and social sciences.â
A desire to help
Brown grew up in Australia, between Sydney and a family farm on the south coast of New South Wales. He enjoyed being outdoors, âpreferably barefoot,â participated in hobby farming, and from an early age showed an interest in social justice issues. A career aptitude test taken towards the end of high school revealed he was suited to be one of three things: a ship captain, a nurse or an agricultural scientist. He opted for the latter.
It was at university that Brown gained the insight of applying his agricultural knowledge to helping smallholder farmers. During a backpacking trip from Cape Town to Cairo, which incorporated some agricultural volunteering, he witnessed first-hand the difficulties farmers face in sub-Saharan Africa. Upon returning to his studies, he resolved to pursue a career that would enable him to help smallholders and, at the same time, address some of the worldâs biggest ethical dilemmas.
Research with impact
Newly graduated, Brown worked with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), based in Canberra, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), based in Ghana, where he gained hands-on experience working in agricultural systems in developing countries across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It also inspired his PhD, which explored the disconnect between development work at research stations and the reality experienced by African farmers.
âDuring my PhD, I collaborated with CIMMYT through the Sustainable Intensification of Maize Legume Systems in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) initiative. I developed a more nuanced approach to what âadoptionâ actually means in terms of uptake and impact assessments. I also studied communitiesâ attitudes to conservation agriculture practices and diagnosed key institutional bottlenecks within research and extension systems.â
Brownâs studies allowed him to develop novel mixed methods and participatory impact pathways to promote new farming practices, such as conservation agriculture, to smallholder farmers in Africa. âMy work with CIMMYT allows me to contribute to solving some of the worldâs biggest issues. Through interacting with smallholders, facilitating conversations and creating new understanding, I hope to contribute to real change.â
Brendan Brown (left) during a field visit.
Moving to Asia
After spending nearly a decade in and out of Africa, he joined the CIMMYT team in Nepal earlier this year and is relishing the opportunity to explore new contexts in South Asia.
âSo much potential exists within the food systems of South Asia given the existence of multiple cropping seasons and diverse markets, as well as exciting developments in the use of mechanization and irrigation that have potential for delivering large-scale benefits, driving improved food security and profits.â However, he points out the integration of such innovations in this part of the world can be challenging due to inherent complex social hierarchies and caste systems. âI still have much to learn within such complex systems.â
Brownâs work in South Asia focusses on understanding the adoption, scaling and impact of sustainable intensification technologies and practices. He is primarily working with the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) initiative, which aims to reduce poverty by making smallholder agriculture more productive, profitable and sustainable while safeguarding the environment and involving women in agriculture.
By studying the portfolio of CIMMYT-led initiatives in the region, he is also developing his understanding of prevailing sustainable intensification practices and the issues farmers face when implementing them. In addition to his work with SRFSI, Brown is soon to embark on a new ACIAR-funded research project aiming to enhance sustainable mechanization of farming systems in two provinces of Nepal by mobilizing strategic planning and collaboration.
âI look forward to sitting down with local agricultural service providers to understand how they run their businesses and how they structure their livelihoods,â Brown expressed. âThis will then be paired with the perspectives of farmers, as well as extension officers, researchers and policymakers to build theories of change and pathways to maximize the uptake and impact of sustainable intensification practices.â
He highlights how local ownership of change can be fostered by implementing participatory methods during this process. This can result in transformative change, felt from the institutional level all the way to the smallholder farmer. Brown hopes his work in South Asia will deliver widespread impact for smallholder farmers and he welcomes collaboration and sharing of ideas and approaches with others working towards similar objectives.
This month’s report from the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change highlights worsening food shortages as one of the key impacts of global warming.
Tackling the monumental challenges set out in the report may seem like a mountain to climb, given the policy changes and rapid government action required. Yet, on her 4-acre farm on the foothills of Mount Kenya in Embu county, 65-year-old Purity Gachanga proves it is possible to fight eroding soils, enrich farmland, and increase and diversify food production.
Whatâs more, she shares her methods with 60 women making up a “merry-go-round” group that meet regularly in her front garden. They each contribute a small sum of money which forms their communal savings system. “Many have put the money towards their farms but we also use it for other things we want like blankets, utensils or chairs,” explains Gachanga.
The group also helps the women share new methods, she adds. “I have learnt many techniques from scientists during training days and I am always one of the first to try these out on my farm. So when we get together for the merry-go-round meetings, I show the others what I am doing and how well it works. They then want to try on their own farms.”
Gachanga points to neat rows of fodder plants on the edges of her farm. “Before I would lose all this topsoil when it rained heavily. I learnt that planting certain varieties of fodder plants with deep roots holds the soil together. The plants also add fertility to the soil and give me good feed for my goats.”
Her goats are very precious as besides providing milk and meat, they helped her pay the school fees for nine of her children. The animals are an essential part of her sustainable farming system as they provide fertilizer for her fields.
The farm is flourishing with beans, kale, amaranth, tomatoes and pumpkins. Gachanga rotates the crops so the soil is never left exposed. “I get a profit from each patch so it makes sense to plan how to use it. I make money, keep my soil and animals in good health and we have a varied diet ourselves.”
The training she has received is part of an initiative called the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA), whose goal is to scale up proven soil conservation and food production techniques. Its demonstration sessions bring researchers, extension agents, the private sector, and farmers together to discuss and share expertise, and Gachanga is a keen learner.
Richer soils, more food
Continual farming and mono-cropping of maize along with minimal fertilizer and manure use has rapidly depleted African soil nutrients and resulting yields. Farmers are also used to feeding their livestock with crop remnants from their fields which leaves the soils exposed, further worsening erosion and soil fertility. To address this, farmers are encouraged to leave either all or some crop residues on the field and add nitrogen-fixing legume crops in rotations with cereal crops and forages.
SIMLESA is on target to achieve its overall goal of reaching 650,000 farmers and increasing farm productivity in Eastern and Southern Africa by 30 percent by 2023.
Rahma Adam, gender specialist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) which is leading SIMLESA, said rural women can access better opportunities by being part of a farming innovation group.
The Liganwa women farmers group in Siaya County in Kenyaâs Nyanza Province, started in 2007 to help widows in the community get capital to start micro-businesses, and also uses the rotating âmerry-go-roundâ credit and savings system.
After initial challenges in raising capital, as some members were unable to pay their contribution, they joined SIMLESA as part of an agriculture innovation platform. “By experimenting with the demonstrated conservation agriculture techniques, the Liganwa women have since transformed their farming and incomes,” says Adams.
The platform has also enabled women as a group to negotiate better prices to buy inputs and sell produce. Better yields and markets mean members bring money to the group from the surplus maize they sell. So, the merry-go-round now turns with 3 to 5 times more borrowing capacity and 100 percent repayment rates.
One priority of the United Nations’ International Day of Rural Women on October 15 each year is to foster womenâs empowerment through climate-resilient agriculture, as with Gachanga and the merry-go-round farmers groups. The challenge is making sure governments put policies and systems in place to ensure other farmers can, and want to, follow suit.
This article was originally published by Thomson Reuters Foundation here.
Sustainable IntensiïŹcation of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) is an eight-year food security program supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).Â
Launched in 2010, SIMLESA is managed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and implemented by national agricultural research systems in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. In Kenya, CIMMYT is working closely with the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO).
After receiving training from CIMMYT, this group of young men started a small business offering mechanized agricultural services to smallholder farmers near their town in rural Zimbabwe. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
The sound of an engine roars as Gift Chawara, a 28-year-old from rural Zimbabwe, carefully removes a mesh bag bulging with maize grain hooked to his mechanized sheller. Fed with dried maize cobs, the sheller separates the grain from the shaft before shooting the kernels out the side into the awaiting bag. Chawara swiftly replaces the full bag with an empty one as the kernels continue to spill out.
It is eleven in the morning and the sun beats down over the small farm. Chawara and his friends have only been working a few hours and have already shelled 7 tons for their neighbor and customer Loveness Karimuno; thirteen more tons to go.
The widowed farmer watches as the bags of grain line up, ready for her to take to market. It used to take Karimuno two to three weeks to shell her maize harvest by hand, even with the help of hired labor. This grueling task saw her rub each maize ear on a rough surface to remove the grain from the shaft. Now, these young men and their mechanized sheller will do it in just a few hours for a small fee.
âWhen my neighbor told me the boys were shelling small amounts of maize at reasonable prices, I got in contact with them,â said Karimuno. âItâs cheaper than hiring people to help me do it manually and the speed means I can sell it faster.â
It used to take widowed farmer Loveness Karimuno (left) two or three weeks to shell her 20-ton maize harvest manually, even with the help of hired labor. Using mechanization services, all of her maize is shelled within a day, meaning she can take her grain to market faster. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
The group of young entrepreneurs is serving almost 150 family farms around the village of Mwanga, located about two hours northwest of the capital Harare. They offer services such as shelling and planting, powered by special machinery. Since Chawara and his partners started the business three years ago, word has spread and now they are struggling to keep up with demand, he expressed.
The five young men are among the increasing number of youth across eastern and southern Africa creating a stable living as entrepreneurs in agricultural mechanization service provision, Baudron said.
Tired of the lack of profitable work in their rural community, the group of youths jumped on the opportunity to join a training on agricultural mechanization, run by CIMMYT. They heard about this training through local extension workers.
âWe would probably be out of work if we hadnât had the opportunity to learn how agricultural mechanization can be used to help smallholder farmers and gain skills to run our own business to provide these services,â Chawara expressed as he took a quick rest from shelling under a tree.
âIt has really changed our lives. Last season we shelled over 300 tons of maize making just under US $7,000,â he said. âIt has gone a long way in helping us support our families and invest back into our business.â
Masimba Mawire, 30, and Gift Chawara, 28, take a break from shelling and rest under a tree. The small car behind was bought by Chawara with his profits earned from the mechanization service business. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
Chawara and his partners attended one of these trainings, hosted on the grounds of an agricultural technical college on the outskirts of Harare. For a week, they participated in practical courses led by local agriculture and business experts.
As part of the CIMMYT research project, the youth group paid a commitment fee and were loaned a planter and sheller to start their business, which they are now paying off with their profits.
Youth tend to be better at managing modern technologies and successfully take to service providing, said Baudron, who leads the FACASI project.
âWe found consistently, in all countries where we work, that being a successful service provider is highly correlated to being young,â he highlighted. âHowever, other factors are also important, such as being entrepreneurial, educated, able to contribute to the cost of the machinery and preferably having an experience in similar businesses, particularly in mechanics.â
(From left to right) Shepard Kawiz, 24, gathers dried maize cobs into a bucket passing it to his brother Pinnot Karwizi, 26, who pours the maize into the sheller machine by feeding the hopper. The maize falls into the shellerâs barrel where high-speed rotation separates the grain from the cob. As the bare shafts are propelled out one side, Masimba Mawire, 30, is there to catch and dispose of them. Meanwhile, Gift Chawara, 28, is making sure a bag is securely hooked to the machine to collect the maize grain. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
Mentoring and support are key to success
The young men operate like a well-oiled machine. Shepard Kawiz, 24, gathers dried maize cobs into a bucket and passes it to his brother Pinnot Karwizi, 26, who pours the maize into the sheller machine by feeding the hopper. The maize falls into the shellerâs barrel where high-speed rotation separates the grain from the cob. As bare shafts are propelled out one side, Masimba Mawire, 30, is there to catch and dispose of them. Meanwhile, Gift Chawara is making sure a bag is securely hooked to the machine to collect the maize grain.
Trials showed that when youth form a group and are provided guidance they are more inclined to succeed as service providers, explained CIMMYT agribusiness development specialist Dorcas Matangi.
âThe group model works because they share the costs, the workload and they are more attractive to lenders when looking for investment capital,â she remarked.
Throughout the season, Mantangi works with local government extension workers and engineers from the University of Zimbabwe to mentor those starting out. They also organize meetings where service providers can gather to discuss challenges and opportunities.
âThis is a good opportunity to iron out any problems with the machines, connect them with mechanics and spare part providers and we gain their feedback to improve the design of machinery,â she added.
Mechanization backs resilient farming systems
CIMMYT has provided a model to promote the use of agricultural mechanization among smallholder farmers through service providers, affirmed Misheck Chingozha, a mechanization officer with Zimbabweâs Ministry of Agriculture.
Farm machinery helps farmers implement sustainable crop practices that benefit from greater farm power and precision,â he said. âThis is in line with the governmentâs strategy to promote conservation agriculture â defined by minimal soil disturbance, crop residue retention and diversification through crop rotation and intercropping.â
CIMMYT promotes small-scale mechanization, such as two-wheel tractor-based technologies, including direct seeding planters that reduce labor and allow for improved resource allocation when implementing these practices, described CIMMYTâs Baudron.
Conservation agriculture is a sustainable intensification practice that seeks to produce more food, improve nutrition and livelihoods, and boost rural incomes without an increase in inputs â such as land and water â thus reducing environmental impacts.
With support from CIMMYT, students at the University of Zimbabwe are working to develop agricultural machinery fitted to the environmental conditions and needs of farmers in their country and other parts of Africa. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
Students fuel next-generation machinery
As part of their degree, students at the University of Zimbabwe are working with CIMMYT to continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural machinery.
In a bid to improve the allocation of resources, agricultural engineering student Ronald Mhlanga, 24, worked on a prototype that uses sensors to monitor the amount of seed and fertilizer distributed by planters attached to two-wheel tractors. The device sends information to the driver if anything goes off course, helping farmers improve precision and save resources.
âOften planters will get clogged with mud blocking seeding. The sensors identify this and send a signal to the driver,â said Mhlanga. âThis allows the driver to focus on driving and limits wasted resources.â
Learning from farmer feedback and working with agricultural engineers and the private sector, CIMMYT is building agricultural mechanization suited to the needs and conditions of sub-Saharan African farms, concluded Baudron.
This blast-infected wheat spike contains no grain, only chaff. Photo: CIMMYT files.
A spatial mapping and ex ante studyregarding the risk and potential spread in South Asia of wheat blast, a mysterious and deadly disease from the Americas that unexpectedly infected wheat in southwestern Bangladesh in 2016, identified 7 million hectares of wheat cropping areas in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan whose agro-climatic conditions resemble those of the Bangladesh outbreak zone.
The study shows that, under a conservative scenario of 5-10% wheat blast production damage in a single season in those areas, wheat grain losses would amount to from 0.89 to 1.77 million tons worth, between $180 and $350 million. This would strain the regionâs already fragile food security and forcing up wheat imports and prices, according to Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb, first author of the study.
âClimate change and related changes in weather patterns, together with continuing globalization, expose wheat crops to increased risks from pathogens that are sometimes transported over long distances,â said Mottaleb.
Foresight research at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has focused on new diseases and pests that have emerged or spread in recent decades, threatening global food safety and security. For wheat these include Ug99 and other new strains of stem rust, the movement of stripe rust into new areas, and the sudden appearance in Bangladesh of wheat blast, which had previously been limited to South America.
âAs early as 2011, CIMMYT researchers had warned that wheat blast could spread to new areas, including South Asia,â said Kai Sonder, who manages CIMMYTâs geographic information systems lab and was a co-author on the current study, referring to a 2011 note published by the American Pathological Society. âNow that forecast has come true.â
CIMMYT has played a pivotal role in global efforts to study and control blast, with funding from the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT), the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
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Researchers take part in Wheat Blast screening and surveillance course in Bangladesh. (Photo: CIMMYT/Tim Krupnik)
Fourteen young wheat researchers from South Asia recently attended a screening and surveillance course to address wheat blast, the mysterious and deadly disease whose surprise 2016 outbreak in southwestern Bangladesh devastated that regionâs wheat crop, diminished farmersâ food security and livelihoods, and augured blastâs inexorable spread in South Asia.
Held from 24 February to 4 March 2018 at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS), Jessore, as part of that facilityâs precision phenotyping platform to develop resistant wheat varieties, the course emphasized hands-on practice for crucial and challenging aspects of disease control and resistance breeding, including scoring infections on plants and achieving optimal development of the disease on experimental wheat plots.
Cutting-edge approaches tested for the first time in South Asia included use of smartphone-attachable field microscopes together with artificial intelligence processing of images, allowing researchers identify blast lesions not visible to the naked eye.
Workshop participants learned how to use the latest in technology to identify and keep track of the deadly Wheat Blast disease. Photo: CIMMYT archives.
âA disease like wheat blast, which respects no borders, can only be addressed through international collaboration and strengthening South Asiaâs human and institutional capacities,â said Hans-Joachim Braun, director of the global wheat program of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), addressing participants and guests at the course opening ceremony. âStable funding from CGIAR enabled CIMMYT and partners to react quickly to the 2016 outbreak, screening breeding lines in Bolivia and working with USDA-ARS, Fort Detrick, USA to identify resistance sources, resulting in the rapid release in 2017 of BARI Gom 33, Bangladeshâs first-ever blast resistant and zinc enriched wheat variety.â
Cooler and dryer weather during the 2017-18 wheat season has limited the incidence and severity of blast on Bangladeshâs latest wheat crop, but the disease remains a major threat for the country and its neighbors, according to P.K. Malaker, Chief Scientific Officer, Wheat Research Centre (WRC) of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI).
âWe need to raise awareness of the danger and the need for effective management, through training courses, workshops, and mass media campaigns,â said Malaker, speaking during the course.
The course was organized by CIMMYT, a Mexico-based organization that has collaborated with Bangladeshi research organizations for decades, with support from the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI).
Speaking at the closing ceremony, N.C.D. Barma, WRC Director, thanked the participants and the management team and distributed certificates. âThe training was very effective. BMWRI and CIMMYT have to work together to mitigate the threat of wheat blast in Bangladesh.â
Kemeriya Mohamed stacking harvested wheat, Kechema village, Dodola district,west Arsi zone Ethiopia. Photo: CIMMYT/P. Lowe
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (CIMMYT) â After eight years the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project concludes this June.
âThe work done by SIMLESA has yielded increasing farm-level food security and productivity, in the context of climate risk and change,â said Eyasu Abraha, Ethiopian Minister for Agriculture and Natural Resources, at the official opening of SIMLESAâs end of project external review and stakeholdersâ meeting. The four-day event reflected on the projectâs achievements, challenges and opportunities through an external project review and stakeholder discussions.
According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Africa is the most vulnerable region to climate change, with erratic rainfall and increasing temperatures already causing crop failures. Small-scale family farmers, who provide the majority of food in Africa, are expected to be the worst affected.
In response, SIMLESA has facilitated the release of 40 improved maize and 64 legume varieties to smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania and spill over countries of Botswana, Rwanda and Uganda since 2010. The spillover countries are benefitting from ongoing SIMLESA research activities. Maize is a major staple crop and legumes provide nutrition, income and improve soil fertility in most of Africa, and both crops provide vital cash income to families across the region, says ACIAR.
The project focused primarily on improving maize-legume cropping systems by encouraging the adoption of intensification of agricultural practices that offer the potential to simultaneously address a number of pressing development objectives, unlocking agricultureâs potential to adapt farming systems to climate change and sustainably manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources, while improving food and nutrition.
The review also found that SIMLESA could have even greater impact by strengthening its livelihoods focus, such as promoting diversification in household food and nutrition.
âWhile taking stock on our achievements, we are aware that there are still major challenges to be overcome,â said Mulugetta Mekuria, CIMMYT senior scientist and SIMLESA project leader. âWe now seek to extend our impact by learning from past and current work, case studies and trying new ideas, technologies and approaches.â
SIMLESA is currently consolidating cropping trials and training farmers in its final year, and laying the foundations for a follow-up project that would focus on researching sustainable intensification, diversification, smallholder mechanization and crop-livestock integration across Africa. Meeting attendees also proposed a one-year extension period of the project to help consolidate, synthesize, publish and disseminate current achievements, and draw lessons and insights from the last two SIMLESA phases.
The project is working to improve maize and legume productivity by 30 percent and to reduce the expected downside yield risk by 30 percent for approximately 650,000 small farming households by 2023. There is high possibility for a third phase of the project although this has not been confirmed yet.
In the last decade, the climate of Africa has been changing in dramatic ways. Many regions face unpredictable levels of rainfall, which can lead both droughts and severe flooding. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world with over 30 percent of children under five facing stunting â severe malnutrition, and is the only region where the rate of undernourished people has consistently increased.
Maize is a vital staple cash and sustenance crop in most of Africa, and legumes provide nutrition, income and improve soil fertility. However, farmersâ yields are suffering due to declining soil fertility, drought and poor access to improved technologies.
Over the last eight years, SIMLESA has developed productive, resilient and sustainable smallholder maize-legume cropping systems. SIMLESA focuses on improving maize-legume cropping systems by encouraging the adoption of sustainable agriculture systems through conservation agriculture practices such as crop residue retention, crop rotation and intercropping practices to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase proïŹts and protect the environment.
Recently, Elliud Kireger, director general of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Mulugetta Mekuria Asfaw, SIMLESA project leader and Daniel Rodriguez, associate professor, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) The University of Queensland, wrote a joint opinion piece âAfrica: Science Can Reverse ‘New Normal’ of Hunger and Climate Disasterâ in All Africa on the impacts of SIMLESA, read it here.
The Sustainable IntensiïŹcation of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) programis funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
Offering a very warm welcome to the Australian High Commissioner and team by Arun Joshi. (Photo: Hardeep/CIMMYT)
Australian High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu, visited the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) in Ladhowal, Ludhiana, India on February 19.
Arun Joshi, Managing Director for BISA & CIMMYT in India, welcomed her with an introduction about the creation, mission and activities of BISA and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Sidhu also learned about the work CIMMYT and BISA do in conservation agriculture in collaboration with Punjab Agricultural University, machinery manufacturers and farmers. This work focuses on using and scaling the Happy Seeder, which enables direct seeding of wheat into heavy loads of rice residue without burning. This technology has been called “an agricultural solution to air pollution in South Asia,” as the burning of crop residue is a huge contributor to poor air quality in South Asia. Sidhu learned about recent improvements to the technology, such as the addition of a straw management system to add extra functionality, which has led to the large-scale adoption of the Happy Seeder.
The high commissioner showed keen interest in the Happy Seeder machine, and was highly impressed by the test-wheat-crop planted on 400 acres with the Happy Seeder.
Salwinder Atwal showed Sidhu the experiments using Happy Seeder for commercial seed production, and ML Jat, Principal Researcher at CIMMYT, presented on the innovative research BISA and CIMMYT are doing on precision water, nutrient and genotype management.
Happy Australian High Commissioner riding a tractor at BISA Ludhiana. (Photo: Hardeep/CIMMYT)
Sidhu visited fields with trials of climate resilient wheat as Joshi explained the importance and role of germplasm banks and new approaches such as use of genomic selection in wheat breeding in the modern agriculture to address the current challenges of climate change. He also explained the work CIMMYT does on hybrid wheat for increasing yield potential and breeding higher resistance against wheat rusts and other diseases.
ML Jat, who leads the CIMMYT-CCAFS climate smart agriculture project, explained the concept of climate smart villages and led Sidhu on a visit to the climate smart village of Noorpur Bet, which has been adopted under the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security.
During Sidhuâs visit to Noorpur Bet, a stakeholder consultation was organized on scaling happy seeder technology for promoting no-burning farming. In the stakeholder consultation, stakeholders shared experiences with happy seeder as well as other conservation agriculture amd climate smart agriculture technologies. BS Sidhu, Commissioner of Agriculture for the Government of Punjab chaired the stakeholder consultation and shared his experiences as well as Government of Punjabâs plans and policies for the farmers to promote happy seeder and other climate smart technologies.
“I am very impressed to see all these developments and enthusiasm of the farmers and other stakeholders for scaling conservation agriculture practices for sustaining the food bowl,” said Sidhu. She noted that Punjab and Australia have many things in common and could learn from each other’s experiences. Later she also visited the Punjab Agricultural University and had a meeting with the Vice Chancellor.
This visit and interaction was attended by more than 200 key stakeholders including officers from Govt. of Punjab, ICAR, PAU-KVKs, PACS, BISA- CIMMYT-CCAFS, manufacturers, farmers and custom operators of Happy Seeder.
The Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) is a non-profit international research institute dedicated to food, nutrition and livelihood security as well as environmental rehabilitation in South Asia, which is home to more than 300 million undernourished people. BISA is a collaborative effort involving the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).
Group photo during the visit of the Australian High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu. Photo: SRFSI program.
DEHLI, India (CIMMYT) â This November, the work of the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project was marked with notable recognition by the Australian Government with a visit from the Australian High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu. The project is co-led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
Field visit at SRFSI. Photo: SRFSI program.
Sidhuâs visit to observe the SRFSI projectâs activities from a grassroots level allowed her to have hands-on experience and interaction with university students, farmers, womenâs self-help groups, local service providers and private agencies engaged as members of an SRFSI innovation platform.
Sidhu met with the members of a farmersâ club which is solely operated and monitored by women of the local community. She was highly impressed with the efforts of these women to make themselves independent and self-reliant through new innovations in mushroom, fish and duck farming.
Australian High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu, sitting with a local women’s group. Photo: SRFSI program.
âIt was heartening to observe the positive response of the farmers, especially women, to conservation and sustainable farming, and how the technology has improved incomes, reduced drudgery, had positive health impacts and facilitated the development of agri-entrepreneurs,â said Sidhu in her thank you letter.
On the last day of her visit to trial fields, Sidhu was impressed by the service provider business model developed by the SRFSI project to facilitate the creation of employment opportunities and motivation for youth to engage in farming activities.
Sidhu wrote, âI wish you and your team success in reaching out to farmers in north Bengal and working together with them to improve their lives and those of future generations.â
SRFSI is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and jointly implemented by the Department of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal and Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya Agricultural University.
Erratic rainfall and increasing temperatures are already causing crops to fail, threatening African farmersâ ability to ensure household food security, he said. Africa is the region most vulnerable to climate variability and change, according to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Small-scale family farmers, who provide the majority of food production in Africa, are set to be among the worst affected. Rusinamhodziâs work includes educating African farmers about the impacts of climate change and working with them to tailor sustainable agriculture solutions to increase their food production in the face of increasingly variable weather.
The worldâs population is projected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050, with 2.1 billion people set to live in sub-Saharan Africa alone. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates farmers will need to increase production by at least 70 percent to meet demand. However, climate change is bringing numerous risks to traditional farming systems challenging the ability to increase production, said Rusinamhodzi.
Graphic created by Gerardo Mejia. Data sourced from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Rusinamhodzi believes increasing farmersâ awareness of climate risks and working with them to implement sustainable solutions is key to ensuring they can buffer climate shocks, such as drought and erratic rainfall.
âThe onset of rainfall is starting late and the seasonal dry spells or outright droughts are becoming commonplace,â said Rusinamhodzi. âFarmers need more knowledge and resources on altering planting dates and densities, crop varieties and species, fertilizer regimes and crop rotations to sustainably intensify food production.â
Growing up in Zimbabwe â a country that is now experiencing the impacts of climate change first hand â Rusinamhodzi understands the importance of small-scale agriculture and the damage erratic weather can have on household food security.
He studied soil science and agronomy and began his career as a research associate at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Zimbabwe learning how to use conservation agriculture as a sustainable entry point to increase food production.
Conservation agriculture is based on the principles of minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of crop rotation to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase profits and protect the environment. It improves soil function and quality, which can improve resilience to climate variability.
It is a sustainable intensification practice, which is aimed at enhancing the productivity of labor, land and capital. Sustainable intensification practices offer the potential to simultaneously address a number of pressing development objectives, unlocking agricultureâs potential to adapt farming systems to climate change and sustainable manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources, while improving food and nutrition.
Tailoring sustainable agriculture to farmers
Smallholder farming systems in Africa are diverse in character and content, although maize is usually the major crop. Within each system, farmers are also diverse in terms of resources and production processes. Biophysically, conditions â such as soil and rainfall â change significantly within short distances.
Given the varying circumstances, conservation agriculture cannot be promoted as rigid or one-size fits all solution as defined by the three principles, said Rusinamhodzi.
The systems agronomist studied for his doctoral at Wageningen University with a special focus on targeting appropriate crop intensification options to selected farming systems in southern Africa. Now, with CIMMYT he works with African farming communities to adapt conservation agriculture to farmersâ specific circumstances to boost their food production.
Rusinamhodziâs focus in the region is to design cropping systems around maize-legume intercropping and conservation agriculture. Intercropping has the added advantage of producing two crops from the same piece of land in a single season; different species such as maize and legumes can increase facilitation and help overcome the negative effects of prolonged dry spells and poor soil quality.
Farmer Elphas Chinyanga inspecting his conservation agriculture plots in Zimbabwe. Photo: Peter Lowe/ CIMMYT
âThe key is to understand the farmers, their resources including the biophysical circumstances and their production systems, and assist in adapting conservation agriculture to local needs,â he said.
Working with CIMMYTâs Sustainable Intensification Program, Rusinamhodzi seeks to understand production constraints and opportunities for increased productivity starting with locally available resources.
Using crop simulation modeling and experimentation, he estimates how the farming system will perform under different conditions and works to formulate a set of options to help farmers. The options can include agroforestry, intercropping, improved varieties resistant to heat and drought, fertilizers and manures along with the principles of conservation agriculture to obtain the best results.
The models are an innovative way assess the success or trade-off farmers could have when adding new processes to their farming system. However, the application of these tools are still limited due to the large amounts of data needed for calibration and the complexity, he added.
Information gathered is shared with farmers in order to offer researched options on how to sustainably boost their food production under their conditions, Rusinamhodzi said.
âMy ultimate goal is to increase farmersâ decision space so that they make choices from an informed position,â he said.
Rusinamhodzi also trains farmers, national governments, non-profit organizations, seed companies and graduate students on the concepts and application of sustainable intensification including advanced analysis to understand system productivity, soil quality, water and nutrient use efficiency and crop pest and disease dynamics.
Members of National Technical Committee of NSB evaluating BAW 1260, the breeding line used to develop BARI Gom 33. Photo: CIMMYT
DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) — As wheat farmers in Bangladesh struggle to recover from a 2016 outbreak of a mysterious disease called âwheat blast,â the countryâs National Seed Board (NSB) released a new, high-yielding, blast-resistant wheat variety, according to a communication from the Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Bangladesh.
Called “BARI Gom 33,” the variety was developed by WRC using a breeding line from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), a Mexico-based organization that has collaborated with Bangladeshi research organizations for decades, according to Naresh C. Deb Barma, Director of WRC, who said the variety had passed extensive field and laboratory testing. “Gom” means “wheat grain” in Bangla, the Bengali language used in Bangladesh.
âThis represents an incredibly rapid response to blast, which struck in a surprise outbreak on 15,000 hectares of wheat in southwestern Bangladesh just last year, devastating the crop and greatly affecting farmersâ food security and livelihoods, not to mention their confidence in sowing wheat,â Barma said.
Caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae pathotype triticum, wheat blast was first identified in Brazil in 1985 and has constrained wheat farming in South America for decades. Little is known about the genetics or interactions of the fungus with wheat or other hosts. Few resistant varieties have been released in Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, the countries most affected by wheat blast.
The Bangladesh outbreak was its first appearance in South Asia, a region where rice-wheat cropping rotations cover 13 million hectares and over a billion inhabitants eat wheat as main staple.
Many blast fungal strains are impervious to fungicides, according to Pawan Singh, a CIMMYT wheat pathologist. âThe Bangladesh variant is still sensitive to fungicides, but this may not last forever, so weâre rushing to develop and spread new, blast-resistant wheat varieties for South Asia,â Singh explained.
The urgent global response to blast received a big boost in June from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), which funded an initial four-year research project to breed blast resistant wheat varieties and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), which also provided grant to kick-start the work in South Asia. Led by CIMMYT, the initiative involves researchers from nearly a dozen institutions worldwide.
Chemical controls are costly and potentially harmful to human and environmental health, so protecting crops like wheat with inherent resistance is the smart alternative, but resistance must be genetically complex, combining several genes, to withstand new mutations of the pathogen over time.
Key partners in the new project are the agricultural research organizations of Bangladesh, including the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), and the Instituto Nacional de InnovaciĂłn Agropecuaria y Forestal in Bolivia, which will assist with large-scale field experiments to select wheat lines under artificial and natural infections of wheat blast.
Other partners include national and provincial research organizations in India, Nepal and Pakistan, as well as Kansas State University (KSU) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS). The U.S. Agency for International Agricultural Development (USAID) has also supported efforts to kick-start blast control measures, partnerships and upscaling the breeding, testing and seed multiplication of new, high-yielding, disease resistant varieties through its Feed the Future project.
BARI Gom 33 was tested for resistance to wheat blast in field trials in Bolivia and Bangladesh and in greenhouse tests by the USDA-ARS laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland. International partnerships are critical for a fast response to wheat blast, according to Hans-Joachim Braun, director of CIMMYTâs Global Wheat Program.
âWorldwide, weâre in the middle of efforts that include blast surveillance and forecasting, studies on the pathogenâs genetics and biology, integrated disease management and seed systems, as well as raising awareness about the disease and training for researchers, extension workers, and farmers,â said Braun.
With over 160 million people, Bangladesh is among the worldâs most densely populated countries. Wheat is Bangladeshâs second most important staple food, after rice. The country grows more than 1.3 million tons each year but consumes 4.5 million tons, meaning that imports whose costs exceed $0.7 billion each year comprise more than two-thirds of domestic wheat grain use.
WRC will produce tons of breederâs seed of BARI Gom 33 each year. This will be used by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and diverse non-governmental organizations and private companies to produce certified seed for farmers.
âThis year WRC will provide seed to BADC for multiplication and the Department of Agricultural Extension will establish on-farm demonstrations of the new variety in blast prone districts during 2017-18,â said Barma.
As an added benefit for the nutrition of wheat consuming households, BARI Gom 33 grain features 30Â percent higher levels of zinc than conventional wheat. Zinc is a critical micronutrient missing in the diets of many of the poor throughout South Asia and whose lack particularly harms the health of pregnant women and children under 5 years old.
With funding from HarvestPlus and the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition, CIMMYT is leading global efforts to breed biofortified wheat with better agronomic and nutritional quality traits. The wheat line used in BARI Gom 33 was developed at CIMMYT, Mexico, through traditional cross-breeding and shared with Bangladesh and other cooperators in South Asia through the Center’s International Wheat Improvement Network, which celebrates 50 years in 2018.
Stable window 1 and 2 (W1W2) funding from CGIAR enabled CIMMYT and partners to react quickly and screen breeding lines in Bolivia, as well as working with KSU to identify sources of wheat blast resistance. The following W1 funders have made wheat blast resistance breeding possible: Australia, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada, France, India, Japan, Korea, New Zeland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the World Bank. The following funders also contributed vital W2 funding: Australia, China, the United Kingdom (DFID) and USAID.
MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – Traditional farming systems in Africa must be updated for today’s climate and market challenges, according to a new report by the University of Queensland.Â
For example, the project has greatly improved food production in Mozambique since 2010. It is also promoting rotational cropping systems with legumes in Tanzania to improve soil fertility as well as dietary diversity, and in Malawi, rainfall erosion has been reduced by 80 percent as farmers leave plant residues on fields to improve stability.
âThe exact details of best practice change everywhere you go in Africa,â said Caspar Roxburgh, a research officer at the University of Queensland who works with SIMLESA. âA lot of this research just hasnât been done yet in Africa.â
SIMLESA seeks to have an open dialogue between farmers and scientists to identify what works best in individual areas and define best practices for the region.
âWe find out whoâs doing the best, learn from them, and then we do the science to back it all up,â explained Roxburgh.
Over the past seven years, SIMLESA has helped more than 200,000 farmers adopt sustainable technologies and practices, improving yields and income.
SIMLESA is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the University of Queensland along with the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.
Read more about how SIMLESA is changing how food is grown in Africa here.
Food security is at the heart of Africaâs development agenda. However, climate change is threatening 
