AID-I staff inspect germination in Malawi (Photo: CIMMYT)
Accelerated delivery with a difference is underway in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia to ensure access to stress-tolerant seeds for underserved farmers in remote areas. Supported by USAID, the Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) project brings public-private and civil society together to address the impacts of climate change, pests and diseases, and food shocks on maize and legume systems.
One simple and cost-effective solution to tackle these threats is last mile delivery of stress-tolerant and nutritious seeds. Ensuring that farmers have access to a diverse range of seeds means they can choose the best varieties to suit their needs and their local environment.
Through AID-I, scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are working with over 20 global, regional, national, and local partners to strengthen maize and legume seed systems in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.
So far, in 2023, the team has set up over a hundred mega-demonstrations across Malawi and Zambia, to raise awareness and increase seed production by exposing communities to improved, climate-adapted and nutritious crop varieties. As learning centers, the mega-demonstrations give farmers a chance to see for themselves the advantages of improved maize and legume varieties and better farming practices including conservation agriculture and doubled up legumes systems.
Farmers plant mega-demonstration plots in Malawi (Photo: CIMMYT)
Spotlighted were drought-tolerant and nutritious varieties, expected to play a crucial role in the recovery of regional maize production. The Zambian and Malawian governments have also just released maize hybrids tolerant to fall armyworms, which will be scaled through the AID-I. The fall armyworm is an invasive pest that attacks more than 80 different crops but has a particular preference for maize. Without proper control measures, the pest can decimate crops, threatening food security, incomes, and livelihoods.
Alongside maize, the AID-I team is making seed of improved legume varieties, including beans, soybean, pigeon peas, cowpea, and groundnuts available at the last mile. Legumes are nutritious and good for the soil, providing valuable nutrients like nitrogen (N) so farmers can use less fertilizer, save money, and protect soil health.
AID-I supports strengthening of strategically located seed stockists of improved legume varieties and linking seed growers and buyers. These stockists, called agricultural development agents will also receive training in community seed production. Through connection with hundreds of agricultural development agents in the first farming season with seed suppliers, hundreds of thousands of farmers will be able to access a wide variety of improved seed.
Members of the CIMMYT leadership team with representatives from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID) visit AfriSeed in Zambia (Photo: CIMMYT)
Building strong relationships between public and private sector organizations is an integral part of the project. On January 16, 2023, long-term CIMMYT collaborator and AID-I key partner, AfriSeed hosted senior government officials from the United States Department of State (DOS) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The visitors gained valuable insight into how private seed companies involved in the marketing and distribution of maize and legume seeds operate in Zambia and showed their crucial role in the countryâs seed sector.
Bram Govaerts, Sieg Snapp, Minister Mtolo Phiri and Prassana Boddupalli pose at the conclusion of the high level meeting between CIMMYT and the Government of Zambia. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
Senior government officials in Zambia have embraced the rollout of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYTâs) new innovations which target smallholder farmers and agriculture-based value chain actors in the country.
On January 17, 2023, CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts met with Minister of Agriculture Reuben Mtolo Phiri. The Minister reassured Govaerts that the investments made by CIMMYT in the country had the Governmentâs full support.
Earlier this year, a delegation led by Cary Fowler, the US Special envoy for Global Food Security met the Minister and his team at the Government complex in Lusaka, Zambiaâs capital, to deliberate on a variety of agriculture development issues concerning the country.
Govaertsâ visit came off the back of the new Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I), a CIMMYT-led project funded by the United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID). The project seeks to scale up promising innovations that could transform the maize and legume value chains within the southern African region, with a focus on Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania.
âAs the Government of Zambia, we intend to create a private sector driven economy for which agriculture plays a critical role. Having progressive partners like CIMMYT helps us achieve this cause and this new program is received with open arms,â said Phiri.
The aims of the AID-I project include strengthening seed systems, the promotion and adoption of stress-tolerant maize and legume varieties, demonstration of good agriculture practices that respond to the effects of climate change and addressing systemic constraints in maize and legume value chains.
Through AID-I, CIMMYT experts are working with over 20 global, regional, national and local partners including the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Catholic Relief Services (TLC), Total Land Care (TLC), the International Water Management Institution (IMWI) and World Vegetable Center.
Also attending the meeting was AID-I Technical Lead and CIMMYT Scientist Hambulo Ngoma who discussed some of the latest project activities.
âAs this project focuses on accelerated delivery, we have set up more than 40 demonstrations in eastern Zambia with the intention of showcasing stress-tolerant varieties for maize and legume under conservation agriculture. In addition, we are showcasing other good agriculture practices such as strip cropping which not only enhances intensified crop production but is a biological control for fall armyworm,â Ngoma said.
Hambulo Ngoma receiving a verbal vote of confidence from Zambian Minister of Agriculture Mtolo Phiri. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
The Minister appreciated the rationale of the project and indicated that participatory variety selection for farmers was crucial if they were going to maximize their yields and returns from farming.
Phiri further emphasized that CIMMYT and partnersâ investment in legume value chain strengthening came at a welcome time as upscaling soya bean production was a key priority in the Governmentâs strategic plan for agricultural development because of its export-ready market within the region.
âMarkets such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Tanzania can readily take up the soya we produce, and we are looking to export legumes such as soya and groundnuts to East Africa. This project therefore fits very well within our strategic road map,â Phiri said.
The demonstration plots set up by CIMMYT experts will help farmers grow the right varieties for their agro ecologies and have greater response capabilities to the export market opportunities the Government is facilitating.
The Minister also indicated that he hoped CIMMYT would assist in strengthening the countryâs capacity to deal with fall armyworm. CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director B.M. Prasanna reassured Phiri that through the Zambian Agriculture research Institute (ZARI), CIMMYT had already released three fall armyworm-tolerant varieties. He also discussed how the AID-I project would be instrumental in scaling up their uptake, especially amongst smallholder farmers who have minimal disposable income to buy enough pesticides to control the pest.
Concluding the meeting, Govaerts spoke of CIMMYTâs commitment to supporting Zambia achieve its food security and agricultural export goals.
âAs CIMMYT, we want you to recognize us as a listening partner. We are of the conviction that we can only combat climate change and achieve shared prosperity through the strength of convening power, where we leverage on each otherâs strength.â
As the project is focused on scaling existing promising technologies and innovations, rapid transformative results are on the horizon for the people of Zambia.
Participants of the crop modeling simulation workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
Anticipating appropriate and timely responses to climate variability and change from an agricultural perspective requires forecasting and predictive capabilities. In Africa, climate-related risks and hazards continue to threaten food and nutrition security.
Crop simulation models are tools developed to assist farmers, agronomists and agro-meteorologists with insights on impacts to possible management decisions. Such tools are enablers for taking an appropriate course of action where complexity exists relating to both crop and livestock production. For example, a new variety can be introduced to Zimbabwe, but its performance will differ depending on the agroecological zones of the country and the respective treatments a farmer may apply. Applying modeling tools to assess its performance can predict yield differences and facilitate the generation of recommendations for which region is most suited to the variety, water use efficiency, and crop combinations.
Earlier this month, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) hosted a crop modeling simulation workshop with delegates from various African countries in Harare, Zimbabwe.
âThe CGIAR Initiatives of Excellence in Agronomy (EiA) and Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (SI-MFS) have recognized the need to enhance modeling capacity in Africa to allow African scientists to lead in solving challenges within agricultural systems,â said CIMMYT crop scientist and coordinator of the workshop, Vimbayi Grace Petrova Chimonyo.
The workshop was facilitated by renowned global crop modeling experts to provide critical coaching support to upcoming modelers. These experts included Sue Walker, a professor at the University of the Free State, Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi, a professor at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), KPC Rao, a lead scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Dirk Raes (KU Leuven), Diego Peqeuno (CIMMYT) Â and Siyabusa Mukuhlani from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
Crop models are scientific presentations of statistical knowledge about how a crop will grow in interaction with its environment. They use mathematical equations representing processes within a predefined plant system and the interactions between crops and the environment. The discipline is based on the premise that agricultural system environments are complex and not homogenous. Crop models enable decision-makers to make data-driven decisions by simulating possible outcomes to changes in a system and the configuration of production systems.
“It is quite apparent that modeling skills are scarce on the African continent. This workshop is a step toward consolidating existing capacities on the continent. If we are going to be able to close the already existing food deficit gap on the continent and meet the food requirements needed by 2050, with an estimated global population of nine billion, then we need to take modeling seriously,â said Chimonyo in her opening address at the workshop.
Due to the lack of crop modeling expertise in African states, there is a gap in capacity to build relevant crop advisory tools for farmers at a local level. This leads to poor policy formulation as decisions are based on a high degree of generalizations.
“In this modern era, we need advisories that are context specific. For example, just because a maize variety achieved a certain yield in one context doesn’t mean the same variety will achieve the same yields even if the rainfall patterns are the same. Other factors come into play, such as the soil type, temperature and other related aspects affecting the yield. Crop modeling affords advisory managers some specifications necessary to achieve high yields in different environments,” said Walker.
Vimbayi Chimonyo from CIMMYT making opening remarks at the workshop. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)
Speakers at the workshop focused on three models, APSIM, AquaCrop and DSSAT, and participants had the opportunity to take part in activities and ask questions face-to-face. The workshop also covered key modeling aspects such as the minimum data requirements needed to run a model, calibration and validation of models, confidence testing of results, the science involved in simulating phenological development and growth processes, water and nitrogen cycles, and the use of multi-modeling approaches.
The workshop was particularly useful for young scientists, according to Rao, allowing more experienced modelers to share their expertise. “With such an interactive platform, experienced modelers like me can demonstrate multi-modeling approaches.”
Rao presented on two main approaches. The first involved the application of different simulation models to simulate one component of a system such as crops. The second simulated the complete system by integrating various models, such as crops, livestock, and economic models, providing an opportunity to understand the synergies and trade-offs between different components of the whole farm.
Participants at the workshop expressed their satisfaction with the training provided and left with practical knowledge that they could apply in their work both in the field and in the lab.
“When I first arrived, I knew very little about modeling, but as the workshop progressed, my confidence in applying models increased. I intend to immediately apply this knowledge for the forthcoming season such that we can start making impactful contributions to the country’s food and nutrition security status,â said Birhan Abdulkadir Indris, a research officer at CIMMYT.
“I am leaving this workshop with the confidence that I will advise farmers in my circle of influence with services tailored to their needs. I have learned that crop modeling can be used for many purposes and that different models address different issues,â said Connie Madembo, a research technician at CIMMYT. âI intend to teach other fellow PhD students at the University of Zimbabwe the same things I have learnt here. As a country, we need to be at the forefront of using these models, considering Zimbabwe’s high weather variability.â
As a way forward, the trained scientists were encouraged to apply the modeling skills they had gained to address short-term problems such as yield gaps and water use efficiency and long-term challenges such as the local impacts of climate change.
âWhile more capacity training is required, starting somewhere is better than never starting,â said Mabhaudi.
Women play an integral role in all stages of agrifood systems, yet their unpaid labor is often culturally and economically devalued and ignored. As agriculture becomes more female-oriented, women are left with a double workload of caring in the home and laboring in the fields, leaving no time for leisure. Training programs are often developed with only male farmers in mind, and women can be completely excluded when it comes to mechanization.
The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), established by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and implemented jointly with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), is empowering women to become active participants in farming, improving their abilities and confidence through training, expanded access to machinery and better crop management practices. To celebrate International Day of Rural Women, here are stories from three of the women CIMMYT has helped.
Equality in agricultural opportunities
Nisha Chaudhary and her husband Kamal were engaged in agriculture, poultry and pig farming in Nepal, but struggled to provide for their family of seven; their combined income was never sufficient for them to make ends meet.
Through the CSISA COVID-19 Response and Resilience Activity, CIMMYT introduced Chaudhary to mechanization’s advantages and supported her to connect with banks, cooperatives, and machinery dealers to access financial support to introduce agriculture machinery into the family business. She became the first farmer in her village to acquire a mini combine rice mill and offer milling services. The following month, Chaudhary received additional tutoring from the Activity, this time in business management and mill repair and maintenance.
Learning about mechanization was eye-opening for Chaudhary, particularly as the Bankatti community that she comes from uses traditional methods or travels great distances to process grains using machines hired out by other communities.
Chaudhary’s primary income is now from her milling services, offering post-harvest processing services to 100 households and earning more than $150 USD each month; after deducting expenses, she is still able to save around $50 USD every month. She has bought four more cows, increasing the number of cattle she owns from 12 to 16, and is able to make her own for her livestock, saving an additional $20 USD per month.
Giving rural women the credit they deserve
As part of its response to the pandemic, CSISA launched a COVID-19 Response Activity aimed at supporting farmers and service providers to access subsidies and collateral-free loans via the Government of Nepal Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme, designed to support agriculture-related businesses. Through this scheme, farmers received hands-on training in providing after-sales support to customers, as well as mentoring to learn how to operate machinery and use it to generate sales and income.
Smallholder female farmers have been subject to many hardships due to lack of access to finance. They are forced to sell produce at low prices and buy inputs at high prices, which makes them suffer financially and physically. Now, loans through appropriate intermediaries can foster rural entrepreneurship and the service delivery business model.
The KCC scheme gave Chaudhary financial security just when she needed it. Her next step, with her newfound confidence, respect of her community, and the support of a collateral-free loan from KCC, will be to launch her own poultry farm agri-business.
Eradicating discrimination in mechanization
The CSISA Mechanization and Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA) enables smallholder female farmers to discover the advantages of scale-appropriate mechanization and its benefits: increased productivity, reduced labor costs, improved financial stability and greater food security.
Rokeya Begum was a stay-at-home mother to three children in Bangladesh and aspired to give her daughter a good education. However, her husband found it difficult to sustain the family as a factory worker due to the high cost of their daughter’s education.
As a result, Begum opted to work in an agriculture machinery manufacturing workshop like her husband. She was initially hesitant to work in a male-dominated workplace but on the other hand realized that this job would mean she could pursue the dream she had for her daughter. She immediately began using her earnings to fund her daughter’s education, who is currently in high school.
Begum was part of the grinding and painting departments at M/S Uttara Metal Industries in Bogura, Bangladesh, for five years. Her weekly wage was equivalent to $12 USD â insufficient to support her family or sustain a decent quality of life.
CSISA-MEA included Begum in skills training, which proved to be a gamechanger. She participated in CIMMYT’s training on spray gun painting, as well as in fettling and grinding skills. As part of both training programs, she learnt how to handle an air compressor paint gun and painting materials, as well as different painting methods. She has also learnt more about keeping herself safe at work using personal protective equipment. “Before the training, I did not know about the health risks â now I don’t work without PPE,” she said.
Begum used to paint the traditional way with a brush, but now the owner permits her to paint with a spray gun with her increased expertise. As a result, she has been promoted from day laborer to contractual employee in painting and grinding, with a new weekly salary of $50 USD. Her confidence has grown to the extent that she is comfortable in an engineering workshop among male coworkers.
Farmer Malti Devi in her field, where she grew wheat through zero-till. (Photo: Nima Chodon/CIMMYT)
Harvesting the benefits of improved practices
Farmer and mother of six, Malti Devi has an infectious smile that hardly reveals the toil and labor of her everyday farm work in India.
She grows wheat on nearly 0.45 acres of leased land. Her husband, a barber, earns an ordinary income that is insufficient for a family of eight. Despite the challenges, Devi has managed to earn income through her efforts in the field and by working as a daily wager in nearby fields.
To support women farmers like Devi, CSISA made efforts to build relationships via on-the-ground partnerships with civil society, women’s cooperatives like JEEViKa in Bihar and Mission Shakti in Odisha, or self-help groups. The team provides in-field demonstrations, training, workshops on best practices and support with access to better seed varieties and extension services. CSISA’s integrated approaches reach these women with information and associated technology that best serves them, while being climate-smart and sustainable.
Devi expressed that due to zero-till practice encouraged by the CSISA team, she saved time in the planting season, which she devoted to working on other’s fields for extra income. “The traditional method would have left me struggling for time, on the field or at home. Practices like zero-till ensured our crop was harvested on time with reduced input costs and resources and enabled a good harvest for consumption, and we could also sell some produce.”
Devi has ensured self-sufficiency for her family through her efforts and hopes to make use of the support in better crop management on offer from CSISA for wheat and other crops.
Cover photo: Rokeya Begum has increased her workshop salary through support from CSISA. (Photo: Abdul Mumin)
A group of farmers involved in participatory rice breeding trials near Begnas Lake, Pokhara, Nepal. (Photo: Neil Palmer/CIAT/CCAFS)
As CGIAR develops 33 exciting new research Initiatives, it is essential for its new research portfolio to move beyond âdiagnosing gender issuesâ and to supporting real change for greater social equity. Gender-transformative research and methodologies are needed, co-developed between scientists and a wide range of partners.
To advance this vision, gender scientists from ten CGIAR centers and key partner institutions came together from October 25 to 27, 2021, in a hybrid workshop. Some participants were in Amsterdam, hosted by KIT, and others joined online from Canada, the Philippines and everywhere in between.
The workshop emerged from gender scientistsâ desire to create a supportive innovation space for CGIAR researchers to integrate gender-transformative research and methodologies into the new CGIAR Initiatives.
The organizing team calls this effort GENNOVATE 2, as it builds on GENNOVATE, the trailblazing gender research project which ran across the CGIAR between 2014 and 2018.
GENNOVATE 2 promises to help CGIAR Initiatives achieve progress in the Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion Impact Area. It will also advance change towards Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 10 on gender and other forms of inequality.
In the workshop, participants sought to:
Share and develop ideas, methods and approaches to operationalize gender-transformative research and methodologies. Working groups focused on an initial selection of CGIAR Initiatives, representing all the Action Areas of CGIAR:
ClimBeR: Building Systemic Resilience against Climate Variability and Extremes; (Systems Transformation)
Securing the Asian Mega-Deltas from Sea-level Rise, Flooding, Salinization and Water Insecurity (Resilient Agrifood Systems)
Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming Systems (Resilient Agrifood Systems)
Market Intelligence and Product Profiling (Genetic Innovation)
Build on the significant investments, methods, data, and results from the original GENNOVATE.
Conceive a community of practice for continued sharing, learning and collaboration, across and within Initiatives, to accelerate progress on gender and social equity.
Participants at the GENNOVATE 2 workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in October 2021.
Joining a vibrant community
GENNOVATE 2 is envisioned to complement the CGIAR GENDER Platform and the proposed new CGIAR gender-focused research Initiative, HER+.
âWe have several gender methodology assets in CGIAR, and GENNOVATE is one of them,â said Nicoline de Haan, Director of the CGIAR GENDER Platform, opening the workshop. âWe want to make sure we cultivate and grow the efforts started during GENNOVATE and move forward important lessons and practices in the new CGIAR portfolio.â
The team of scientists behind GENNOVATE 2 wants to support a vibrant community of researchers who âwork out loud.â They will document and share their research methodologies, experiences and insights, in order to accelerate learning on gender issues and scale out successes more quickly.
The ultimate objectives of GENNOVATE 2 are to:
Develop and deepen a set of methodologies expected to directly empower women, youth, and marginalized groups in the targeted agri-food systems
Contribute to normative change towards increased gender equality across different scales, ranging from households to countries.
Generate and build an evidence base on the relationship between empowering women, youth and marginalized people, and moving towards climate-resilient and sustainable agri-food systems â and vice versa.
âAn example of the added value GENNOVATE 2 can bring to CGIAR Initiatives is understanding what maintains prevailing gender norms in research sites, and also at relevant institutional and political levels,â said Anne Rietveld, gender scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and co-organizer of the workshop. âThis will enable CGIAR scientists, partners and policymakers to design locally relevant gender-transformative approaches and policies for more impact. We can do this by building on our GENNOVATE 1 evidence base, adapting methods from GENNOVATE 1 and co-developing new methods in GENNOVATE 2.â
Participants at the GENNOVATE 2 workshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in October 2021.
Whatâs next?
The workshop showed that many scientists from CGIAR and partner institutes are motivated to invest in the vision of GENNOVATE 2. Achieving impact in the Gender, Youth and Social Inclusion Impact Area will require concerted efforts and inputs from scientists on the ground.
âThere is a groundswell of experience and enthusiasm that you, we, this group brings. We need answers and we can and should work together to make this a reality,â remarked Jon Hellin, Platform Leader – Sustainable Impact in Rice-based Systems at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and co-lead of the ClimBeR Initiative.
The organizing team listed concrete actions to follow the workshop:
Developing processes and spaces for discussing methodological advancements among the gender scientists in these four Initiatives which other Initiatives can tap into, contribute to and become part of.
To develop these shared and integrated methodologies and approaches into a GENNOVATE 2 conceptual and methodological roadmap â to contribute to the CGIAR Gender, Youth, and Social Inclusion Impact Area and guide other Initiatives, as well as bilateral research
To develop a position paper articulating what can be achieved through concerted efforts to integrate gender and social equity more effectively into the Initiatives, to showcase gender-transformative research methods for further development and implementation. The aim of the position paper is to influence global science leaders and CGIAR leadership in how they include issues of social equity in the Initiatives.
To support these conversations, learnings and harmonization processes through setting up a community of practice, where the âpracticeâ to be improved is the practice of advancing gender research methodologies to go from diagnosis to action. This will start with a core group of enthusiastic researchers and then will expand as it gains momentum, so that all researchers in the various Initiatives interested in social equity can contribute
To seek funding opportunities to support the activities outlined above.
The GENNOVATE 2 organizing team welcomes the participation of interested CGIAR Initiatives as they move forward. The organizing team will also help strengthen interactions with external resource people and research networks, in to cross-pollinate new knowledge and innovations.
If you would like to know more about GENNOVATE 2, please contact Anne Rietveld, Gender Scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and Hom Gartaula, Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
The GENNOVATE 2 workshop was supported with funds from the CGIAR Research Programs on Roots Tubers and Bananas, Maize, and Wheat.
Workshop organizers Anne Rietveld (Alliance), Cathy Rozel Farnworth (Pandia Consulting, an independent gender researcher), Diana Lopez (WUR) and Hom Gartaula (CIMMYT) guided participants. Arwen Bailey (Alliance) served as facilitator.
Participants were: Renee Bullock (ILRI); Afrina Choudhury (WorldFish); Marlene Elias (Alliance); Gundula Fischer (IITA); Eleanor Fisher (The Nordic Africa Institute/ClimBeR); Alessandra Galie (ILRI); Elisabeth Garner (Cornell University/Market Intelligence); Nadia Guettou (Alliance); Jon Hellin (IRRI); Deepa Joshi (IWMI); Berber Kramer (IFPRI); Els Lecoutere (CGIAR GENDER Platform); Angela Meentzen (CIMMYT); Gaudiose Mujawamariya (AfricaRice); Surendran Rajaratnam (WorldFish); Bela Teeken (IITA), among others.
External experts who provided methodological inputs were: Nick Vandenbroucke of Trias talking about institutional change; Shreya Agarwal of Digital Green talking about transformative data; Katja Koegler of Oxfam Novib talking about Gender Action Learning Systems (GALS) for community-led empowerment; and Phil Otieno of Advocates for Social Change (ADSOCK) talking about masculinities and working with men.
In Nepal, agriculture contributes to a third of gross domestic product and employs about 80% of the rural labor force. The rural population is comprised mostly of smallholder farmers whose level of income from agricultural production is low by international standards and the country‘s agricultural sector has become vulnerable to erratic monsoon rains. Farmers often experience unreliable rainfall and droughts that threaten their crop yields and are not resilient to climate change and water-induced hazard. This requires a rapid update of the sustainable irrigation development in Nepal. The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) Nepal COVID Response and Resilience short-term project puts emphasis on identifying and prioritizing entry points to build more efficient, reliable and flexible water services to farmers by providing a fundamental irrigation development assessment and framework at local, district and provincial levels.
Digital groundwater monitoring system and assessment of water use options
Digital system of groundwater data collection, monitoring and representation will be piloted with the government of Nepal to facilitate multi-stakeholder cooperation to provide enabling environments for inclusive irrigation development and COVID-19 response. When boosting the irrigation development, monitoring is fundamental to ensure sustainability. In addition, spatially targeted, ex-ante assessments of the potential benefits of irrigation interventions provide insights by applying machine-learning analytics and constructing data-driven models for yield and profitability responses to irrigation. Furthermore, a customized set of integrated hydrological modeling and scenario analyses can further strengthen local, district and provincial level assessment of water resources and how to build resilient and sustainable water services most productively from them.
Toward a systemic framework for sustainable scaling of irrigation in Nepal
Through interview and surveys, the project further builds systemic understanding of the technical, socioeconomic and institutional challenges and opportunities in scaling water access and irrigation technologies. This will contribute to the construction of a comprehensive irrigation development framework, achieved by the collective efforts from multiple stakeholders across different line ministries, levels of government and local stakeholders and water users. Together with the technical assessments and monitoring systems, the end goal is to provide policy guidelines and engage prioritized investments that ensure and accelerate the process of sustainable intensification in irrigation in Nepal.
A farmer in Nepal operates a water pump for drip irrigation. (Photo: Sharad Maharjan/IWMI)
Taken together, digital monitoring and readily available data on the status of groundwater resources provide a critical foundation for sustainable irrigation development. While much is known about surface water resources and hydrological and meteorological linkages between the Terai, Mid-Hills and Himalaya regions of the country, Nepal currently lacks a comprehensive system for groundwater resource monitoring.
To respond to this crucial information gap, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and International Water Management Institute (IWMI) are partnering with the Government of Nepalâs Groundwater Resources Development Board to conduct a pilot which will develop and test a potential groundwater monitoring system with the goal of identifying an approach which can be gradually scaled out after project completion.
To this end, the project team organized an Inception and Consultation Workshop, which took place virtually on October 14, 2020. This was the first in a series under the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) Nepal COVID-19 and Resilience project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Nepal, which supports farmers and rural economies in their response to COVID-19 and addresses, among others, various issues and ways forward for sustainable irrigation development.
The session aimed to introduce the digital groundwater monitoring pilot to local stakeholders, identify monitoring objectives and information needs, facilitate multi-stakeholder and inter-ministerial dialogue, and generate feedback and endorsement of the project plan. Participants were from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines, and included members of local and national authorities, research centers and universities.
Participants meet virtually at the multi-stakeholder dialogue for Nepalâs Digital Groundwater Monitoring pilot (Photo: Tim Krupnik/CIMMYT)
Madhukar Rajbhandari, director general of the Government of Nepalâs Department of Water Resources and Irrigation, opened the event and during his address highlighted the importance of groundwater irrigation for Nepalâs farming systems and livelihoods. He also captured the challenges which the country faces when developing groundwater irrigation, from polluted water resources through urbanization to lack of market access and the high maintenance costs of irrigation infrastructure. Rajbhandari noted that âagricultural and irrigation projects lack coordinationâ and expressed his hope that âthrough this pilot, the way is paved for a collaborative approach to develop practical groundwater solutions for farmers.â
The session introduced participants to the project and its background, leading breakout sessions for two groups: the first containing local, state and national government representatives; the second comprising farmers, researchers and members of industry. Each group was asked to identify the groundwater monitoring objectives and information needs that they would have as different types of users, and to provide feedback and recommendations to improve the project work plan.
The feedback showed that while government representatives are largely interested in developing a better understanding of the groundwater development potential, researchers and farmers are more concerned with possible discharge and water quality. Monitoring frequency was also identified as useful for daily to monthly timescales.
The group discussion revealed participantsâ keen interest in consolidating and monitoring groundwater information, which highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement when developing pilots such as these, to ensure that when scaling is achieved, it caters to specific needs. Participants also expressed a strong interest in bringing the results of the project within the ambit of national policy, which would achieve the streamlining of data collection protocols for standardized, publicly accessible, data collection mechanisms.
âIt is very encouraging to see such active participation and engagement from all the participants throughout the workshop,â noted Timothy Krupnik, project leader and a senior scientist at CIMMYT. âWe look forward to maintaining this momentum, to support Nepalâs efforts in strengthening its capacity for sustainable irrigation.â
On May 15, 2019, as part of the CGIAR System Council meeting held at the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, around 200 Ethiopian and international research and development stakeholders convened for the CGIAR Agriculture Research for Development Knowledge Share Fair. This exhibition offered a rare opportunity to bring the country’s major development investors together to learn and exchange about how CGIAR investments in Ethiopia help farmers and food systems be more productive, sustainable, climate resilient, nutritious, and inclusive.
Under the title One CGIAR â greater than the sum of its parts â the event offered the opportunity to highlight close partnerships between CGIAR centers, the Ethiopian government and key partners including private companies, civil society organizations and funding partners. The fair was organized around the five global challenges from CGIAR’s business plan: planetary boundaries, sustaining food availability, promoting equality of opportunity, securing public health, and creating jobs and growth. CGIAR and its partners exhibited collaborative work documenting the successes and lessons in working through an integrated approach.
There were 36 displays in total, 5 of which were presented by CIMMYT team members. Below are the five posters presented.
How can the data revolution help deliver better agronomy to African smallholder farmers?
This sustainability display showed scalable approaches and tools to generate site-specific agronomic advice, developed through the Taking Maize Agronomy to Scale in Africa (TAMASA) project in Nigeria, Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Maize and wheat: Strategic crops to fill Ethiopiaâs food basket
This poster describes how CGIAR works with Ethiopiaâs research & development sector to support national food security priorities.
Addressing gender norms in Ethiopiaâs wheat sector
Research shows that restrictive gender norms prevent womenâs ability to innovate and become productive. This significantly impacts Ethiopiaâs economy (over 1% GDP) and family welfare and food security.
Quality Protein Maize (QPM) for better nutrition in Ethiopia
With the financial support of the government of Canada, CIMMYT together with national partners tested and validated Quality Protein Maize as an alternative to protein intake among poor consumers.
Appropriate small-scale mechanization
The introduction of small-scale mechanization into the Ethiopian agriculture sector has the potential to create thousands of jobs in machinery service provision along the farming value chain.
About the CGIAR System Council
The CGIAR System Council is the strategic decision-making body of the CGIAR System that keeps under review the strategy, mission, impact and continued relevancy of the System as a whole. The Council meets face-to-face not less than twice per year and conducts business electronically between sessions. Additional meetings can be held if necessary.
Index insurance is one of the top 10 innovations for climate-proof farming. Photo: P. Lowe/ CIMMYT
What stands between a smallholder farmer and a bag of climate-adapted seeds? In many cases, itâs the hesitation to take a risk. Farmers may want to use improved varieties, invest in new tools, or diversify what they grow, but they need reassurance that their investments and hard work will not be squandered.
Climate change already threatens crops and livestock; one unfortunately-timed dry spell or flash flood can mean losing everything. Today, innovative insurance products are tipping the balance in farmersâ favor. Thatâs why insurance is featured as one of 10 innovations for climate action in agriculture, in a new report released ahead of next weekâs UN Climate Talks. These innovations are drawn from decades of agricultural research for development by CGIAR and its partners and showcase an array of integrated solutions that can transform the food system.
Index insurance is making a difference to farmers at the frontlines of climate change. It is an essential building block for adapting our global food system and helping farmers thrive in a changing climate. Taken together with other innovations like stress-tolerant crop varieties, climate-informed advisories for farmers, and creative business and financial models, index insurance shows tremendous promise.
The concept is simple. To start with, farmers who are covered can recoup their losses if (for example) rainfall or average yield falls above or below a pre-specified threshold or âindexâ. This is a leap forward compared to the costly and slow process of manually verifying the damage and loss in each farmerâs field. In India, scientists from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), have worked out the water level thresholds that could spell disaster for rice farmers if exceeded. Combining 35 years of observed rainfall and other data, with high-resolution satellite images of actual flooding, scientists and insurers can accurately gauge the extent of flooding and crop loss to quickly determine who gets payouts.
The core feature of index insurance is to offer a lifeline to farmers, so they can shield themselves from the very worst effects of climate change. But thatâs not all. Together with my team, weâre investigating how insurance can help farmers adopt new and improved varieties. Scientists are very good at developing technologies but farmers are not always willing to make the leap. This is one of the most important challenges that we grapple with. What weâve found has amazed us: buying insurance can help farmers overcome uncertainty and give them the confidence to invest in new innovations and approaches. This is critical for climate change adaptation. Weâre also finding that creditors are more willing to lend to insured farmers and that insurance can stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation. Ultimately, insurance can help break poverty traps, by encouraging a transformation in farming.
Insurers at the cutting edge are making it easy for farmers to get coverage. In Kenya, insurance is being bundled into bags of maize seeds, in a scheme led by ACRE Africa. Farmers pay a small premium when buying the seeds and each bag contains a scratch card with a code, which farmers text to ACRE at the time of planting. This initiates coverage against drought for the next 21 days; participating farms are monitored using satellite imagery. If there are enough days without rain, a farmer gets paid instantly via their mobile phone.
ACRE makes it easy for Kenyan farmers to get insurance. Source
Farmers everywhere are businesspeople who seek to increase yields and profits while minimizing risk and losses. As such, insurance has widespread appeal. Weâve seen successful initiatives grow rapidly in India, China, Zambia, Kenya and Mexico, which points to significant potential in other countries and contexts. The farmers most likely to benefit from index insurance are emergent and commercial farmers, as they are more likely than subsistence smallholder farmers to purchase insurance on a continual basis.
Itâs time for more investment in index insurance and other innovations that can help farmers adapt to climate change. Countries have overwhelmingly prioritized climate actions in the agriculture sector, and sustained support is now needed to help them meet the goals set out in the Paris Climate Agreement.
