Location: Ethiopia

For more information, contact CIMMYT’s Ethiopia office.

Maize lethal necrosis screening facility seeing signs of success

Written by on June 3, 2014. Posted in News.

CIMMYT pathologist George Mahuku and MLN technician Janet Kimunye examine tassels for pollen production on an infected plant. MLN causes a symptom called ‘tassel blast’ where the tassels of infected plants do not shed or produce pollen. Photos courtesy of George Mahuku

By George Mahuku and Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

Germplasm screening at the maize lethal necrosis (MLN) screening facility at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Naivasha is underway, and CIMMYT pathologist George Mahuku said some inoculated lines are showing levels of resistance.

He described the green islands among the maze of yellow in the fields as a demonstration of the success of the testing protocols being used at the site. “This is the lifeline for farmers,” he said. “Next we will be incorporating genes from these lines into adapted germplasm and using the Doubled Haploid facility in Kiboko to quickly develop inbred lines with resistance to MLN.”The deadly maize disease was first identified in Kenya in 2011 and has since been diagnosed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The MLN screening facility was established in 2013 with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture to serve maize breeding institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa in response to 2014 the emergence of the disease.

CIMMYT pathologist George Mahuku inspecting plants that show tolerance to MLN in Naivasha, Kenya.

“To date, we have planted more than 19,000 different types of germplasm on 15 hectares,” Mahuku said. “This germplasm was submitted by both private and public sector partners, including CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).”

All germplasm has been inoculated, Mahuku said, and symptoms are fully visible. Operations at the facility include maintaining pure strains of the viruses that cause MLN, producing inoculum for artificial inoculation, evaluating maize hybrids and inbred lines for response to MLN and building the capacity of stakeholders including scientists, technicians, farmers and extension workers to handle the disease.

The facility also provides employment opportunities for the community, hiring more than 30 people for activities such as weeding, irrigation and disease scoring. Because the facility screens germplasm from different countries, it’s isolated from farmers’ maize plots and certified as a quarantine site. “We still do not fully understand the variability in virus strains, whether the virus strains in Rwanda, Tanzania or Uganda are the same as the ones in Kenya,” said Mahuku.

After disease evaluations, all plant debris will be disposed of by incineration. The facility has received many visitors from universities, international organizations and public and private institutions. “There is a lot of interest in learning and knowing the disease,” Mahuku said.

It recently hosted two scientists from Ethiopia who will share the knowledge gained with their colleagues and will conduct surveys to assess whether the disease is in their country. “To see all this going well is breathtaking,” said CIMMYT technician Janet Kimunye, who is in charge of virus maintenance, inoculum production and inoculations in the field and has been involved in MLN research from the beginning, initially as a consultant to CIMMYT.

“We have assembled a really good team here; watching them work way into the night and weekend is heartening,” said Mahuku. “Everybody wants a solution to this problem that is threatening their food security.”

One of the greenhouses where artificial inoculum is produced and multiplied for research purposes.

Facts about the Facility:

Area planted: 15 ha
Number of rows: 49,500
Total germplasm: 19,539
Inoculated area: 6.5 ha
Disease expression: 4.5 ha is under disease evaluation as symptoms are expressing well

Sources of Germplasm Sources of Entries Screened

CIMMYT/IITA: 13,699
Private sector (seed companies): 3,781
Public institutions (NARS): 2,059
Total: 19,539

Adoption Pathways project strengthens partnership with Kenya’s Egerton University

Written by on May 30, 2014. Posted in News.

By Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

CIMMYT and Kenya’s Egerton University have agreed to strengthen their research collaboration, policy formulation and data sharing and to engage more graduate students in data analysis as part of the Adoption Pathways (AP) project. “This will accelerate the use of data sets to quickly produce products,” said Menale Kassie, CIMMYT socioeconomist, who is also the AP project leader.

Through AP, CIMMYT is partnering with universities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania to identify the incentives and constraints to farmers’ adoption of new techniques in maize-legume systems. The project is funded by the Australian International Food Security Research Centre (AIFSRC) and managed by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

CIMMYT and Egerton University have pledged to strengthen their collaboration through capacity building, research, policy advocacy and data sharing, especially through the Adoption Pathways project. Photos: Florence Sipalla

The enhanced collaboration between CIMMYT and Egerton was discussed at a meeting held at the CIMMYT-Nairobi office on 24 April and attended by Professor James Tuitoek, vice chancellor at Egerton; Professor Gideon Obare, the AP national coordinator in Kenya and a lecturer at the university; and Mary Mathenge, director of the Tegemeo Institute of Public Policy and Development, a policy think tank of Egerton University based in Nairobi.

Senior staff from Tegemeo, which specializes in agricultural policy formulation backed by data, will supervise the graduate students in collaboration with CIMMYT, Tuitoek said. The two institutions train young economists pursuing postgraduate degrees, and research on maize is a major component of their socioeconomic studies. “Almost 50 percent of Tegemeo’s research has been on maize policy,” said Mathenge. “It is often difficult to showcase the value of economic research to policymakers because it is an intangible product – it is not like a new seed variety, for example,” said Kassie. Despite that challenge, Kassie is confident that the partnership with Tegemeo will be mutually beneficial. “If we work with Tegemeo, who already have established ways of packaging research outcomes from economics studies, then we can have a far greater impact from the work we do.”

Supporting sustainable intensification by tracking farmers’ adoption patterns

Written by on May 9, 2014. Posted in News.

By Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

Identifying the socioeconomic constraints farmers face in adopting a technology is central to ensuring they adopt it sustainably. This is the work that the Pathways to Sustainable Intensification in Eastern and Southern Africa (Adoption Pathways) project is doing in collaboration with partners from national universities and agriculture research systems in Africa and Europe.

Adoption Pathways partners met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 10-12 April to review activities to date and to plan for 2014. The four-year project is funded by the Australian International Food Security Research Centre (AIFSRC) and managed by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). Project partners from seven institutions collaborating on the project in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania attended the meeting.

Participants included policymakers and vice-chancellors from universities as well as donor representatives – John Dixon, ACIAR principal adviser for research/cropping systems and economics and Liz Ogutu, ACIAR regional manager for Africa. Fentahun Mengistu, director general of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), officially opened the meeting and described the project as one that represents a unique cross-country research and development effort.

“Africa is at the tipping point,” said Dixon, adding that six of the world’s top 10 fastest growing countries are in Africa. Dixon identified food, economic growth and sustainable intensification as keys to tapping global opportunities. “Sustainable intensification of maize and legumes will increase resources productivity and reduce production risk,” he said.

Understanding what drives farmers to take up different sustainable intensification practices (SIPs) — such as zero/minimum tillage, maize-legume intercropping, maize-legume rotations, new maize and legume varieties and using chemical fertilizer — is important. The project has developed several policy briefs based on research to share its outputs with a wider audience. “Don’t just push policymakers but push them with evidence,” said Wilfred Mwangi, CIMMYT’s regional representative for Africa. Mwangi emphasized the need for policy dialogue and more capacity building.

The project has helped train 18 early-career economists in research design and implementation. An additional 120 people have gained practical experience in conducting surveys through their participation as enumerators or supervisors. Mengistu said the project has “planted seeds for impact” because different countries can benefit from the regional approach to tackling development challenges.

Referencing a policy brief on the SIPs adopted by farmers in Ethiopia, he noted that farmers who implemented a suite of multiple agronomic practices were able to double or even triple their income from maize. Menale Kassie, the Adoption Pathways project leader, shared some of the project’s key achievements, which include establishing panel data, analysis to determine gaps in technology adoption through a gender lens, impact analysis and risk assessment. “We need policy dialogue, followed by policy advocacy,” Kassie said. “We would be happy if our products are used by our partners.”

Policymakers, including top university administrators, pledged their support for policy advocacy. “We will help support this project through linkages with policymakers and the Ministry of Agriculture,” said James Tuitoek, professor and vice-chancellor at Egerton University in Kenya. Angelo Macuacua, professor and vice-chancellor at Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique, thanked the project for inviting the vice-chancellors to participate in the meeting.

“It helps us understand, in detail, the work the researchers are doing,” he said. Other vice-chancellors at the meeting were Professor Phiri Kanyama and Professor Gerald Monela from Malawi’s Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (formerly known as Bunda College) and Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania.

The importance of monitoring and evaluation in project implementation was emphasized by AIFSRC’s Ogutu. “Results from this project will not only help farmers, there is potential on a larger scale,” she said. The meeting provided partners an opportunity to closely interact, share their research results and plan for the next phase of activities.

Ethiopian officials praise CIMMYT program on eve of second phase

Written by on May 8, 2014. Posted in News.

By Seifu Mahifere/CIMMYT

The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program has successfully completed its first phase with significant outputs that helped improve the food and nutritional security of smallholder farmers in eastern and southern Africa.

SIMLESA, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), was launched in 2010 to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farming communities in Africa through productive and sustainable maize-legume systems and risk management strategies that conserve natural resources. It is managed by CIMMYT and implemented by partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. With lessons from these core countries, the program is also implemented in Botswana, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda.

SIMLESA’s contribution to improving system productivity and profitability was highlighted in a meeting held in April. Photos: Seifu Mahifere

SIMLESA’s first phase ended with its Fourth Annual Regional Review, Planning and Program Steering Committee meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 7-11 April. Sileshi Getahun, Ethiopia’s state minister of agriculture and the guest of honor, said the program has paid “substantial dividends” to sustainable agricultural development in eastern and southern Africa. The second phase of SIMLESA, which will also be funded by ACIAR, is expected to launch in July. “SIMLESA is a model for many regional and sub-regional collaborative projects to address agricultural intensification [in Africa],” Getahun told more than 120 representatives of SIMLESA partner organizations attending the event.

Mulugeta Mekuria, program coordinator, outlined the program’s main achievements in developing conservation agriculture (CA)-based sustainable intensification options, technology adoption by both female and male farmers, capacity building for national agricultural research systems (NARS) of partner countries and the creation of enhanced partnerships and collaboration for a common goal. He noted in particular that SIMLESA has contributed to the release of 40 new maize varieties, which have yield advantages of 10 to 30 percent when compared to existing commercial varieties in its program countries. The program also trained more than 3,000 agricultural scientists in the maize and legume production value chains and engaged more than 40,000 farmers (almost half of them women) through farmer field days and exchange programs.

John Dixon, ACIAR principal research advisor, expressed ACIAR’s commitment to support SIMLESA. The program is considered a flagship program and is being adopted by donors as a framework for sustainable intensification. Fentahun Mengistu, director general of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and SIMLESA Program Steering Committee member, underlined that SIMLESA has significantly contributed to the generation and adoption of user-preferred maize and legume technologies, as well as information and knowledge that improve system productivity and profitability of the target farming systems. “The outcome of SIMLESA, in terms of human capacity and research facility building, will improve our efficiency and impact in agricultural research in the future,” Fentahun said. Olaf Erenstein, CIMMYT Socioeconomic Program director and SIMLESA Program Management Committee chair, said SIMLESA II will have a broader technological focus on systems and impact orientation as well as the creation of more partnerships and scaling out of program results.The week-long event featured country-specific achievements from Australia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, backed by poster displays showing success stories.

Remarks are given at the SIMLESA review meeting. Photo: Seifu Mahifere

Participants also visited maize and legume seed production, forage and irrigated intercropping trials and the Melkassa Agricultural Research Centre, showcasing SIMLESA-supported technologies. They also saw an ultra-modern export company that cleans, grades and packages legumes and is linked with SIMLESA research teams in Ethiopia.

The SIMLESA Program Steering Committee commended SIMLESA for its substantive progress and NARS partners for their professionalism and skill during the meeting.

Uganda team shines at DTMA awards for eastern Africa

Written by on April 26, 2014. Posted in News.

By Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project recognized country teams that demonstrated excellence in breeding and disseminating drought-tolerant maize varieties during the Regional Maize Working Group (MWG) meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 17 to 19 February.

For the third time since 2011, Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) won the breeding award while breeders from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) came in second. The Uganda team, comprised of partners from the public and private sector, also won the prize for disseminating drought-tolerant maize varieties, a category in which the Tanzania team came in second.

The combined efforts of the national agriculture research institutes and the seed companies were recognized. The awards were given after a systematic evaluation of the breeding and dissemination programs in the participating countries. “The strength of breeding programs was assessed based on existence of short-, intermediate- and long-term objectives,” said DTMA administrator Kimani Kamau. Kamau cited as selection criteria the layout and management of trials, inbred line development, testing of new hybrids and open-pollinated varieties and efficient use of germplasm from regional and international testing programs. “Efficient use of appropriate software in managing and analyzing trial data and the existence of a clear framework showing how the seed would reach the farmers was also considered,” Kamau added.

Breeders from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research display the plaque they received at the award ceremony. They were runners up in the breeding category. Photos: Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

Finally, teams were also assessed on institutional representation, variety registration and release, certified seed production, companies that had taken up and were promoting drought-tolerant maize varieties and awareness building activities and events. The winning teams received plaques and certificates presented to individual members by a team led by DTMA project leader Tsedeke Abate, assisted by Aberra Debelo, Sasakawa – Global 2000 country director for Ethiopia; Stephen Njoka, director of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Embu; and Alemayehu Mekonnen, a commercial farmer. “It is good to be appreciated and recognized for the work we are doing,” said Godfrey Asea, crop breeder and cereal research leader at the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) and the Uganda Maize Working Group chair. “We are happy the breeding work is also translating into products to improve farmers’ incomes and food security.”

The breeders indicated that they still face challenges in increasing farmers’ productivity because of the high costs of inputs and fertilizer. The team’s efforts in disseminating drought-tolerant maize varieties are backed by research. According to a recent adoption survey coordinated by the socioeconomics team, the adoption of drought-tolerant maize between 2007 and 2013 was at 28 percent. “The survey indicated that a total of 83 percent of households had adopted drought-tolerant varieties including those developed before 2007 and varieties developed during the current phase of the DTMA project,” said CIMMYT socioeconomist Monica Fisher.

These statistics are derived from a survey carried out on a sample of 400 maize farmers in four districts in Uganda where DTMA seed has been disseminated. The Ugandan team credits their success in disseminating the drought-tolerant varieties to a combination of factors. “Farmers have quickly adopted drought-tolerant maize seed as they have seen its response to climate change,” said Cliff-Richard Masagazi, managing director for Pearl Seeds. “We have the advantage of having two maize seasons which enables us [seed companies] to quickly build seed volumes and move them.” The strong partnership among researchers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and seed companies also enables them to reach more farmers. Masagazi said NGOs were instrumental in enabling the seed companies to reach more farmers in different parts of the country.

“The struggle still continues,” said Hillary Rugema, Sasakawa-Global 2000 coordinator for crop productivity improvement, an NGO partner. “We shall keep reaching out to bring more farmers and partners on board.” “We appreciate the consistent support and recognition from CIMMYT,” said Gezagn Bogale, EIAR maize breeder based in Melkassa, Ethiopia, whose team won the breeding award from 2007 to 2010. Bogale also thanked CIMMYT for providing his team with tablets that would allow them to digitize data collection on the breeding trials. “This encourages us to work hard in the future.”

Partners recognize achievements in insect-resistant maize delivery

Written by on April 21, 2014. Posted in News.

By Wandera Ojanji/CIMMYT

The Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project received praise for significant progress on field and post-harvest insect pest research at its conclusion last month.

“Several new maize hybrids and open pollinated varieties with substantial insect resistance have been produced that will greatly benefit maize growers in eastern and southern Africa,” said Mike Robinson, program officer for the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) at the IRMA End-of-Project Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, from 24-26 February. Robinson congratulated CIMMYT and project partners and wished the participating organizations continued success. The purpose of the conference was to share experiences, achievements and lessons from IRMA III and discuss future prospects in the release, dissemination and use of insect-resistant maize in eastern and southern Africa.

It drew more than 80 participants from CIMMYT, national agricultural research systems, national universities, donors and the seed industry. The Developing Maize Resistant to Stem Borer and Storage Insect Pests for Eastern and Southern Africa project, known as IRMA III Conventional Project 2009-2013, was managed by CIMMYT and funded by SFSA. Building on progress and breakthroughs of IRMA I and II, IRMA III contributed to food security by developing and availing field and post-harvest insect-resistant maize varieties in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Collectively, these countries produce about 26 million tons and consume 32 million tons of maize annually. Relatively low maize productivity in the countries – about 1.3 tons per hectare (t/ha) compared to 4.9 t/ha worldwide – can be attributed in part to stem borers, according to Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT principal scientist and IRMA project leader. Stem borers destroy as much as 15 percent of maize crops, while maize weevils and the larger grain borer destroy 20 to 30 percent of harvested maize. Hugo De Groote, CIMMYT economist, estimated the losses from stem borers at 13.5 percent, or 4 million tons, and those from storage pests at 11.2 percent, or 3.5 million tons, with the total value of these losses estimated at just over US$1 billion in the region. “Addressing the challenges that farmers face in producing and storing maize is vital to the future food security of the region,” Robinson said. “Minimizing such losses in an economically sustainable way will significantly contribute to nutrition and food security.”

IRMA III addressed these challenges through identification and commercial release of major insect-resistant maize cultivars; identification of new germplasm sources of resistance to stem borer and post-harvest insect pests among landraces, open pollinated varieties (OPVs) and CIMMYT lines (CMLs); and development of new insect-resistant germplasm. Kenya released 13 stem borer-resistant (SBR) conventional maize varieties (three OPVs and 10 hybrids) and four storage pest-resistant (SPR) hybrids. Kenya has also nominated nearly 10 stem borer- and four postharvest- resistant hybrids to national performance trials.

Three insect-resistant varieties —two hybrids (KH 414-1 SBR and KH 414-4 SBR) and one OPV (Pamuka) – were commercialized in Kenya by Monsanto, Wakala Seeds and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute Seed Unit. De Groote estimated the annual value of project benefits at between US$ 19 million and US$ 388 million. He put the benefit-cost ratio at 94 in the optimistic scenario, meaning that for each dollar the project spent, farmers would gain 95, indicating very good returns.

“These results justify the important role that breeding for resistance could play in reducing maize losses, and the high potential returns to such programs in the future,” De Groote stated. Looking to the future, Mugo emphasized the need to ensure farmers have access to the insect-resistant varieties. “We must, from now on, engage in variety dissemination and commercialization of the new SBR and SPR varieties,” Mugo said. “We need a more targeted breeding program that incorporates drought, nitrogen use efficiency and maize lethal necrotic disease tolerance.”

Capacity to analyze quality protein maize enhanced in Ethiopia

Written by on April 19, 2014. Posted in News.

By Adefris Teklewold/CIMMYT

The Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia (NuME) project recently donated key laboratory equipment to the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) to help analyze new quality protein maize varieties. Institutional capacity building is a cross-cutting feature of NuME, which aims to disseminate quality protein maize (QPM) varieties in Ethiopia to improve nutrition.

In addition to promoting QPM varieties already released, NuME has set targets to develop more productive QPM germplasm that are resilient to biotic and abiotic stresses and adapted to the project area and beyond. Identifying QPM varieties easily adopted by farmers is a demanding task for breeders. The long-term QPM breeding program run by CIMMYT and EIAR fosters the cheap, fast and reliable screening technique of germplasm for quality protein traits. To help with these efforts, NuME donated a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) sample transport reflectance only (TR-3752-C) 6500 system, accessories and supporting equipment, valued at US$ 103,000 to EIAR, CIMMYT’s major partner in executing the project. The machine can be used to determine the quality of different agricultural products, including ground and coarse samples, with a wavelength range of 400 to 2,500 nanometers.

The NIRS machine is installed and ready to operate at EIAR’s laboratory in Addis Ababa. (Photo: EIAR staff)

Specifically, the machine will enable EIAR to undertake timely analysis of tryptophan, lysine and protein content for breeders, seed companies and the food and feed industry. The EIAR laboratory will serve as a national focal point to ensure that QPM seed and grain meets established definitions and standards for QPM. EIAR provides NIRS analysis on a cost recovery basis to ensure the sustainability of services for non-EIAR service users involved in QPM production, certification and trade. About 2,000 to 3,000 maize samples will be analyzed each year when the machine becomes fully operational. Experts installed the machine and led a hands-on training on 6-7 March given to 10 trainees drawn from public and private institutions and CGIAR centers. The training focused on installation and operation of NIRs and developing calibration equation.

Two researchers who are assigned by EIAR to work on the machine will be sent to Mexico for a two-week training on how to operate and develop calibration equations of tryptophan, lysine, protein and other QPM quality traits. During the presentation of the machine, Solomon Abate, EIAR director for quality control, said that CIMMYT has taken significant steps to enhance the capacity of the Ethiopian national agricultural research system to undertake QPM analysis within the country, which has largely been executed at CIMMYT headquarters in Mexico. In a letter to CIMMYT-Ethiopia, Fentahun Mengistu, director general of EIAR, wrote the NIRS machine is essential not only for use with QPM but for determining the quality of other crops and will enhance EIAR’s technology endeavors, which enable smallholder farmers to produce competitive products that can fetch better market prices. He underscored EIAR’s commitment to strengthening its partnership with CIMMYT for enhanced maize research and development in the country.

Government official says CIMMYT project could improve nutrition in Ethiopia

Written by on April 9, 2014. Posted in News.

By Seifu Mahifere/CIMMYT

A senior official with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), which plays a leading role in influencing agricultural technology development in the country, said CIMMYT’S Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia (NuME) project could have a profound impact in reducing under-nutrition in Ethiopia.

The commendation came during NuME’s annual project performance and review (APPR) meeting on 24 March in Addis Ababa. Endale Gebre, deputy crops research director of EIAR, noted that maize production in Ethiopia has been steadily increasing in the last two decades with a four-fold increase in total production and a 2.5-fold increase in area.

Attendees at the NuME annual project performance and review meeting discussed the project’s future. Photos: Seifu Mahifere

As the importance of maize in the diets of the poor grows, more people will be put at risk of protein deficiency because maize is deficient in essential amino acids, he said. NuME is implemented by CIMMYT in Ethiopia and funded by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. It is designed to help improve the food and nutritional security of Ethiopia’s rural population, especially women and children, through the adoption of quality protein maize (QPM) varieties and crop management practices that increase farm productivity. Lysine and tryptophan deficiency are of concern, especially in areas like the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR), where maize constitutes more than 60 percent of dietary protein and people have low access to other protein sources.

NuME is bringing QPM to rural maize producers in the Ethiopian maize belt and beyond. “As a multifaceted project with components that include the widespread promotion and adoption of QPM technologies and QPM seed production, it is strategically important that NuME address this nutritional gap,” Endale said, adding NuME could have a “profound impact” in improving nutritional status in the project area and beyond. Endale also noted that NuME performance is improving from year to year and its partners should work even harder to enable the project to influence the whole maize value chain in the country.

The APPR is a routine exercise that compares outputs and results registered by the project against annual work plan targets developed at the outset. It includes an analysis of major activities against targets proposed, major challenges faced, lessons learned and recommendations for future improvement. The forum serves as a platform to bring partner institutions together to develop work plans for the coming year in a participatory approach to be approved by the project steering committee.

NuME partner institution representatives and NuME staff reported on key project outputs like QPM field food demonstrations and field days undertaken by partners like Sasakawa Global 2000 and regional agricultural research centers. The meeting also included deliberations on breeding and agronomy research, QPM seed production, QPM media material development and radio broadcasting activities and the status of the NuME gender action plan. Thematic working groups examined QPM dissemination, utilization and nutritional impact, as well as breeding and seed production and distribution and agronomy. Detailed action plans were consolidated into thse 2014/15 NuME annual work plan, which was evaluated by the NuME project implementation committee and forwarded to the project steering committee for final approval.

Farmer evaluation of QPM varieties critical to NuME project success

Written by on March 26, 2014. Posted in News.

By Seifu Mahifere/CIMMYT

The Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia project (NuME) is working to promote quality protein maize (QPM) by making sure new varieties fit farmers’ specifications. The project conducted a training event on farmers’ and consumer participatory evaluation (FCPE) methodologies to ensure that QPM varieties developed and disseminated by NuME reflect the tastes and preferences of targeted farmers.

About 25 staff from national and regional research centers, regional bureaus of agriculture, Ethiopian seed enterprises and Sasakawa Global 2000 participated in the event during 6-8 March at the Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, southeast of Addis Ababa. The event addressed the basic principles of FCPE, methods of organization of FCPEs, as well as data entry, analysis and reporting of results.

Participants made a field trip to a NuME seed multiplication site run by the Melkassa center and observed the agronomic features of QPM varieties being grown on 4 hectares. They also tasted, smelled and observed food products made from QPM and conventional variety maize and gave their preferences. The trainees will follow this procedure when they conduct FCPEs with farmers and consumers in their localities. They need to understand farming systems of their localities, identify the criteria farmers use to evaluate varieties and understand ways of conducting on-station evaluations and evaluation during surveys.

Trainees evaluate maize varieties during a field exercise. Photo: Seifu Mahifere

The training was facilitated in part by Hugo de Groote, a CIMMYT economist based in Kenya, while Nilupa Gunaratna of the Harvard University School of Public Health covered the FCPE data analysis and reporting methodologies. Sasakawa Global 2000 and NuME staff members also made presentations on sensory evaluation for QPM food preparations as well as gender considerations in undertaking FCPEs.

Formally opening the training, Getachew Ayana, director of the Melkassa Research Center, noted that the center is “very pleased to host this important training, which helps to upgrade the skills of the participants on farmers’ evaluation methodologies of QPM varieties.” He noted that farmers’ evaluation of QPM varieties is critical to the success of NuME, which is currently developing and disseminating new QPM varieties in the major maize areas of the country.

Experience gained both from the Quality Protein Maize Development (QPMD) project (the predecessor to NuME) and other social science research indicates that failure to ensure the incorporation of farmers’ tastes and preferences for the varieties beforehand leads to farmers not adopting varieties they do not like. “It is thus absolutely critical that farmers and consumers are aware of the products we promote and that they like them from many points of view – taste, productivity and even color,” de Groote said, adding, “It is not enough that farmers and consumers like a particular variety, but we also need to make sure that they are also willing to pay for it.”

Adefris Teklewold, NuME project leader, noted the training took place at a good time for the project when major seed breeders in the country are in favor of promoting QPM. He said the training helped “to convince ourselves and farmers that QPM really helps improve the nutritional status of children and farmers in general.” Teklewold also underscored the need for the participants to disseminate the knowledge gained from the training to others through the ‘train the trainers’ methodology.

Radio broadcasts spread maize technology in Ethiopia

Written by on March 17, 2014. Posted in News.

By Seifu Mahifere/CIMMYT

The Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia project (NuME) has launched a series of participatory radio campaigns in the country’s regional states as an innovative approach to spread messages about protein and nutrition, with a special focus on quality protein maize (QPM), to Ethiopian small-scale farmers.

A farmer shows the radio in her home (Photo: courtesy of Farm Radio International presentation).

The campaign is a major part of the NuME communications strategy, which is designed to help the project improve household income as well as food and nutritional security, especially among women and children. NuME’s focus is the adoption of QPM and crop management practices that increase farm productivity.

The programs were launched in March 2013 and are broadcast in Amharic, Oromiffa and Tigrigna – three of the major languages spoken in Ethiopia. The first series focused on giving mothers information to improve their children’s health through balanced, nutritious diets, as a lead-up to the introduction of QPM varieties. Follow-up campaigns will target male and female growers of hybrid maize and cover QPM, intercropping and other agronomic practices that will benefit small-scale farmers.

Transmitted in collaboration with three regional broadcasting stations, the 30-minute programs are aired weekly at 8:00 p.m., when families are often home and eating dinner. The success of the radio campaign is bolstered by training given to a select group of journalists on various aspects of QPM. Program content is also generated by a content advisory panel that includes NuME partner representatives and agriculture researchers focused on protein, CIMMYT staff (including a gender specialist), staff members from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and Ministry of Agriculture, nutrition specialists from the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute and universities, communications experts and seed enterprise representatives.

A farmer speaks about her experiences (Photo: SG 2000 staff).

Gender considerations also shape program content, and Farm Radio International (FRI), an international NGO and NuME partner, has secured female broadcasters for the NuME shows, according to Frehiwot Nadew, FRI country director in Ethiopia. Radio remains the most trusted and most utilized communication medium in rural Ethiopia, and access to radio by small-scale farmers is very high. FRI’s participatory radio campaigns help small-scale farmers learn about, evaluate and benefit from low-cost, sustainable and productive farming practices.

The methodology has already been successful in trials with 25 radio stations in 5 countries in Africa. Data from those trials demonstrate that, on average, a participatory radio campaign will result in 21 percent of all farmers trying a new technology, such as QPM maize, in the first year within the broadcast area of the radio station producing the campaign. NuME is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development of the Government of Canada (DFATD).

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.

Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: wheat research roundup

Written by on February 14, 2014. Posted in Features.

By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

What do you know about wheat?

The crop is the focus of the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security, an event CIMMYT is hosting in March to celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of Dr. Norman Borlaug. Topics of the summit range from the history of wheat, to the work of Dr. Borlaug, to climate change and world grain policy.

Here are a few things you might not know about wheat and wheat research. Take a look and then test your knowledge by taking our wheat quiz!

Farmers tell donors they want quality protein maize

Written by on January 28, 2014. Posted in News.

By Adefris Teklewold/CIMMYT

Farmers spoke of their success with new quality protein maize (QPM) varieties to senior officials from the Canadian embassy in Ethiopia during recent visits to CIMMYT-Ethiopia sites. The visits focused on the status of the Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia project (NuME), which is funded by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFTAD). NuME aims to reduce malnutrition and promote food security in Ethiopia through the adoption of QPM, whose grain contains almost twice the lysine and tryptophan as non-QPM maize grain.

Abebech Assefa leads a discussion after the field day and collects feedback from farmers, project partner representatives and government officials. (Photo by Adefris Teklewold/CIMMYT)

Jennifer Bloom, DFATD’s NuME project team leader and the second secretary (development) at the Embassy of Canada, and Abebech Assefa, the embassy’s team leader for Food Security and Agricultural Growth, visited farmers and learned about their feelings toward the adoption and promotion of QPM. The farmers also discussed their perspectives on the opportunities and constraints of project implementation with the Canadian representatives. Assefa, accompanied by three other embassy staff members, participated in a field day in the Meskan District of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region of Ethiopia.

During the field day, the visiting delegation observed the performance of two QPM hybrid varieties, BHQY-545 and AMH-760Q, adapted to the area. Farmers carrying out the field demonstrations shared their reactions to the newly-introduced QPM varieties. Farmer Genet Assefa noted that her plots have showed impressive results with the QPM varieties she planted compared to other plots in the area. “All the proper agronomic activities were employed on my plot based on advice from experts,” she said, adding that “QPM should be promoted and made accessible to all farmers so that we can all ensure food and nutritional security and increase our incomes.”

Jennifer Bloom compares food prepared from QPM varieties with food prepared from conventional varieties.

Abebech Assefa led a discussion after the field day and showed appreciation for the farmers who participated in the field demonstrations. She said she was grateful for their willingness to test new QPM varieties on their farm plots and to experience the benefits of QPM in improving food and nutritional security in Ethiopia. Bloom visited several demonstration sites and tested QPM food products during a field day organized in Bure District, Amhara Regional State. She requested the farmers’ opinions about QPM technology. The majority responded that they were satisfied and specifically asked for the seed of BHQY-545 to be made available to everyone in need. Farmers said they favor BHQY-545 because it provides up to four or five cobs and matures early, and they value the BHQ-760 variety for its long cobs.

The farmers said their “most critical concern” regarding the adoption of QPM varieties was that abundant quantities of the quality seed be available at the right time. Local administration and bureau of agriculture officials, who accompanied the DFTAD delegation, expressed their commitment to providing the seed. Bloom ended her visit by thanking the officials for attending the field demonstrations and the farmers for their participation and courage in discussing the advantages of QPM varieties and their concerns about them.

Pocket sensors for precision agriculture to reach Ethiopian farmers

Written by on December 11, 2013. Posted in News.

By Hae Koo Kim/CIMMYT

A new pocket-sized sensor could bring precision agriculture within reach of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. Precision agriculture uses data from high-tech observations to assess and address crop variability and help farmers to employ their resources more effectively.

Haekoo-Kim

Crop performance readings from satellite or sensor-based technologies are used to “do the right thing, at the right place, at the right time.” Marketed by Trimble since August 2012, the GreenSeeker handheld crop sensor reads near-infrared and red light reflected from plants to measure photosynthesis rates and crop vigor. When used with the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the readings can help farmers decide exactly how much nitrogen fertilizer to apply to get the best yields.

This is especially important in Ethiopia whose soils – like those in many parts of Africa – typically lack nitrogen, a highly mobile element whose availability is affected by rainfall and soil characteristics. At a cost of about US $500, the sensor could make precision agriculture affordable for farmers in Ethiopia. It does not have the accuracy of bigger sensors, but is less expensive and better adapted to smallholder circumstances.

Because most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa import fertilizer, this input is relatively expensive. On average, farmers in the region apply only 9 kg/ha of nitrogen fertilizer, compared to an average 100 kg/ha in South Asia or more than 70 kg/ha in Latin America. This greatly limits their crop yields. When farmers do apply fertilizer, most follow broadly-targeted application rates recommended by extension agents, rather than site- or season-specific rates that would make the best use of this costly input to raise crop yields. CIMMYT agronomists with the Nutritious Maize for Africa (NuME) project, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD, formerly CIDA) of Canada, have introduced handheld sensors in Ethiopia and are testing them with agronomists Tesfa Bogale and Feyera Merga, from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), and Ph.D. student Tolera Abera.

Australian ambassador visits program in Ethiopia

Written by on December 10, 2013. Posted in News.

By Dagne Wegary/CIMMYT

The Australian Ambassador to Ethiopia paid her first visit to a CIMMYT program this month and commended efforts to improve livelihoods in resource-poor rural households.

On her 7 November visit, Ambassador Lisa Filipetto learned about activities under the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program, which have been implemented in different parts of Ethiopia since 2010. She visited SIMLESA sites in northwest Ethiopia, where work is conducted by the Amhara Regional Agricultural Research Institute (ARARI). Maize-based farming in the region is characterized by unsustainable production systems, including monocropping, repeated tillage and residue removal. SIMLESA promotes new crop varieties and production practices such as intercropping, maize-legume rotations, reduced tillage and year-round residue coverage. Farmers who have traditionally monocropped maize appreciate the new practices, which help them increase harvests while replenishing soil fertility.

Australian-Ambassador-to-Ethiopia-briefed-on-the-peformances-of-SIMLESA-activties

Filipetto was accompanied by scientists from CIMMYT-Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), SIMLESA partners. Dr. Biru Yitaferu, director general of ARARI, and Likawent Yeheyis, director of livestock research for ARARI, welcomed the visiting team. Yitaferu highlighted ARARI’s managerial structure, mandates, missions and resource capacities while Yiheyis presented an overview of SIMLESA work in the region.

Presentations showcased the program’s extensive research and development activities including conservation agriculture-based exploratory trials; farmer participatory variety selection (PVS) for maize, grain legumes and forage and fodder varieties; and technology implementation in South Achefer and Jabitenan districts, which is aided by ARARI researchers and district agricultural offices.
Ambassador-Lisa-Filipetto-and-SIMLESA

Filipetto visited a SIMLESA site hub in South Achefer and saw activities of the Abchikli Farmers’ Training Center on conservation agriculture-based intercropping, as well as PVS trials with hybrid and open-pollinated maize and varieties of sweet lupine – a multi-purpose legume crop traditional in Ethiopia. Four of the sweet lupine varieties in the trials are under the final stage of evaluation for future commercial release. Yeheyis said Amhara’s agriculture bureau will include conservation agriculture, maize-legume intercropping and maize-fodder/forage relay cropping in its regular extension program. This will contribute significantly to adoption of the technologies by a wider range of farming communities in the region, according to Yeheyis.

At the end of her visit, Filipetto expressed great interest in partnering with CIMMYT to improve livelihoods in the region. SIMLESA in Ethiopia is funded by Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).