Location: Angola

Enhancing food security and income for smallholder farmers in Angola

Written by dmedina on March 5, 2024. Posted in In the media.

The Angola Smallholder Agriculture Development and Commercialization Project (SADCP or MOSAP2), with crucial input from CIMMYT, markedly improved food security and income for 179,000 smallholder farmers in Angola from 2016 to 2022. By introducing 4,000 Farmer Field Schools and innovative agricultural practices, including CIMMYT’s improved seeds, the project boosted crop yields by up to 196% and increased the sale of produce significantly, showcasing the transformative impact of integrating scientific research with farmer education in post-conflict agricultural recovery.

Read the full story.

Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 26, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project aims to mitigate drought and other constraints to maize production in sub-Saharan Africa, increasing maize yields by at least one ton per hectare under moderate drought and with a 20 to 30 percent increase over farmers’ current yields, benefiting up to 40 million people in 13 African countries. The project brings together farmers, research institutions, extension specialists, seed producers, farmer community organizations and non-governmental organizations. It is jointly implemented by CIMMYT and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, in close collaboration with national agricultural research systems in participating nations. Millions of farmers in the region are already benefiting from the outputs of this partnership, which includes support and training for African seed producers and promoting vibrant, competitive seed markets.

Achievements:

Between 2007 and 12, participants marketed or otherwise made available 60 drought tolerant hybrids and 57 open-pollinated varieties to smallholder farmers
In addition to drought tolerance, the new varieties and hybrids also possess such desirable traits as resistance to major diseases
Engage government officials in policy dialogue to help fast-track varietal releases and fosters competitive seed markets and more
widespread access to quality seed at affordable prices
Help ensure farmers’ access to the best possible products and services, coordinate various capacity-building events and
activities for maize breeders, technicians, seed producers, extension workers, non-government organizations and farmer groups
Provide technical and advisory support to 50 African undergraduate and 28 African graduate students
Expand smallholder farmers’ use of drought and other stress tolerant maize seed to benefit 30 to 40 million people and provide added grain worth $160-200 million each year in drought-affected areas of sub-Saharan Africa

Principal coordinator

Tsedeke Abate

Women at a maize mill in Ethiopia. (Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)

How collaboration can help grow and transform agriculture in Africa

Written by on May 16, 2018. Posted in Blogs.

It’s been four years since African leaders met in Equatorial Guinea to commit themselves to boosting agricultural growth across the continent. This is an important way to create real change in Africa. During the gathering, all the African Union’s heads of state signed the Malabo Declaration. It offered a blueprint for Africa’s agricultural sectors, to be achieved by 2025.

For example, the declaration called for at least 10% of any nation’s public expenditure to be allocated to agriculture and rural development. It also set out plans for increasing countries’ food security by intensifying agriculture in a way that didn’t destroy the environment.

There has been some progress in attaining these goals, as a recent status report conducted by the African Union Commission shows. But there’s still a great deal of work to be done.

The report shows that in 2015 and 2016 only ten of the 47 signatory states reached or exceeded the target of 10 percent investment in public expenditure in agriculture and rural development. These are Malawi, Ethiopia, Angola, Egypt, Sudan, Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea. Some other countries had invested as little as 0.6 percent of public expenditure in these crucial sectors. Only 20 of the 47 signatories are on track to meet the declaration’s goals by 2025.

There’s no doubt that investment in agriculture can empower economic transformation in the region. But money alone can’t solve Africa’s agricultural problems. International collaboration is key. And it can yield real results, as a project we’re involved in has proved.

The project has relied on multidisciplinary teams of both local and international researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, The University of Queensland and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa. Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania’s departments of agriculture are also involved.

The collaborative effort has meant that it’s been possible to address multiple constraints. These include low crop productivity, poor market access, environmental degradation, and social inequalities. The project had a strong value chain focus. This involves linking – among others – farmers, agribusinesses, traders and policy makers. The result has been improved productivity. We’ve also seen reduced climate risks and improved soil fertility and soil conservation among highly vulnerable smallholder farmers in five East and Southern African countries.

Initiatives like these can help translate the Malabo Declaration from mere document to reality.

Great gains

The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa Programme is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre. It is funded by the Australian government. Researchers from Australia and the participating African countries have worked together with researchers from the centre.

The project was set up in 2010 in response to major concerns about food security across the eastern and southern Africa regions. So far, 258,393 smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania have benefited from our activities. We expect this number to increase to 600,000 by 2020.

To date, up to 91 percent of the targeted farmers have adopted at least one of sustainable intensification practices the project promotes. These practices include using drought tolerant maize non-GMO varieties; the rotation of maize and legumes; and intercrops, where a legume is sown into a standing maize crop.

Yields have increased between 30 and 60 percent across the five countries because these practices and associated technologies were adopted.

We don’t only work directly with farmers. It’s important to develop skills and capacity in crop and soil management, market development, resource conservation, gender issues and project management and evaluation.

One key resource here has been the Australia Awards Scholarships. These give people from developing countries the chance to undertake undergraduate or postgraduate studies at Australian institutions. So far this award has supported 65 master’s and doctoral candidates.

Once they return to their countries, these graduates can contribute to solving the complex problems of achieving food security and eliminating poverty. They apply modern research tools, inform policy, train others and even provide leadership in their original institutions.

Harnessing potential

The Malabo Declaration is a useful document against which to measure progress. It offers countries clear targets. It sets metrics against which they can monitor their success. This will help countries to achieve many of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 – including those related to agriculture and food security.

The work of the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa Programme offers an insight into how these goals can be met.

Countries must develop a better understanding of constraints and opportunities so they can massively scale out more productive, efficient and sustainable farm practices. They also need to develop markets, value chains and supporting policies and institutions. And crucially, continued collaborations will be necessary to increase the continent’s capacity in science, extension, policy, institutions, governance and leadership.

These must be priorities to harness Africa’s agricultural potential and spur economic growth.

This article orinally appeared on The Conversation. For the full article, click here.

Millions of smallholders in Africa benefit from climate resilient drought-tolerant maize

Written by on April 21, 2016. Posted in Features.

Traditional maize storage in Tete province in Mozambique, April 27, 2015. CIMMYT/Tsedeke Abate

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – At least 40 million smallholder farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa are profiting from more than 200 new drought-tolerant varieties of maize produced as part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project, according to scientists at the Center for International Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT).

The project, underway between 2007 and 2015, led to the development of varieties with traits preferred by farmers that have successfully made smallholders in 13 countries more resilient to the erratic effects of climate change on growing conditions.

“Smallholder farmers in this region plant maize varieties that are obsolete and end up getting poor harvests, but that’s changing now thanks to the gallant efforts of the DTMA team that has released and commercialized a large number of modern varieties,” said Tsedeke Abate, the CIMMYT scientist who led the project. “Thanks to the new drought-tolerant varieties, many families have managed to overcome harsh growing conditions and boost yields substantially.”

In 2014 alone, more than 5 million smallholder farmer households planted the new varieties on 2.1 million hectares (5.2 million acres), an area roughly the size of El Salvador. Overall, 54,000 metric tons of high quality seed were produced in 2014 through the DTMA project, which received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Britain’s Department for International Development, the Howard G. Buffet Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

COMPLEX CHALLENGES

“The adoption of the improved drought tolerant seed varied from one country to another and each county had unique challenges that made it difficult for some farmers to take up the new varieties. Some farmers were not aware of the availability of the seed in their markets, for some the seed was not available or the price was high,” Abate said. “We worked with national seed companies in these countries to increase production of certified seed so that many more farmers can buy the seed at an affordable price as well as demonstrating the benefits of the new varieties.”

Anthony Mwega, a farmer and leader in Olkalili village, in Hai district a semi-arid area in northern Tanzania about 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the capital Dar es Salaam, beat the price constraint by mobilizing 66 farmers from his village and neighboring villages Makiwaru and Ngaikati to pool resources and buy 5 metric tons of HB513 – a drought-tolerant and nitrogen-use efficient variety – at a very affordable price from Meru Agro Tours and Consultant Seed Company.

“The overall purchasing price we bought the seed for was about 50 percent less than the market price because we bought it in bulk,” said Mwega. “I saw how good the maize performed in demonstrations organized by Meru Agro during the 2014 planting season with extremely low rains, and knew this is a variety that my people would definitely benefit from.”

Scientists project that millions more farmers will gain access to and plant the new varieties due to collaborations with more than 100 national seed companies, which continue to make a significant contribution to the improvement of seed systems in Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

“Collaboration with CIMMYT through the DTMA project has been extremely instrumental in facilitating me to release my own varieties,” said Zubeda Mduruma of Aminata Seed Company in Tanga, Tanzania who has collaborated with CIMMYT both in maize breeding and production work since 1976.

“I was able to get some of the best germplasm, evaluate them through on-farm and on-station trials, and successfully released three of the best drought tolerant varieties in the market, including one quality protein DT variety that is very popular among women because of its nutritional value. With the quality of maize we get from CIMMYT, it’s very possible to release new improved varieties every year with much better yield compared to popular commercial varieties in our shops.”

The story of this success is told through a series of pictures and profiles of DTMA target countries. Each country profile illustrates the context of national maize production and the changes underway thanks to released drought-tolerant varieties.

The DTMA project will continue, first as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) initiative. Under the project, which is funded by USAID, CIMMYT scientists aim to facilitate the production of close to 12,000 metric tons of certified seed for use by about 2.5 million people, in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

In partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture who partnered with CIMMYT in DTMA work, the new Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa project will also carry forward the success and invaluable lessons from DTMA and CIMMYT’s Improved Maize for Africa Soils project, to develop new stress tolerant varieties to help farmers mitigate multiple stresses that occur concurrently in farmers’ fields.

Going further down the path to bolster Africa’s maize sector

Latest DT Maize Bulletin

Angola: shifting from landraces to improved maize varieties

Written by on May 2, 2014. Posted in News.

By Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

CIMMYT, in partnership with the Instituto de Investigação Agronómica (IIA), the Angolan national agricultural research institute, is helping the country shift from using maize landraces to locally adapted materials.

Angola is rebuilding its infrastructure after a prolonged civil war that slowed down agricultural production. During the war, farmers could not access improved maize seed and relied on landraces. “After the war, they started shifting from the landraces to open-pollinated varieties (OPVs),” explained Peter Setimela, CIMMYT seed systems specialist. “Five years ago, there were no improved maize seeds in Angola. Now, we have some good OPVs and hybrids.”

Pivot irrigation at a seed production farm in Angola. Both Kambondo and Matogrosso farms use pivot irrigation; this frees the farms from dependence on rain for seed production.

The country has been importing improved maize varieties from Brazil and France, though not without problems. “They discovered that some of these varieties were hampered by diseases such as gray leaf spot, maize streak virus and northern leaf blight,” said CIMMYT breeder Cosmos Magorokosho. Working in partnership with IIA breeders, CIMMYT scientists have been testing materials that are locally adapted, some of which are now being produced by local seed companies. Last month, a multidisciplinary team from CIMMYT and IIA, led by the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project Leader Tsedeke Abate, went on a field tour in Angola.

The team visited seed production farms in Kwanza Sul, demonstrations and on-farm and on-station trials at the IIA Chianga experimental station in Huambo to evaluate drought-tolerant maize varieties being grown and tested in the country. The team, including CIMMYT and IIA breeding, communications, seed systems and socioeconomics staff, visited a community seed production farm managed by Cooperativa Faca Tudo Pelo Tempo (“do everything on time” in Portuguese). The farmer’s cooperative produces rain-fed basic seed for the OPV maize varieties ZM309, ZM521 and ZM523, with technical support from IIA breeder Dibanzilua Nginamau. The cooperative is an umbrella body for 30 farmer groups with 1,250 members, including 600 women, according to Nginamau.

Participants stand in front of 50 hectares of the CIMMYT hybrid CZH03030 and a rainbow at Kambondo farm in Kwanza Sul, Angola.

The team visited smallholder farmer Dominga Ngueve, who planted varieties for demonstration on her farm near the Chianga station. “I prefer ZM309 because it matures early and I am able to get [maize for] food earlier,” Ngueve said. “When improved seed is unavailable, I buy local varieties from other farmers.” The smallholder farmer practices the crop rotation of planting maize during the long season and beans during the low season. She also grows cassava and potatoes. “Our food crop is maize; if you sell it, you create hunger,” said Ngueve, explaining the importance of maize in her community.

CIMMYT is helping Angola improve this important crop. “Angola has great potential for advancing agriculture,” Abate said, citing the country’s arable land and water resources. CIMMYT is using its germplasm resources to help public and private sector partners, such as SEDIAC, Matogrosso and Kambondo farms, that have recently ventured into seed production in Angola. CIMMYT is also contributing to capacity building by training breeders and technicians from the national program and seed companies.

Visitors at the DTMA stand during the SEDIAC field day in Kwanza Sul, Angola.

Angola is producing ZM523 on 560 hectares at Kambondo and Matogrosso farms with technical support from DTMA. An expected 2,400 tons of certified seed will be available for use by local farmers in the coming season. These two companies are well-positioned to produce certified seed through irrigation, as they each have six units of pivot irrigation that enable them to continue production even when the rains are erratic.

Kambondo farm has already produced nine tons of CZH03030 and has planted 50 hectares of the same variety for grain production. Abate commended SEDIAC for hosting the field day. “It is an opportunity for researchers from the national agriculture research system to network with all the agricultural stakeholders in Angola,” he said. The field day was also attended by three traditional leaders from the local community.

Through the collaborative work of IIA, CIMMYT, seed companies and cooperatives to strengthen seed systems in Angola, “farmers can increase their food security and livelihoods by taking up droughttolerant varieties,” said CIMMYT socioeconomist Rodney Lunduka.

Seed systems team strategizes and plans for Africa

Written by on March 10, 2014. Posted in News.

By Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

The CIMMYT-Africa seed systems team met in Nairobi, Kenya, on 7 February to take stock of progress in 2013, identify challenges and brainstorm on turning those challenges into opportunities. Global Maize Program (GMP) Director B.M. Prasanna and members of the breeding, communications and socioeconomics teams also attended.

NSIMA: Seeding hope for smallholder farmers through partnerships

Written by on August 21, 2013. Posted in News.

DSC_6274_loading-maize-seed-for-transportation To achieve food security, smallholder farmers in Southern Africa require access to improved seed and inputs for higher yields. “Seed is one of the key movers in agricultural development,” says John MacRobert, New Seed Initiative for Maize in Southern Africa (NSIMA) leader, indicating the importance of going beyond developing improved seed varieties to encompass their dissemination, promotion, and adoption in developing strategies around seed development. These issues, together with NSIMA’s to date progress (the project is in its third phase) and strategies for the next phase, were discussed at a meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, during 7-9 August 2013. About 50 participants from institutions collaborating on the project led by CIMMYT and funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) were present; among them were representatives from national agricultural research institutes, seed companies, and institutions of higher learning from Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

“Some of the challenges of the maize crop can be addressed by research,” said Moses Mwale, Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) director, during the opening ceremony. “The rest can be addressed by other players in the maize sector,” he added, emphasizing the importance of collaboration within the maize seed value chain. Challenges such as variable distribution of rainfall, low soil fertility, and heat and drought stress can be addressed by improved varieties from CIMMYT-led projects including the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS). Other climate-change related issues in small-scale farming could be confronted via conservation agriculture. For example, cover crops and crop residue left on the soil help to retain moisture and thus mitigate the impact of droughts.

DSC_6239_Seed-Cos-Edgar-Rupende-addressing-participants But do smallholder farmers have access to the new seeds, technologies, and information? The answer is often no. “Integrating stress tolerant maize and legumes, such as pigeon peas, beans, and cowpeas, leads to sustainable production systems. We need effective seed road maps to enhance access and availability of improved maize and legume seeds,” CIMMYT regional director for Southern Africa Mulugetta Mekuria said, giving an example of one such gap in the system.

Seed companies and community-based organizations producing seed play a very significant role in fixing these issues. Nelson Munyaka from the SDC Seeds and Markets Project spoke of the success of Zaka Superseeds, a nascent seed company that transformed from a community seed enterprise. MacRobert agreed: “In Benin and Congo, where we do not have seed companies, the community seed producers could learn from Zaka’s experience and grow into full-fledged seed businesses with the proper structures.” DTMA project leader Tsedeke Abate added that mainstreaming drought tolerant maize varieties in the product portfolio of seed enterprises could have a significant impact.

Policy makers in the seed value chain must be engaged as well. “Many projects do not seem to believe in smallholder ability,” said consultant Michael Jenrich. The policies that govern the seed trade tend to vary among the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. An SDC-funded initiative to implement harmonized seed laws in all SADC countries to facilitate easier intra-regional seed movement is currently under way. “So far, 10 countries have signed the memorandum of understanding,” said K C Kawonga, SADC Seed Centre interim coordinator. Such laws would enhance seed trade and contribute to food security by ensuring farmers’ access to improved seed, especially during times of disaster.

DSC_6338_plaque-for-Malawi “Private sector players steer away from smallholders viewing them as high risk because of their poor infrastructure, lack of credit, and land tenure, while governments may not view them as a viable investment,” Jenrich summarized the lack of interest in smallholders’ problems. Zaka Superseeds proves them wrong; cooperating with smallholders can, in fact, be beneficial for seed companies, as they can work more closely with the community consuming their seed. Zaka, for example, is removing a product from its selection after consultations with the community during which they found out the discussed maize variety has a long maturity period and is thus undesirable.

The meeting ended on a high note with the announcement of the 2012 DTMA Breeding and Dissemination Awards winners. Malawi won first prize for both categories; the breeding award runners-up were Zambia and Zimbabwe, and Zimbabwe also took second position in drought tolerant technologies dissemination.

Swiss Ambassador visits CIMMYT-Harare

Written by on May 22, 2013. Posted in News.

Physiologist Jill Cairns talks about climate change with the Swiss Ambassador. — Physiologist Jill Cairns talks about climate
change with the Swiss Ambassador.

The Ambassador of Switzerland to Angola, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, Luciano Lavizzari, accompanied by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Food Security program officer for Zimbabwe Mkhululi Ngwenya, visited the CIMMYT Regional office for Southern Africa in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 23 April 2013. The CIMMYT-Harare staff provided a tour around the facilities and briefed them on CIMMYT’s work on food security geared towards finding solutions to challenges faced by farmers.

In the beginning of the visit, CIMMYT physiologist Jill Cairns discussed the issue of climate change. “As a result of climate change, the seasons are going to be much shorter,” explained Cairns, adding that in a region with the lowest maize yields globally, a lot more effort is required to deploy germplasm and farming systems adapted to respond to constraints in the region. Cairns discussed the work done by CIMMYT scientists in countering stresses such as low nitrogen, drought, and heat stress along the maize breeding pipeline from population development, pedigree breeding, to regional and on-farm trials in over 100 diverse locations. She also covered the phenotyping tools used in the research work and highlighted research gains in maize yields, many of which result from highly drought-tolerant maize lines and improved efficiencies of maize breeding pipeline in Eastern and Southern Africa.

John MacRobert, seed systems specialist, highlighted the importance of harmonizing seed systems in the region. “Some countries, like Zimbabwe, have very well developed seed sectors, while others are largely informal,” MacRobert said, stressing the negative consequences this may have on farmers. He then explained the importance of on-farm trials in incorporating farmer preferences such as grain texture in breeding work, using the example of SDC-funded New Seed Initiative for Maize in Southern Africa (NSIMA), a project whose acronym is fashioned after a popular maize staple dish in Zambia and Malawi known as nsima: “NSIMA targets a subset of smallholder farmers who consume the maize that they grow.” MacRobert also highlighted collaboration with other SDC projects whose seed systems encourage community-based seed companies targeting smallholder farmers.

Next on the agenda was conservation agriculture covered by agronomist Christian Thierfelder. “It is crucial to link improved varieties with the best management practices to ensure the sustainability of the cropping system,” stressed Thierfelder who then went on to demonstrate a range of sowing equipment from a stick to animal traction planters used in conservation agriculture.

Seed systems specialist Peter Setimela explains the importance of regional on-farm trials to the Swiss Ambassador Luciano Lavizzari (middle) and SDC Food Security program officer for Zimbabwe Mkhululi Ngwenya.

Socioeconomist Girma T. Kassie turned attention to the consequences of lack of funding for smallholder farmers. For example, lack of funding programs to help the smallholder farmers acquire equipment limits uptake of improved planting practices. “Research on the impact of improved technologies aimed at improving livelihoods of smallholder farmers can help identify the gaps in technology transfer,” he added. Afterwards, the visitors toured CIMMYT trials where they observed the discussed technologies in the field.

CIMMYT has had a long-standing relationship with Switzerland through SDC, which currently funds several CIMMYT projects geared towards improving food security of smallholder farmers in East and Southern Africa. The projects, focusing on post-harvest losses reduction, conservation agriculture, and improved seed systems, include the Effective Grain Storage Project (EGSP), Seeds and Markets Project (SAMP), Harmonized Seed Security Project (HaSSP), and NSIMA. In addition, the SDC funds the ‘SDC-Junior Professional Officer’ supporting agronomist Stephanie Cheesman at the Global Conservation Agriculture Program team. CIMMYT highly appreciates the continued support from the Swiss government through SDC.

DTMA III holds annual meeting

Written by on October 26, 2012. Posted in News.

The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Initiative held its first annual meeting of phase 3 during 24- 28 September 2012 at the Nairobi Safari Club Hotel in Kenya. The meeting was attended by 83 participants representing national programs, training institutions from DTMA partner countries (Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe), project’s advisory board members, and seed companies. The participants reviewed and discussed the progress made during the first year of the project, and visited the Western Seed company production fields in Rongai, Nakuru County.

DTMA has produced 105 maize varieties, 48 hybrids, and 57 open-pollinated varieties between 2007 and 2012. In addition, the project has trained technicians, breeders, and seed companies in seed business management in Eastern, Western, and Southern Africa. The meeting highlighted the varieties developed by DTMA for drought-prone areas, whose performance also matches or exceeds that of commercial varieties under optimum conditions. In Southern Africa, on-farm trials of drought-tolerant (DT) hybrids produced 20-30 % more yield than the common check variety. In Western Africa, DT open-pollinated varieties produced up to 40 % more yield than farmer varieties during on-farm trials.

There is a surge in new DT varieties, particularly hybrids, being registered and coming into production in all DTMA countries. In addition, uptake of DT lines by companies holding important market shares (e.g. Seed Co and Kenya Seed Company) is increasing. The total production of DT varieties in the 13 DTMA countries reached more than 25,000 MT in 2012, with the largest amount being produced in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi. Seed policy workshops have created conditions for national governments to address maize seed sector development.

drying-maize-seed-in-the-sun

Achievements for drought tolerant maize breeding in southern Africa

Written by on August 21, 2012. Posted in News.

Breeding-Award-Zimbabwe-2012 Maize plays a pivotal role in the livelihoods of people in southern Africa: its annual per capita consumption is around 85 kg. In the past season, however, farmers in Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and much of Zimbabwe experienced a severe drought that significantly reduced their harvests.

Despite the negative effects for many farmers in the region, the drought has allowed CIMMYT breeders to assess the real value of new maize varieties and to improve crop productivity and resilience in the face of variable climate. To present the results of their research, partners in the southern Africa maize seed value chain gathered for an annual collaborators meeting in August. The meeting was attended by stakeholders from national maize working groups of 10 countries, including scientists from the national agricultural research organizations, seed companies, and NGOs. During his opening speech, Ngoni Masoka, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development of the Government of Zimbabwe, acknowledged and commended CIMMYT for its long and sustained support of maize research in southern Africa, and Zimbabwe in particular.

Prasanna-Masoka-2 Participants discussed some of their notable achievements from 2011-12. Angola began its first commercial-scale production of the drought tolerant hybrid seed with Agropequária Kambondo and produced significant quantities of the drought tolerant openpollinated variety (OPV) ZM523. Farmers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo produced 80 tons of the drought tolerant OPV ZM623 through community-based seed schemes. Lesotho released a quality protein maize variety, and Zambia’s national program made significant progress in breeding for drought tolerance. Local emerging seed companies in Mozambique have begun production of one drought tolerant OPV and three drought tolerant hybrids.

The annual meeting also provided an opportunity to recognize the national programs that have excelled in breeding and seed dissemination in 2011/12. Zimbawbe was awarded Best Drought Tolerance Breeding Team for maintaining an excellent track record in developing and releasing improved drought tolerant varieties. The Runner-up Breeding Team Award went to Angola for the significant invigoration and improvement of breeding efforts at Huambo. The Best Drought Tolerance Dissemination Team Award went to Malawi for the great increase in drought tolerant OPV seed production and uptake amongst small-holder farmers, and the Runner-up Award in this category was presented to Mozambique for notable efforts and new initiatives in promotion and production of drought tolerant varieties.

Southern-Africa-ACM-2012

Angola to strengthen DTMA collaboration

Written by on July 6, 2012. Posted in News.

During the week of 18-22 June 2012, the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project leader Tsedeke Abate, accompanied by CIMMYT maize breeder Cosmos Magorokosho and socioeconomist Girma Tesfahun visited Angola, where they received a warm welcome from the government. Dibanzilua Nginamau, from DTMA in Angola, accompanied them on their visit. The trip provided the DTMA team an opportunity to dialogue with government officials and seed company representatives.

The DTMA team met with the permanent secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MOARDF), José Rodrígues Prata Junior, on 19 June 2012. Prata Junior expressed his enthusiasm about working with CIMMYT and said that he is keenly following DTMA work with the Instituto de Investigaçao Agronómica (IIA). Maize is crucial to the Angolan economy; last year, the country imported 700,000 metric tons of maize grain. In 2011, DTMA facilitated the purchase of 14 tons of basic seed of the drought tolerant open pollinated variety ZM 523 (a CIMMYT-derived variety) from Agri Seed, a Zimbabwean company.

The team also attended the Angola National Coordinating Unit meeting at IIA-Huambo, opened by the institute’s director general Mpanzo Domingos and which brought together DTMA national partners. The team met with Antonio Faceira, the proprietor of Mundo Verde, a private company that works with DTMA in Angola.

Last year, Faceira supplied 600 tons of ZM 523 to the government at no cost for distribution to smallholder farmers. Next year, he hopes to expand this to 2,000 tons. The DTMA team visited the Mundo Verde farm which has an average yield for maize of 8 t/ha (the current national yield is about 0.7 t/ha).

IMG_016ANGOLA The CIMMYT team, accompanied by Nginamau and Faceira, had a second meeting with Prata Junior on 22 June 2012. Thanking him for the warm welcome and willingness to support DTMA work in Angola, Abate pointed out the need for favorable policies on variety release and the involvement of the private sector in developing a sustainable seed production and delivery system. Discussions during the meeting also emphasized the need for the agriculture ministry to set targets for increasing the maize yield within the next five years. Abate reiterated CIMMYT’s willingness to offer technical support towards achieving the government’s goal of accelerated maize production. Prata Junior welcomed the suggestions and asked for immediate support in capacity building. He also emphasized the need for the capacity to produce basic seed within Angola and pointed out that the country is importing an additional 20,000 tons seed for the coming season. Prata Junior said the introduction of early-maturing hybrids would be highly appreciated in light of recurrent droughts in the country. He also pledged to follow up with the MOARDF for the large-scale dissemination of DTMA varieties.

Maize without borders: Reforming maize seed sector policies to meet farmers’ needs in Africa

Written by on May 14, 2012. Posted in Features.

CIMMYT E-News, vol 5 no. 10, October 2008

Senior policy makers from sub-Saharan Africa have recently made recommendations for policy actions to reform operations in the maize seed sector. At stake is better access for millions of small-scale farmers to affordable, quality seed of maize, the region’s food staple. CIMMYT is closely involved.

oct01 In the 2006-07 cropping season, 82 registered maize seed companies produced the bulk of just over 100,000 tons of improved maize seed that were marketed in the major maize producing countries of eastern and southern Africa (excluding South Africa) — enough to sow 35% of the maize land in those countries.

A recent CIMMYT study found that restrictive national policies, lack of credit opportunities, inadequate seed production capacities, insufficient numbers of recently released public sector varieties, and challenging marketing situations were the main reasons why maize seed sector growth is slow in many African countries. Worse, this situation contributes significantly to Africa’s poor food security and farm incomes.

“The good news is that we have today four times more seed companies than ten years ago and they have increased seed provision from 26% to 35% of the total planted maize area,” says CIMMYT socioeconomist Augustine Langyintuo. “Yet there is still a significant, unmet demand for seed, and this underscores the need for new policies that support efficient seed production, processing, and marketing.”

In 2007 Langyintuo led the above-mentioned study to characterize seed providers and bottlenecks to seed supplies in eastern and southern Africa. A total of 117 representatives from seed companies, national research programs, and CBOs/NGOs participated, and information was gathered on the seed sectors in Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In July 2008, more than 60 senior policy makers from agriculture ministries, private seed companies, seed trade associations, and regional trade blocs from 13 sub-Saharan African countries met in Nairobi, Kenya and recommended ways to improve farmers’ access to seed of improved drought tolerant maize varieties through specific policy actions to enhance the production, release, and marketing of these varieties. They agreed with the findings of the 2007 seed sector study.

Understanding the hurdles

The main findings were that investment capital requirements and a shortage of qualified staff hinder the growth of small, local seed companies that have emerged over the past decade, according to Langyintuo. “The costs of setting up and running an office, recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, and procuring and operating production, processing, and storage facilities are beyond what many local businesses can afford, and access to operational credit is limited or nil,” he says.

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Up to 60% of a seed company’s operational budget goes into seed production. Seed companies, therefore, need affordable credit over the mid-to-long term to produce enough seed to meet farmers’ needs. Marketing seed is also costly. “Most companies rely on third-party agents such as agro-dealers, large retail stores, NGOs, or the government to retail most of their seed,” says Langyintuo. “The majority of the agro-dealers lack funds to purchase seed, and so must take it on consignment, forcing companies to retrieve unsold seed at cost. The dealers are normally not knowledgeable enough about the seed they sell to promote it effectively, and some of them have also been known to adulterate seed with mere grain.”

Other hurdles identified include cumbersome varietal release, registration, and seed certification regulations, as well as a weak producer base, slow access to the best germplasm, uncompetitive prices in local grain markets, low adoption rates of improved varieties, restrictions on cross-border trade in seed, and poor infrastructure (such as bad roads and inadequate storage facilities).

Policy actions needed

To get farmers the seed they want will involve a range of players in the maize seed sector and calls for specific policy actions. Participants in the July 2008 meeting identified ways in which governments and international centers like CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) can assist and support current seed companies to improve their seed outputs and profits.

“The government is supporting the maize seed sector through initiatives such as increasing investments in agricultural research and extension, training of agro-dealers, and developing the National Seed Industry Policy,” confirms Kenya’s Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Japheth Mbiuki.

“Seed companies would benefit from access to a wider range of improved maize varieties, good seed production sites, affordable inputs, and training in effective business practices,” adds Langyintuo. CIMMYT normally distributes its experimental varieties freely to everyone, but granting companies some degree of exclusivity in their use would facilitate branding and promote sales. This would have to be tailored to specific country and company contexts, according to Langyintuo.

Maize seed without borders

No country is an island, and with increasing regional integration of economies around the world, it makes sense that the region should move as one in developing its maize seed sector. Regional trade blocs such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) are key. “Specific actions and commitments by national governments include dedicating increased funds (at least 10% of their national budgets) for agricultural development and harmonization of regional seed regulations,” says Ambassador Nagla El-Hussainy, COMESA Assistant Secretary General. “This will improve rates of variety release, lower costs in dealing with regulatory authorities, increase trade in seed of improved varieties and, ultimately, adoption by farmers.” In East Africa, for instance, the national seed policies of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are at various stages of development and are set to be harmonized soon.

“Effective trade and risk management strategies that buffer seed supply within countries are needed to stabilize and increase maize production in the region,” says Marianne Bänziger, CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director. “These will mitigate the impact of drought and national production fluctuations, which are some of the harsh realities that farmers and consumers face.”

“Where applicable, carrying out the distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) tests alongside national performance trials (NPT) could speed up varietal releases,” adds Langyintuo. “Farmers’ awareness of the usefulness and availability of new varieties can be raised through improved extension message delivery, widespread demonstrations, and better retail networks.”

According to Richard Amoussou, an Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture in Benin: “The links between (community-based) seed producers and seed companies should be strengthened through contracts. This will ensure that quality seed is produced and sold to seed companies, who must finally distribute the seed to the farmers, thus improving their access.”

“Streamlining the seed sector will directly benefit the productivity and incomes of small-scale farmers and result in more and more affordable food for consumers – significant in the current global food crisis,” concludes Bänziger. She says this is crucial, given the twin challenges of the global food price crisis and more frequent droughts due to climate change.

For more information: Augustine Langyintuo, socioeconomist (a.langyintuo@cgiar.org)

Empowering maize technicians in Angola

Written by on October 11, 2011. Posted in News.

In 2010, several new maize varieties were released in Angola and taken up by emerging seed companies for multiplication and dissemination. To upgrade the skills and knowledge of the maize breeders, technicians, and seed services staff involved in the management of field trials and seed production, a Maize Technician Course was held in Huambo, Angola, during 26-29 September 2011. The training was attended by over 35 participants from emerging seed companies, national agricultural research systems, and NGOs. Lectures and practical sessions covered maize breeding, seed production, management of field trials, and components on variety testing and release. The results of pre- and post-course tests indicated that over 70% of participants significantly improved their knowledge and skills during the training.

Roberto Gomes, from the seed company Agropecuaria Kambondo LDA., said “This course is very useful. It will guide us in producing good quality seed and we hope it can be offered to all our staff in the company. We also wish that there can be exchange visits between CIMMYT and our company to see what CIMMYT is doing in Harare, and we hope we can now maintain the inbred lines and hybrids we have acquired from CIMMYT-Harare.”

Thanks go to Peter Setimela, Cosmos Magorokosho, and Tesfahun Girma (CIMMYT), Mpanzo Domingos, Director of Agricultural Research, Institute for Agronomic Investigation (IIA), and Dibanzilua Nginamau, Maize Coordinator for Angola (IIA), for organizing and coordinating the course.

DTMA Promotion and Dissemination Award 2010/11

Written by on October 11, 2011. Posted in News.

The 2010/11 DTMA Promotion and Dissemination Award was presented to the Angolan National Coordinating Unit (NCU) by CIMMYT’s Cosmos Mogorokosho and Peter Setimela. Mpanzo Domingos, Director of the Angolan Institute for Agronomic Investigation accepted the award and thanked the Angolan Maize NCU for their efforts in releasing and promoting new drought tolerant maize varieties in Angola. He hopes the award will motivate scientists and seed companies in Angola to promote agriculture.