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Location: Ethiopia

For more information, contact CIMMYT’s Ethiopia office.

Researchers and visitors listen to explanations during a tour of infected maize fields at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Fast-tracked adoption of second-generation resistant maize varieties key to managing maize lethal necrosis in Africa

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Features.

Scientists are calling for accelerated adoption of new hybrid maize varieties with resistance to maize lethal necrosis (MLN) disease in sub-Saharan Africa. In combination with recommended integrated pest management practices, adopting these new varieties is an important step towards safeguarding smallholder farmers against this devastating viral disease.

A new publication in Virus Research shows that these second-generation MLN-resistant hybrids developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) offer better yields and increased resilience against MLN and other stresses. The report warns that the disease remains a key threat to food security in eastern Africa and that, should containment efforts slacken, it could yet spread to new regions in sub-Saharan Africa.

The publication was co-authored by researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and Aarhus University in Denmark.

CIMMYT technician Janet Kimunye (right) shows visitors a plant with MLN symptoms at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)
CIMMYT technician Janet Kimunye (right) shows visitors a plant with MLN symptoms at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Stemming the panic

The first reported outbreak of MLN in Bomet County, Kenya in 2011 threw the maize sector into a panic. The disease caused up to 100% yield loss. Nearly all elite commercial maize varieties on the market at the time were susceptible, whether under natural of artificial conditions. Since 2012, CIMMYT, in partnership with KALRO, national plant protection organizations and commercial seed companies, has led multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary efforts to curb MLN’s spread across sub-Saharan Africa. Other partners in this endeavor include the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), non-government organizations such as AGRA and AATF, and advanced research institutions in the United States and Europe.

In 2013 CIMMYT established an MLN screening facility in Naivasha. Researchers developed an MLN-severity scale, ranging from 1 to 9, to compare varieties’ resistance or susceptibility to the disease. A score of 1 represents a highly resistant variety with no visible symptoms of the disease, while a score of 9 signifies extreme susceptibility. Trials at this facility demonstrated that some of CIMMYT’s pre-commercial hybrids exhibited moderate MLN-tolerance, with a score of 5 on the MLN-severity scale. CIMMYT then provided seed and detailed information to partners for evaluation under accelerated National Performance Trials (NPTs) for varietal release and commercialization in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Between 2013 and 2014, four CIMMYT-derived MLN-tolerant hybrid varieties were released by public and private sector partners in East Africa. With an average MLN severity score of 5-6, these varieties outperformed commercial MLN-sensitive hybrids, which averaged MLN severity scores above 7. Later, CIMMYT breeders developed second-generation MLN-resistant hybrids with MLN severity scores of 3–4. These second-generation hybrids were evaluated under national performance trials. This led to the release of several hybrids, especially in Kenya, over the course of a five-year period starting in 2013. They were earmarked for commercialization in East Africa beginning in 2020.

Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) sensitive and resistant hybrid demo plots in Naivasha’s quarantine & screening facility (Photo: KIPENZ/CIMMYT)
Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) sensitive and resistant hybrid demo plots in Naivasha’s quarantine & screening facility (Photo: KIPENZ/CIMMYT)

Widespread adoption critical

The last known outbreak of MLN was reported in 2014 in Ethiopia, marking an important break in the virus’s spread across the continent. Up to that point, the virus had affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. However, much remains to be done to minimize the possibility of future outbreaks.

“Due to its complex and multi-faceted nature, effectively combating the incidence, spread and adverse effects of MLN in Africa requires vigorous and well-coordinated efforts by multiple institutions,” said B.M. Prasanna, primary author of the report and director of the Global Maize Program at CIMMYT and of the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). Prasanna also warns that most commercial maize varieties being cultivated in eastern Africa are still MLN-susceptible. They also serve as “reservoirs” for MLN-causing viruses, especially the maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV), which combines with other viruses from the Potyviridae family to cause MLN.

“This is why it is very important to adopt an integrated disease management approach, which encompasses extensive adoption of improved MLN-resistant maize varieties, especially second-generation, not just in MLN-prevalent countries but also in the non-endemic ones in sub-Saharan Africa,” Prasanna noted.

The report outlines other important prevention and control measures including: the production and exchange of “clean” commercial maize seed with no contamination by MLN-causing viruses; avoiding maize monocultures and continuous maize cropping; practicing maize crop rotation with compatible crops, especially legumes, which do not serve as hosts for MCMV; and continued MLN disease monitoring and surveillance.

L.M. Suresh (center-right), Maize Pathologist at CIMMYT and Head of the MLN Screening Facility, facilitates a training on MLN with national partners. (Photo: CIMMYT)
L.M. Suresh (center-right), Maize Pathologist at CIMMYT and Head of the MLN Screening Facility, facilitates a training on MLN with national partners. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Noteworthy wins

In addition to the development of MLN-resistant varieties, the fight against MLN has delivered important wins for both farmers and their families and for seed companies. In the early years of the outbreak, most local and regional seed companies did not understand the disease well enough to produce MLN-pathogen free seed. Since then, CIMMYT and its partners developed standard operating procedures and checklists for MLN pathogen-free seed production along the seed value chain. Today over 30 seed companies in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania are implementing these protocols on a voluntary basis.

“MLN represents a good example where a successful, large-scale surveillance system for an emerging transboundary disease has been developed as part of a rapid response mechanism led by a CGIAR center,” Prasanna said.

Yet, he noted, significant effort and resources are still required to keep the maize fields of endemic countries free of MLN-causing viruses. Sustaining these efforts is critical to the “food security, income and livelihoods of resource-poor smallholder farmers.

To keep up with the disease’s changing dynamics, CIMMYT and its partners are moving ahead with novel techniques to achieve MLN resistance more quickly and cheaply. Some of these innovative techniques include genomic selection, molecular markers, marker-assisted backcrossing, and gene editing. These techniques will be instrumental in developing elite hybrids equipped not only to resist MLN but also to tolerate rapidly changing climatic conditions.

Read the full report on Virus Research:
Maize lethal necrosis (MLN): Efforts toward containing the spread and impact of a devastating transboundary disease in sub-Saharan Africa

Cover photo: Researchers and visitors listen to explanations during a tour of infected maize fields at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Farmer Roba Shubisha harvests an improved maize variety in Yubo village, Wondo Genet, Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Shining a brighter light on adoption and diffusion

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in News.

Farmer Roba Shubisha harvests an improved maize variety in Yubo village, Wondo Genet, Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Farmer Roba Shubisha harvests an improved maize variety in Yubo village, Wondo Genet, Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

With almost all CGIAR centers represented in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is considered to be a hub for CGIAR research, and the organization has been a long-term partner to the Ethiopian government when it comes to agriculture. The partnership between CGIAR and the national partners is said to be an exemplary one, with CGIAR serving as the source of new technologies and innovations and national partners contextualizing these products within their own country context. This is believed to have brought impacts that serve the people on the ground.

A new report by CGIAR’s Standing Panel on Impact Assessment (SPIA) indicates that CGIAR innovations have reached between 4.1 and 11 million Ethiopian households. The report — which assesses 52 agricultural innovations and 26 claims of policy influence — documents the reach of CGIAR-related agricultural innovations across the core domains of CGIAR research activity: animal agriculture; crop germplasm improvement; natural resource management; and policy research.

The study compiles comprehensive information on the past two decades of CGIAR research activities in Ethiopia. Using information from interviews with CGIAR research leaders, scientists, government officials, published studies and project documents, this ‘stocktaking’ exercise was used to identify the innovations which are potentially disseminated at scale. The study also employs novel data collection protocols and methods like visual aid protocols for identification of natural resource management innovations or DNA fingerprinting for crop variety identification for barley, maize and sorghum.

The study results show that although many innovations are being adopted by some farmers, only a few are reaching large numbers of households. The three innovations with the largest reach are soil and water conservation practices, improved maize varieties and crossbred poultry. The study also found out that there are synergies between innovations where households adopt two or more. For instance, a household which adopts CGIAR maize varieties is likely to also adopt recommended natural resource management practices.

This, according to the study, is the result of different categories of CGIAR research efforts — natural resource management and policy, crop breeding and livestock research, respectively. The scaling of these innovations can also be linked to supportive government policies, which in turn have been influenced by policy research, as indicated in the report.

A farmer walks through a maize field in Toga village, Hawassa, Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
A farmer walks through a maize field in Toga village, Hawassa, Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

CIMMYT’s footprint

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has maintained a presence in Ethiopia for over 30 years and is committed to supporting long-term agricultural development in the country. As part of this effort, CIMMYT has contributed to an increase in maize and wheat production in Ethiopia, working with national partners to test and release improved varieties.

The maize breeding program started in 1988 through CIMMYT and EIAR collaboration and in 1993 BH-660 was released — the first hybrid maize variety derived from CIMMYT germplasm. According to the report, specific maize traits were researched through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) and Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) projects, and since 2012 the Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia (NuME) project has aimed to develop varieties with higher protein content. Overall, 54 maize varieties have been released in Ethiopia since 1990, and 34 of these are thought to contain CIMMYT-related germplasm. It is also noted that, in the past 20 years ten drought-tolerant varieties and eight quality protein maize (QPM) varieties have been released.

In terms of geographical spread, the study highlights that improved maize varieties derived from CGIAR germplasm were highly adopted in the regions of Harar and Dire Dawa, which account for 81% of adopters overall. Adoption rates were also high in Tigray (79.3% of households), Amhara and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (63% of households), and Oromia (58.4% of households).

The other important crop in Ethiopia is wheat, which is grown by up to 4.8 million farmers in the country, according to the 2019 Central Statistics Authority (CSA) report. The SPIA document indicates that CGIAR innovations have played great role in the release and uptake of improved wheat varieties. The work of the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT), for instance, has resulted in the release of eight rust-resistant varieties derived from CIMMYT germplasm that are still under production. Of the 133 varieties released since 1974, CIMMYT and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) played a role in developing at least 80.

The report concludes that agricultural research carried out by CGIAR scientists and their national partners generates many new ideas for innovations that might help address pressing policy concerns. CGIAR’s contribution to Ethiopia’s agricultural development is complex and wide-ranging, and while some aspects cannot be accurately captured by survey data, this new source of adoption and diffusion data helps identify the scale and scope of CGIAR’s reach in Ethiopia.

Read the full report: Shining a brighter light: Comprehensive evidence on adoption and diffusion of CGIAR-related innovations in Ethiopia

About the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment

The Standing Panel on Impact Assessment (SPIA) is an external, impartial panel of experts in impact assessment appointed by the System Council and accountable to it. SPIA is responsible for providing rigorous, evidence-based, and independent strategic advice to the broader CGIAR System on efficient and effective impact assessment methods and practices, including those measuring impacts beyond contributions to science and economic performance, and on innovative ways to improve knowledge and capacity on how research contributes to development outcomes

Godfrey Asea (R) and Daniel Bomet (L) from Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) admire maize cobs on a farm in Uganda. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Building networks and capacity

Written by Shiela Chikulo on . Posted in News.

The active involvement of partners in the co-design of project and capacity building activities is key to the success of the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) project, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). To that end, the AGG Regional Collaborative Breeding and Testing Networks launched with virtual meetings on September 14 and 15 for southern African partners, and October 28 and November 2 for eastern African partners.

In addition, the AGG team collaborated with researchers from the Excellence in Breeding (EiB) Platform on a number of capacity development webinars in October and November, on topics including Continuous Improvement for breeding processes, programs and products,  enhancing and measuring genetic gain in crop breeding, and a three-webinar series on statistical analysis for plant breeders with CIMMYT’s Biometrics and Statistics Unit.

These training events and regional meetings provided opportunities for well over 100 breeders from CIMMYT, national agricultural research systems (NARS) and seed companies to refresh their capacities to improve genetic gains, and to collectively review and discuss upcoming project activities, current issues of interest, and broader project objectives within their current regional context.

Several themes of importance to partners emerged during the network virtual meetings, for attention in future AGG activities and capacity development work.

Gender inclusion and the impact of COVID-19

Ugandan partners, including Godfrey Asea, director of the National Crops Resources Research Institute at Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization, and Josephine Okot, founder and managing director of Victoria Seeds, applauded the project’s emphasis on inclusion of women’s knowledge and preferences in breeding programs.

“We notice that this time there is a lot of focus on gender-inclusiveness,” remarked Asea. “I can tell you there is need for enhanced capacity building for both the private sector and research in proper gender inclusion.”

They also noted the importance of building local capacity, not just for food security but also for other value chain items like raw materials. “COVID-19 has demonstrated to all policy-makers that we cannot depend on the global supply chains,” said Okot. “How can we leverage this project if, for instance, some private sector actors want to [know] the appropriate protein-content maize for, say, animal feed?”

Godfrey Asea (R) and Daniel Bomet (L) from Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) admire maize cobs on a farm in Uganda. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Godfrey Asea (R), director of the National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) at Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), and Daniel Bomet (L), a maize breeder at NARO, admire maize cobs on a farm in Uganda. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Demand for knowledge

NARS members in Tanzania requested increased support on how to measure or assess genetic gains, especially at the national level, to allow them to establish a baseline upon which genetic gains would be pegged for the project lifecycle.

With statistics an essential element to plant breeding — from analyzing yield trials to ranking varieties — the webinar series in Statistical Analysis for Plant Breeders was a first step towards meeting these capacity development needs.

“The idea of this webinar series was to share insights on how we can improve the breeding plans using statistical methods in an effective way,” said Juan Burgueño, the head of CIMMYT’s Biometrics and Statistics Unit. “The training offered both theory and hands-on experience using open-access software.”

Reaching farmers

Looking beyond breeding, meeting participants also discussed how to improve access and adoption of improved varieties among farmers.

“For a large country such as Tanzania, it is at times very hard to reach the farmers,” said Zabron Mbwaga, managing director of the Tanzania-based Beula Seed Company and Consultancy Limited. “We may have a lot of seed in the store, but how to get the farmers to adopt the newer varieties is quite difficult. This is more so when farmers tend to stick to varieties which they know well and are always reluctant to adopt the new varieties,” he explained.

“We need to put in a lot of effort to set up demonstration farms and enhance other awareness-raising activities such as radio programs so that farmers can know about the new varieties.”

This interest in working with smallholder farmers along the entire value chain was echoed by partners in southern Africa.

“Through this project, we would like to explore ways of collaborating along the whole value chain — as the Agriculture Research Council, other partners and small to medium enterprises — to make it an effective chain,” said Kingstone Mashingaidze, senior research manager at the South Africa Agricultural Research Council. “By planning together, we can identify best-fits for all activities in the value chain and ultimately benefit the smallholder farmers.”

About the AGG Regional Collaborative Breeding and Testing Networks

The AGG Regional Collaborative Breeding and Testing Networks aim to improve breeding efficiencies among partners by enabling the use of modern tools and approaches and enriching the existing network of research organizations, public and private seed companies, farmers’ organizations, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations. It is expected that these networks will lead to increased efficiency and communications across the partnership network and within countries, improved sharing of best practices and protocols, and increased collective ownership of products for accelerated variety development and turnover.

The virtual meetings for the Regional Collaborative Breeding and Testing Network for southern Africa convened participants from Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, while meetings for eastern Africa had participants from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

AGG communications staff Joshua Masinde and Shiela Chikulo contributed to this story.

Maize and wheat fields at the El Batán experimental station. (Photo: CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortés)

Scientific opportunities and challenges

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in Blogs.

Maize and wheat fields at the El Batán experimental station. (Photo: CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortés)
Maize and wheat fields at the El Batán experimental station. (Photo: CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortés)

The first meetings of the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) wheat and maize science and technical steering committees — WSC and MSC, respectively — took place virtually on 25th and 28th September.

Researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) sit on both committees. In the WSC they are joined by wheat experts from national agricultural research systems (NARS) in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, India, and Nepal; and from Angus Wheat Consultants, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), HarvestPlus, Kansas State University and the Roslin Institute.

Similarly, the MSC includes maize experts from NARS in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia; and from Corteva, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), SeedCo, Syngenta, the University of Queensland, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

During the meetings, attendees discussed scientific challenges and opportunities for AGG, and developed specific recommendations pertaining to key topics including breeding and testing scheme optimization, effective engagement with partners and capacity development in the time of COVID-19, and seed systems and gender intentionality.

Discussion groups noted, for example, the need to address family structure in yield trials, to strengthen collaboration with national partners, and to develop effective regional on-farm testing strategies. Interestingly, most of the recommendations are applicable and valuable for both crop teams, and this is a clear example of the synergies we expect from combining maize and wheat within the AGG project.

All the recommendations will be further analyzed by the AGG teams during coming months, and project activities will be adjusted or implemented as appropriate. A brief report will be submitted to the respective STSCs prior to the second meetings of these committees, likely in late March 2021.

A farmer assesses soil on his plot in Ethiopia. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)

Taking stock of the national toolbox

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in Features.

The Government of Ethiopia has consistently prioritized agriculture and sees it as a core component of the country’s growth. However, despite considerable efforts to improve productivity, poor management of soil health and fertility has been an ongoing constraint. This is mainly due to a lack of comprehensive site-and context-specific soil health and fertility management recommendations and dissemination approaches targeted to specific needs.

The government envisions a balanced soil health and fertility system that helps farmers cultivate and maintain high-quality and fertile soils through the promotion of appropriate soil-management techniques, provision of required inputs, and facilitation of appropriate enablers, including knowledge and finance.

So far, a plethora of different research-for-development activities have been carried out in support of this effort, including the introduction of tools which provide location-specific fertilizer recommendations. For example, researchers on the Taking Maize Agronomy to Scale in Africa (TAMASA) project, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), have created locally calibrated versions of Nutrient Expert® (NE) — a tool for generating fertilizer recommendations — for maize farmers in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

Nutrient Expert® is only one of the many fertilizer recommendation tools which have been developed in recent years covering different levels of applicability and accuracy across spatial scales and users, including smallholder farmers, extension agents and national researchers. However, in order to make efficient use of all the resources available in Ethiopia, there is a need to systematically evaluate the merits of each tool for different scales and use cases. To jump start this process, researchers from the TAMASA project commissioned an assessment of the tools and frameworks that have been developed, adapted and promoted in the country, and how they compare with one another for different use-cases. Seven tools were assessed, including Nutrient Expert®, the Ethiopian Soil Information System (EthioSIS) and RiceAdvice.

For each of these, the research team asked determined how the tool is currently being implemented — for example, as an app or as a generic set of steps for recommendation generation — and its data requirements, how robust the estimates are, how complicated the interface is, how easy it is to use, the conditions under which it performs well, and the spatial scale at which it works best.

Farmer Gudeye Leta harvests his local variety maize in Dalecho village, Gudeya Bila district, Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Farmer Gudeye Leta harvests his local variety maize in Dalecho village, Gudeya Bila district, Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Combining efforts and information

The results of this initial assessment indicate that the type of main user and the scale at which decisions are made varied from tool to tool. In addition, most of the tools considered have interactive interfaces and several — including Nutrient Expert® and RiceAdvice — have IT based platforms to automate the optimization of fertilizer recommendations and/or analyze profit. However, the source codes for all the IT based platforms and tools are inaccessible to end-users. This means that if further evaluation and improvements are to be made, there should be a means of collaborating with developers to share the back-end information, such as site-specific response curves and source codes.

Because most of the tools take different approaches to making fertilizer application site-specific, each of them renders unique strengths and trade-offs. For example, Nutrient Expert® may be considered strong in its approach of downscaling regionally calibrated responses to field level recommendations based on a few site-specific responses from farmers. By contrast, its calibration requires intensive data from nutrient omission trials and advice provision is time consuming.

Overall, the use of all the Site-Specific Decision-Support Tools (SSDST) has resulted in improved grain yields compared to when farmers use traditional practices, and this is consistent across all crops. On average, use of Nutrient Expert® improved maize, rice and wheat yields by 5.9%, 8.1% and 4.9%, respectively. Similarly, the use of RiceAdvice resulted in a 21.8% yield advantage.

The assessment shows that some of the tools are useful because of their applicability at local level by development agents, while others are good because of the data used to develop and validate them. However, in order to benefit the agricultural system in Ethiopia from the perspective of reliable fertilizer-use advisory, there is a need to develop a platform that combines the merits of all available tools. To achieve this, it has been suggested that the institutions who developed the individual tools join forces to combine efforts and information, including background data and source codes for IT based tools.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted efforts to convene discussions around this work, CIMMYT has and will continue to play an active advocacy role in supporting collaborative efforts to inform evidence-based reforms to fertilizer recommendations and other agronomic advice in Ethiopia and the wider region. CIMMYT is currently undertaking a more rigorous evaluation of these tools and frameworks as a follow up on the initial stocktaking activity.

A diagram outlines the links between different factors influencing gender dynamics in demand articulation and adoption of laborsaving technologies. (Graphic: Nancy Valtierra/CIMMYT)

New publications: Voicing demand for farm power

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in Publications.

A new study examines how intra-household gender dynamics affect women’s articulation of demand for and adoption of labor-saving technologies in maize-based systems, drawing on empirical data from diverse household categories in Ethiopia and Kenya, where both women and men play important roles in agriculture.

Where agriculture relies heavily on manual labor, small-scale mechanization can reduce labor constraints and contribute to higher yields and food security. However, demand for and adoption of labor-saving machinery remains weak in many areas. Paradoxically, this includes areas where women face a particularly high labor burden.

“How do we make sense of this?” asks Lone Badstue, a rural development sociologist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “What factors influence women’s articulation of demand for and use of farm power mechanization?”

To answer this question, an international team of researchers analyzed data from four analytical dimensions — gender division of labor; gender norms; gendered access to and control over resources like land and income; and intra-household decision-making — to show how interactions between these influence women’s demand for and use of mechanization.

“Overall, a combination of forces seems to work against women’s demand articulation and adoption of labor-saving technologies,” says Badstue. Firstly, women’s labor often goes unrecognized, and they are typically expected to work hard and not voice their concerns. Additionally, women generally lack access to and control over a range of resources, including land, income, and extension services.

This is exacerbated by the gendered division of labor, as women’s time poverty negatively affects their access to resources and information. Furthermore, decision-making is primarily seen as men’s domain, and women are often excluded from discussions on the allocation of labor and other aspects of farm management. Crucially, many of these factors interlink across all four dimensions of the authors’ analytical framework to shape women’s demand for and adoption of labor-saving technologies.

A diagram outlines the links between different factors influencing gender dynamics in demand articulation and adoption of laborsaving technologies. (Graphic: Nancy Valtierra/CIMMYT)
A diagram outlines the links between different factors influencing gender dynamics in demand articulation and adoption of laborsaving technologies. (Graphic: Nancy Valtierra/CIMMYT)

Demand articulation and adoption of labor-saving technologies in the study sites are shown to be stimulated when women have control over resources, and where more permissive or inclusive norms influence gender relations. “Women’s independent control over resources is a game changer,” explains Badstue. “Adoption of mechanized farm power is practically only observed when women have direct and sole control over land and on- or off-farm income. They rarely articulate demand or adopt mechanization through joint decision-making with male relatives.”

The study shows that independent decision-making by women on labor reduction or adoption of mechanization is often confronted with social disapproval and can come at the cost of losing social capital, both within the household and in the community. As such, the authors stress the importance of interventions which engage with these issues and call for the recognition of technological change as shaped by the complex interplay of gender norms, gendered access to and control over resources, and decision-making.

Read the full article ‘How local gender norms and intra-household dynamics shape women’s demand for labor-saving technologies: insights from maize-based livelihoods in Ethiopia and Kenya’ in Gender, Technology and Development.

Read more recent publications by CIMMYT researchers:

1. Activity profiling of barley vacuolar processing enzymes provides new insights into the plant and cyst nematode interaction. 2020. Labudda, M., Rozanska, E., Prabucka, B., Muszynska, E., Marecka, D, Kozak, M, Dababat, A.A, Sobczak, M. In: Molecular Plant Pathology v. 21, no, 1, pg. 38-52.

2. Heteromorphic seeds of wheat wild relatives show germination niche differentiation. 2020. Gianella, M., Balestrazzi, A., Pagano, A., Müller, J.V., Kyratzis, A.C., Kikodze, D., Canella, M., Mondoni, A., Rossi, G., Guzzon, F. In: Plant Biology v. 22, no. 2, pg. 191-202.

3. Genetic dissection of maternal influence on in vivo haploid induction in maize. 2020. Nair, S.K., Chaikam, V., Gowda, M., Hindu, V., Melchinger, A.E., Prasanna, B.M. In: The Crop Journal v. 8 no. 2, pg. 287-298.

4. Genome-wide analyses and prediction of resistance to MLN in large tropical maize germplasm. 2020. Nyaga, C., Gowda, M., Beyene, Y., Muriithi, W.T., Makumbi, D., Olsen, M., Mahabaleswara, S.L., Jumbo, M.B., Das, B., Prasanna, B.M. In: Genes v. 11, no. 1, art. 16.

5. Performance and yield stability of maize hybrids in stress-prone environments in eastern Africa. 2020. Rezende, W.S., Beyene, Y., Mugo, S.N., Ndou, E., Gowda, M., Julius Pyton Sserumaga, Asea, G., Ismail Ngolinda, Jumbo, M.B., Oikeh, S.O., Olsen, M., Borém, A., Cruz, C.D., Prasanna, B.M. In: The Crop Journal v. 8, no. 1, pg. 107-118.

6. Genetic analysis of QTL for resistance to maize lethal necrosis in multiple mapping populations. 2020. Awata, L.A.O., Beyene, Y., Gowda, M., Mahabaleswara, S.L., Jumbo, M.B., Tongoona, P., Danquah, E., Ifie, B.E., Marchelo-D’ragga, P.W., Olsen, M., Ogugo, V., Mugo, S.N., Prasanna, B.M. In: Genes v. 11, no. 1, art. 32.

7. Variation in occurrence and aflatoxigenicity of Aspergillus flavus from two climatically varied regions in Kenya. 2020. Monda, E., Masanga, J., Alakonya, A. In: Toxins v. 12, no. 1, art. 34.

8. A detached leaf assay to rapidly screen for resistance of maize to Bipolaris maydis, the causal agent of southern corn leaf blight. 2020. Aregbesola, E., Ortega Beltran, A., Falade, T. D. O., Gbolagade Jonathan, Hearne, S., Bandyopadhyay, R. In: European Journal of Plant Pathology v. 156, no. 1, pg. 133-145.

9. Spread and impact of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) in maize production areas of Kenya. 2020. De Groote, H., Kimenju, S.C., Munyua, B., Palmas, S., Kassie, M., Bruce, A.Y. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment v. 292, art. 106804.

10. Genetic dissection of grain yield and agronomic traits in maize under optimum and low-nitrogen stressed environments. 2020. Berhanu Tadesse Ertiro, Olsen, M., Das, B., Gowda, M., Labuschagne, M. In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences v. 21, no. 2, art. 543.

11. ToxA-Tsn1 interaction for spot blotch susceptibility in Indian wheat: an example of inverse gene-for-gene relationship. 2020. Sudhir Navathe, Punam S. Yadav., Chand, R., Vinod Kumar Mishra, Vasistha, N.K., Prabina Kumar Meher, Joshi, A.K., Pushpendra Kumar Gupta In: Plant Disease v. 104, no. 1, pg. 71-81.

12. Novel sources of wheat head blast resistance in modern breeding lines and wheat wild relatives. 2020. Cruppe, G., Cruz, C.D., Peterson, G.L., Pedley, K.F., Asif, M., Fritz, A.K., Calderon Daza, L., Lemes da Silva, C., Todd, T.C., Kuhnem, P., Singh, P.K., Singh, R.P., Braun, H.J., Barma, N.C.D., Valent, B. In: Plant Disease v. 104, no. 1, pg. 35-43.

13. Stripe rust resistance genes in a set of Ethiopian bread wheat cultivars and breeding lines. 2020. Gebreslasie Zeray Siyoum, Huang, S., Gangming Zhan, Badebo, A., Qingdong Zeng, Jianhui Wu, Qilin Wang, Shengjie Liu, Lili Huang, Xiaojing Wang, Zhensheng Kang, Dejun Han In: Euphytica v. 216, no. 2, art. 17.

14. Appraisal of wheat genomics for gene discovery and breeding applications: a special emphasis on advances in Asia. 2020. Rasheed, A., Takumi, S., Hassan, M.A., Imtiaz, M., Ali, M., Morgounov, A.I., Mahmood, T., He Zhonghu In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics v. 113, pg. 1503–1520.

15. Diversity and incidence of plant-parasitic nematodes associated with saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in Morocco and their relationship with soil physicochemical properties. 2020. Mokrini, F., Salah-Eddine Laasli, Karra, Y., El Aissami, A., Dababat, A.A. In: Nematology v. 22, no. 1, pg. 87-102.

16. Maya gene variants related to the risk of type 2 diabetes in a family-based association study. 2020. Domínguez-Cruz, M.G., Muñoz, M. de L., Totomoch-Serra, A., García-Escalante, M.G., Burgueño, J., Valadez-González, N., Pinto-Escalantes, D., Diaz-Badillo, A. In: Gene v. 730, art. 144259.

17. Effect of allele combinations at Ppd-1 loci on durum wheat grain filling at contrasting latitudes. 2020. Arjona, J.M., Royo, C., Dreisigacker, S., Ammar, K., Subira, J., Villegas, D. In: Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, v. 206, no. 1, pg. 64-75.

18. Yield and quality in purple-grained wheat isogenic lines. 2020. Morgounov, A.I., Karaduman, Y., Akin, B., Aydogan, S., Baenziger, P.S., Bhatta, M.R., Chudinov, V., Dreisigacker, S., Velu, G., Güler, S., Guzman, C., Nehe, A., Poudel, R., Rose, D., Gordeeva, E., Shamanin, V., Subasi, K., Zelenskiy, Y., Khlestkina, E. In: Agronomy v. 10, no. 1, art. 86.

19. Anther extrusion and its association with Fusarium head blight in CIMMYT wheat germplasm. 2020. Kaijie Xu, Xinyao He, Dreisigacker, S., He Zhonghu, Singh, P.K. In: Agronomy v. 10, no. 1 art. 47.

20. Does farm structure affect rural household incomes? Evidence from Tanzania. 2020. Chamberlin, J., Jayne, T.S. In: Food Policy v. 90, art. 101805.

21. GAR dwarf gene Rht14 reduced plant height and affected agronomic traits in durum wheat (Triticum durum). 2020. Shan Duan, Zhangchen Zhao, Yue Qiao, Chunge Cui, Morgounov, A.I., Condon, A.G., Liang Chen, Yin-Gang Hu In: Field Crops Research v. 248, art. 107721.

22. Ex-ante and ex-post coping strategies for climatic shocks and adaptation determinants in rural Malawi. 2020. Abid, M., Ali, A., Rahut, D.B., Raza, M., Mehdi, M. In: Climate Risk Management v. 27, art. 100200.

23. Management of spot blotch and heat stress in spring wheat through azoxystrobin-mediated redox balance. 2020. Sudhir Navathe, Chand, R., Vinod Kumar Mishra, Pandey, S.P., Kumar, U., Joshi, A.K. In: Agricultural Research v. 9, pg. 169–178.

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28. Genetic diversity analysis using DArTseq and SNP markers in populations of Aegilops species from Azerbaijan. 2020. Abbasov, M., Sansaloni, C.P., Burgueño, J., Petroli, C.D., Akparov, Z., Aminov, N., Babayeva, S., Izzatullayeva, V., Hajiyev, E., Rustamov, K., Mammadova, S.A., Amri, A., Payne, T.S. In: Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution v. 67, no. 2, pg. 281-291.

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Wheat fields in the Arsi highlands, Ethiopia, 2015. (Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe)

Rust-resistant bread wheat varieties widely adopted in Ethiopia

Written by Emma Orchardson on . Posted in Press releases.

Wheat fields in the Arsi highlands, Ethiopia, 2015. (Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe)
Wheat fields in the Arsi highlands, Ethiopia, 2015. (Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe)

A state-of-the-art study of plant DNA provides strong evidence that farmers in Ethiopia have widely adopted new, improved rust-resistant bread wheat varieties since 2014.

The results — published in Nature Scientific Reports — show that nearly half (47%) of the 4,000 plots sampled were growing varieties 10 years old or younger, and the majority (61%) of these were released after 2005.

Four of the top varieties sown were recently-released rust-resistant varieties developed through the breeding programs of the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Adoption studies provide a fundamental measure of the success and effectiveness of agricultural research and investment. However, obtaining accurate information on the diffusion of crop varieties remains a challenging endeavor.

DNA fingerprinting enables researchers to identify the variety present in samples or plots, based on a comprehensive reference library of the genotypes of known varieties. In Ethiopia, over 94% of plots could be matched with known varieties. This provides data that is vastly more accurate than traditional farmer-recall surveys.

This is the first nationally representative, large-scale wheat DNA fingerprinting study undertaken in Ethiopia. CIMMYT scientists led the study in partnership with EIAR, the Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (CSA) and Diversity Array Technologies (DArT).

“When we compared DNA fingerprinting results with the results from a survey of farmers’ memory of the same plots, we saw that only 28% of farmers correctly named wheat varieties grown,” explained Dave Hodson, a principal scientist at CIMMYT and lead author of the study.

The resulting data helps national breeding programs adjust their seed production to meet demand, and national extension agents focus on areas that need better access to seed. It also helps scientists, policymakers, donors and organizations such as CIMMYT track their impact and prioritize funding, support, and the direction of future research.

“These results validate years of international investment and national policies that have worked to promote, distribute and fast-track the release of wheat varieties with the traits that farmers have asked for — particularly resistance to crop-destroying wheat rust disease,” said Hodson.

Ethiopia is the largest wheat producer in sub-Saharan Africa. The Ethiopian government recently announced its goal to become self-sufficient in wheat, and increasing domestic wheat production is a national priority.

Widespread adoption of these improved varieties, demonstrated by DNA fingerprinting, has clearly had a positive impact on both economic returns and national wheat production gains. Initial estimates show that farmers gained an additional 225,500 tons of production — valued at $50 million — by using varieties released after 2005.

The study results validate investments in wheat improvement made by international donor agencies, notably the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ethiopian government, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO, formerly DFID), the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank. Their success in speeding up variety release and seed multiplication in Ethiopia is considered a model for other countries.

“This is good news for Ethiopian farmers, who are seeing better incomes from higher yielding, disease-resistant wheat, and for the Ethiopian government, which has put a high national priority on increasing domestic wheat production and reducing dependence on imports,” said EIAR Deputy Director General Chilot Yirga.

The study also confirmed CGIAR’s substantial contribution to national breeding efforts, with 90% of the area sampled containing varieties released by Ethiopian wheat breeding programs and derived from CIMMYT and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) germplasm. Varieties developed using germplasm received from CIMMYT covered 87% of the wheat area surveyed.

“This research demonstrates that DNA fingerprinting can be applied at scale and is likely to transform future crop varietal adoption studies,” said Kindie Tesfaye, a senior scientist at CIMMYT and co-author of the study. “Additional DNA fingerprinting studies are now also well advanced for maize in Ethiopia.”

This research is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and CGIAR Fund Donors. Financial support was provided through the “Mainstreaming the use and application of DNA Fingerprinting in Ethiopia for tracking crop varieties” project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Grant number OPP1118996).

RELATED PUBLICATIONS:

Ethiopia’s Transforming Wheat Landscape: Tracking Variety Use through DNA Fingerprinting

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR INTERVIEW REQUESTS:

Dave Hodson, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), d.hodson@cgiar.org

ABOUT CIMMYT:

The International Maize and What Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information visit staging.cimmyt.org

CIMMYT-supported researcher earns doctorate for work on gender, maize value chains and food security

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Gebre received his doctorate in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Kyushu University, Japan.

On September 25, with financial and academic support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Girma Gezimu Gebre upgraded his honorific from mister to doctor. Born in Dawuro zone, in southern Ethiopia, Gebre received his doctorate in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Kyushu University, Japan.

His dissertation—Gender Dimensions of the Maize Value Chain and Food Security: The Case of Dawuro Zone in Southern Ethiopia—was supported by CIMMYT through the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project. Dil Rahut, global program manager of the socioeconomics and sustainable intensification programs at CIMMYT, served on his committee.

Asked about Gebre’s achievement, Rahut alluded to his hard work and dedication. “Desire is the starting point of all achievements while hard work and commitment are the end points of all the high achievements,” he said.

Gebre’s research explores how and to what degree gender plays a role in the adoption of improved maize varieties, maize productivity, maize market participation, and marketing channel choices, as well as food security among smallholder households across the maize value chain. Gebre already boasts published articles on the impact of gender on various dimensions of agriculture and agricultural development as well as various other topics— from the development of sustainable banana value chains in Ethiopia to barriers to farmers’ innovativeness.

At Kyushu University Gebre was awarded the 2020 Graduate School of Bioresources and Bioenvironmental Science “Outstanding Student Prize.” He was also awarded the 2020 Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics Prize in recognition of his excellent academic achievements and quality as a role model for other students.

Before pursuing a Ph.D., Gebre received a Master’s degree in Economics (Development Policy Analysis) from Mekelle University, Ethiopia, and a Master’s degree in Agricultural Production Chain Management—Horticulture Chain from Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. He has served as the coordinator of the postgraduate program in Agribusiness and Value Chain Management and as the head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Aksum University, Ethiopia.

Wheat fields at CIMMYT’s Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug (CENEB) in Ciudad Obregón, Mexico. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Retrospective quantitative genetic analysis and genomic prediction of global wheat yields

Written by Marcia MacNeil on . Posted in Publications.

The process for breeding for grain yield in bread wheat at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) involves three-stage testing at an experimental station in the desert environment of Ciudad Obregón, in Mexico’s Yaqui Valley. Because the conditions in Obregón are extremely favorable, CIMMYT wheat breeders are able to replicate growing environments all over the world and test the yield potential and climate-resilience of wheat varieties for every major global wheat growing area. These replicated test areas in Obregón are known as selection environments (SEs).

This process has its roots in the innovative work of wheat breeder and Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug, more than 50 years ago. Wheat scientists at CIMMYT, led by wheat breeder Philomin Juliana, wanted to see if it remained effective.

The scientists conducted a large quantitative genetics study comparing the grain yield performance of lines in the Obregón SEs with that of lines in target growing sites throughout the world. They based their comparison on data from two major wheat trials: the South Asia Bread Wheat Genomic Prediction Yield Trials in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh initiated by the U.S. Agency for International Development Feed the Future initiative and the global testing environments of the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials.

The findings, published in Retrospective Quantitative Genetic Analysis and Genomic Prediction of Global Wheat Yields, in Frontiers in Plant Science, found that the Obregón yield testing process in different SEs is very efficient in developing high-yielding and resilient wheat lines for target sites.

The authors found higher average heritabilities, or trait variations due to genetic differences, for grain yield in the Obregón SEs than in the target sites (44.2 and 92.3% higher for the South Asia and global trials, respectively), indicating greater precision in the SE trials than those in the target sites. They also observed significant genetic correlations between one or more SEs in Obregón and all five South Asian sites, as well as with the majority (65.1%) of the Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trial sites. Lastly, they found a high ratio of selection response by selecting for grain yield in the SEs of Obregón than directly in the target sites.

“The results of this study make it evident that the rigorous multi-year yield testing in Obregón environments has helped to develop wheat lines that have wide-adaptability across diverse geographical locations and resilience to environmental variations,” said Philomin Juliana, CIMMYT associate scientist and lead author of the article.

“This is particularly important for smallholder farmers in developing countries growing wheat on less than 2 hectares who cannot afford crop losses due to year-to-year environmental changes.”

In addition to these comparisons, the scientists conducted genomic prediction for grain yield in the target sites, based on the performance of the same lines in the SEs of Obregón. They found high year-to-year variations in grain yield predictabilities, highlighting the importance of multi-environment testing across time and space to stave off the environment-induced uncertainties in wheat yields.

“While our results demonstrate the challenges involved in genomic prediction of grain yield in future unknown environments, it also opens up new horizons for further exciting research on designing genomic selection-driven breeding for wheat grain yield,” said Juliana.

This type of quantitative genetics analysis using multi-year and multi-site grain yield data is one of the first steps to assessing the effectiveness of CIMMYT’s current grain yield testing and making recommendations for improvement—a key objective of the new Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) project, which aims to accelerate the breeding progress by optimizing current breeding schemes.

This work was made possible by the generous support of the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and managed by Cornell University; the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future initiative; and several collaborating national partners who generated the grain yield data.

Read the full article: Retrospective Quantitative Genetic Analysis and Genomic Prediction of Global Wheat Yields

This story was originally posted on the website of the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (wheat.org).

Cover photo: Wheat fields at CIMMYT’s Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug (CENEB) in Ciudad Obregón, Mexico. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Harvesting golden spikes of wheat in Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT

East Africa partners welcome “new era” in wheat breeding collaboration

Written by Marcia MacNeil on . Posted in Features.

Representatives from ministries of agriculture and national agricultural research systems (NARS) in Ethiopia and Kenya recently joined funder representatives and technical experts from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to renew a long-standing collaboration under the auspices of an ambitious new project, Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG).

AGG is a 5-year project that brings together partners in the global science community and in national agricultural research and extension systems to accelerate the development of higher-yielding varieties of maize and wheat — two of the world’s most important staple crops. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), AGG fuses innovative methods that improve breeding efficiency and precision to produce varieties that are climate-resilient, pest- and disease-resistant, highly nutritious, and targeted to farmers’ specific needs.

Ethiopia and Kenya: CIMMYT’s longstanding partners

The inception meeting for the wheat component of AGG in East Africa drew more than 70 stakeholders from Ethiopia and Kenya: the region’s primary target countries for wheat breeding. These two countries have long-standing relationships with CIMMYT that continue to deliver important impacts. Ninety percent of all wheat in Ethiopia is derived from CIMMYT varieties, and CIMMYT is a key supporter of the Ethiopian government’s goal for wheat self-sufficiency. Kenya has worked with CIMMYT for more than 40 years, and hosts the world’s biggest screening facilities for wheat rust diseases, with up to 40,000 accessions tested each year.

AGG builds on these successes and on the foundations built by previous projects, notably Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat, led by Cornell University. The wheat component of AGG works in parallel with a USAID-funded “zinc mainstreaming” project, meeting the demand for increased nutritional quality as well as yield and resilience.

CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff gave key remarks at the stakeholder gathering, which took place Thursday, August 20.

“Cooperation between CIMMYT and Ethiopia and Kenya – as in all the countries where CIMMYT works – has had tremendous impact,” he said. “We are proud, not for ourselves, but for the people we work for: the hundreds of millions of poor people and smallholders who rely on wheat and maize for their daily food and incomes.”

“AGG will raise this spirit of global cooperation to a new level.”

AGG Project Leader and CIMMYT Interim Deputy Director General for Research Kevin Pixley introduced the new project as a “unique and important” project that challenges every stakeholder to grow.

“What we would like to achieve is a step change for all of us, he told the stakeholders. “Each of us has the opportunity and the challenge to make a difference and that’s what we’re striving to do.”

Representatives from the agricultural research communities of both target countries emphasized the significance of their long collaboration with CIMMYT and their support for the project.

The Honorable Mandefro Nigussie, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Agriculture, confirmed the ongoing achievements of CIMMYT collaboration in his country.

“Our partnership with CIMMYT […] has yielded several improved varieties that increased productivity twofold over the last 20 years. He referred to Ethiopia’s campaign to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat. “AGG will make an immense contribution to this. The immediate and intermediate results can help achieve the country’s ambitious targets.”

A holistic and gender-informed approach

Deputy Director of Crops at the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Organization (KALRO) Felister Makini, representing the KALRO Director General Eliud Kireger, noted the project’s strong emphasis on gender-intentional variety development and gender-informed analysis to ensure female farmers have access to varieties that meet their needs and the information to successfully adopt them.

“The goal of this new project will indeed address KALRO’s objective of enhancing food security and nutrition in Kenya,” she said. “This is because AGG not only brings together wheat breeding and optimization tools and technologies, but also considers gender and socioeconomic insights, which will be pivotal to our envisaged strategy to achieve socioeconomic change.”

Funding partners keen for AGG to address future threats

Before CIMMYT wheat experts took the virtual floor to describe specific workplans and opportunities for partner involvement, a number of funder representatives shared candid and inspiring thoughts.

“We are interested in delivery,” said Alan Tollervey of FCDO, formerly the UK Department for International Development. “That is why we support AGG, because it is about streamlining and modernizing the delivery of products […] directly relevant to both the immediate demands of poor farmers in developing countries and the global demand for food – but also addressing the future threats that we see coming.”

Hailu Wordofa, Agricultural Technology Specialist at the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security at USAID highlighted the importance of global partnerships for past success and reiterated the ambitious targets of the current project.

“We expect to see genetic gains increase and varieties […] replaced by farmer-preferred varieties,” he reminded stakeholders. “To make this happen, we expect CIMMYT’s global breeding program to use optimal breeding approaches and develop strong and truly collaborative relationships with NARS partners throughout the entire process.”

“Wheat continues to be a critical staple crop for global food security and supporting CIMMYT’s wheat breeding program remains a high priority for USAID,” he assured the attendees.

He also expressed hope that AGG would collaborate other projects working in parallel, including the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Applied Wheat Genomics at Kansas State University, and the International Wheat Yield Partnership.

FFAR Scientific Program Director Jeff Rosichan called AGG a “really ambitious project that takes a comprehensive look at the research gaps and challenges and how to translate that research into farmers’ fields.”

Agriculture prevails even under COVID-19

The global COVID-19 pandemic was not ignored as one of several challenges during this time of change and transition.

“As we speak today, despite the challenge that we have with the COVID-19, I am proud to say that work on the nurseries is on-going. We are able to apply [our] skills and deliver world-class science,” said Godwin Macharia, center director at KALRO-Njoro.

“This COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that there is a great need globally to focus on food equity. I think this project allows that to happen,” said Jeff Rosichan from FFAR.

Transformations are also happening at the research organization and funding level. CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff noted that “demand-driven solutions” for “affordable, efficient and healthy diets produced within planetary boundaries” are an important part of the strategy for One CGIAR, the ongoing transformation of CGIAR, the world’s largest public research network on food systems, of which CIMMYT is a member.

Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program reminded attendees that, despite these changes, one important fact remains. “The demand for wheat will continue to grow for many years to come, and we must meet it.”

Cover photo: Harvesting golden spikes of wheat in Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

CIMMYT researcher Demewoz Negera at the Ambo Research Center in Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Collaborating to accelerate genetic gains in maize and wheat

Written by Marta Millere on . Posted in Features.

Stakeholders in the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) project have pledged to strengthen efforts to deliver desirable stress tolerant, nutritious and high-yielding maize and wheat varieties to smallholder farmers in a much shorter time. The alliance, comprising funders, national agricultural research systems (NARS), private seed companies, non-governmental organizations, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and, for the maize component the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), made these assurances during virtual events held in July and August 2020, marking the inception of the 5-year AGG project.

The initiative seeks to fast-track the development of higher-yielding, climate resilient, demand-driven, gender-responsive and nutritious seed varieties for maize and wheat, two of the world’s most important staple crops. The project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR).

Tackling current and emerging threats

Jeff Rosichan, scientific program director of the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research (FFAR),  acknowledged the significant and ambitious aim of the project in tackling the challenges facing maize and wheat currently and in the future. “We are seeing the emergence of new pests and pathogens and viral diseases like never before. A lot of the work of this project is going to help us to tackle such challenges and to be better prepared to tackle emerging threats,” he said.

AGG builds on gains made in previous initiatives including Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS), Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) and Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW), with support from partners in 17 target countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia.

Hailu Wordofa, agricultural technology specialist at the USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, underscored his expectation for CIMMYT’s global breeding program to use optimal breeding approaches and develop strong collaborative relationships with NARS partners, “from the development of product profiles to breeding, field trials and line advancement.”

Similarly, Gary Atlin, senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation lauded the move toward stronger partnerships and greater emphasis on the CIMMYT and IITA breeding programs. “The technical capacity of partners has increased through the years. It is prudent to ensure that national partnerships continue. It is always a challenging environment, this time multiplied by the COVID-19 crisis, but through this collaboration, there is a greater scope to strengthen such partnerships even more,” he said.

Anne Wangui, Maize Seed Health Technician, demonstrates how to test maize plants for maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV). (Photo: Joshua
Anne Wangui, Maize Seed Health Technician, demonstrates how to test maize plants for maize dwarf mosaic virus (MDMV). (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Symbiotic partnerships with great impact

“From the NARS perspective, we are committed to doing our part as primary partners to deliver the right seed to the farmers,” said Godfrey Asea, director of the National Crops Resources Research Institute at the National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO), Uganda. “We see an opportunity to review and to use a lot of previous historical data, both in-country and regionally and to continue making improved decisions. We also reiterate our commitment and support to continuously make improvement plans in our breeding programs.”

Martin Kropff, director general of CIMMYT, recognized the tremendous impact arising from the longstanding cooperation between CIMMYT’s maize and wheat programs and national programs in countries where CIMMYT works. “A wheat study in Ethiopia showed that 90% of all the wheat grown in the country is CIMMYT-related, while an impact study for the maize program shows that 50% of the maize varieties in Africa are CIMMYT-derived. We are very proud of that – not for ourselves but for the people that we work for, the hundreds of millions of poor people and smallholder farmers who really rely on wheat and maize for their living and for their incomes,” he said.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of East Africa-based Western Seed Company Saleem Esmail expressed optimism at the opportunities the project offers to improve livelihoods of beneficiaries. “I believe we can do this by sharing experiences and by leveraging on the impacts that this project is going to bring, from new technologies to new science approaches, particularly those that help save costs of seed production.”

He, however, observed that while the target of fast-tracking varietal turnover was great, it was a tough call, too, “because farmers are very risk averse and to change their habits requires a great deal of effort.”

On his part, director of Crop Research at the Oromia Agricultural Research Institute (OARI) in Ethiopia Tesfaye Letta revealed that from collaborative research work undertaken with CIMMYT, the institute has had access to better-quality varieties especially for wheat (bread and durum). These have helped millions of farmers to improve their productivity even as Ethiopia aims for wheat self-sufficiency by expanding wheat production under irrigation.

“We expect more support, from identifying wheat germplasm suitable for irrigation, developing disease resistant varieties and multiplying a sufficient quantity of early generation seed, to applying appropriate agronomic practices for yield improvement and organizing exposure field visits for farmers and experts,” he said.

Challenges and opportunities in a time of crisis

Alan Tollervey, head of agriculture research at Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the UK representative to the CGIAR System Council, emphasized the need for continued investment in agricultural research to build a resilient food system that can cope with the demands and pressures of the coming decades. This way, organizations such as CIMMYT and its partners can adequately deliver products that are relevant not only to the immediate demands of poor farmers in developing countries – and the global demand for food generally – but also to address foreseen threats.

“We are at a time of intense pressure on budgets, and that is when projects are most successful, most relevant to the objectives of any organization, and most able to demonstrate a track record of delivery. CIMMYT has a long track history of being able to respond to rapidly emerging threats,” he said.

Felister Makini, the deputy director general for crops at the Kenya Agricultural Research Organization (KALRO) lauded the fact that AGG not only brings together maize and wheat breeding and optimization tools and technologies, but also considers gender and socioeconomic insights, “which will be crucial to our envisioned strategy to achieve socioeconomic change.”

Zambia Agriculture Research Organization (ZARI) maize breeder Mwansa Kabamba noted that the inclusion of extension workers will help to get buy-in from farmers especially as far as helping with adoption of the improved varieties is concerned.

In its lifecycle, the AGG project aims to reduce the breeding cycles for both maize and wheat from 5-7 years currently to 3-4 years. By 2024, at least 150,000 metric tons of certified maize seed is expected to be produced, adopted by 10 million households, planted on 6 million hectares and benefit 64 million people. It also seeks to serve over 30 million households engaged in wheat farming the target countries.

Cover photo: CIMMYT researcher Demewoz Negera at the Ambo Research Center in Ethiopia. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

In Ethiopia, scattered trees in crop fields have been practiced for centuries. (Photo: Tesfaye Shiferaw /CIMMYT)

Matching nutrients to agroforestry systems for greater maize and wheat yields

Written by Marta Millere on . Posted in Features.

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have created bottlenecks across the agricultural value chain, including disrupting the supply of fertilizer. This could negatively impact the already low yields in smallholders’ fields in the Global South. Livelihoods of these resource-poor farmers and food security of those they feed call for innovations or smarter application of existing knowledge to avoid increasing food insecurity.

In a recent study, a team of scientists from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University, found that there are clever ways to mix and match maize and wheat varieties with mineral fertilizers in tree-crop systems for greater nutrient use efficiency. The study explored the impact of different combinations of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers on crop yield in tree crop systems. It also identified mineral fertilizer-tree combinations that maximize agronomic nutrient use efficiencies under different contexts.

Tree-crop-fertilizer interactions for wheat growing under Faidherbia albida and maize growing under Acacia tortilis and Grevillea robusta through omission trials of N and P were explored in open fields and fields under tree canopy, using a split plot design. The experiments were conducted under different agroecologies in Ethiopia (Meki and Mojo) and Rwanda, where retaining scattered trees in fields has been practiced for centuries. The trials were replicated four times and over two seasons. Trees with approximately similar ages, crown structures and pruning history were used for a researcher-led and farmer-managed on-farm experiment.

The results demonstrated that different on-farm tree species interact uniquely with crops, resulting in different responses to N and P fertilization. Except for F. albida, perhaps the most ‘ideal’ agroforestry species, the other two tree species under the current study raised the question of tree-crop compatibility for optimum productivity. F. albida significantly improved N and P use efficiencies, leading to significantly higher grain yields in wheat. The P use efficiency of wheat under F.albida was double that of wheat grown in an open field. By contrast, G. robusta and A. tortilis trees lowered nutrient use efficiencies in maize, leading to significantly less maize grain yields compared with open fields receiving the same fertilization. The case study also identified probabilities of critically low crop yields and crop failure to be significantly greater for maize growing under the canopy of these species.

A tree-crop system in Ethiopia. (Photo: Tesfaye Shiferaw /CIMMYT)
A tree-crop system in Ethiopia. (Photo: Tesfaye Shiferaw /CIMMYT)

In conclusion, the study demonstrated that tree-crop interactions are mediated by the application of N and P fertilizers in tree-crop systems. In F. albida-wheat agroforestry systems, N fertilizers could be saved, with localized application of P fertilizers close to tree crowns. Such adaptable application may help smallholder farmers cope with COVID-19-imposed fertilizer limitations. In G.robusta-maize and A.tortilis-maize agroforestry systems, maize did not respond to N and P fertilizers applied at recommended rates, although the application of these nutrients compensated for competition. This implies mineral fertilizers can offset the effect of competition, while they fail to provide the yield advantages like mono-cropping situations.

The researchers underlined the fact that fertilizer recommendations need to be adapted to agroforestry systems. However, in order to quantify the exact magnitude and nature of fertilizer-tree interaction in agroforestry systems accurately, factorial application of higher and lower rates of mineral fertilizer is needed. They also called for further research to identify fertilization rates that minimize tree-crop competition for G. robusta-maize and A. tortilis-maize systems, while additional studies are needed to identify the rates and timing of application that optimize F. albida-wheat facilitation.

This work was carried out by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University

Download your copy of the publication: Should fertilizer recommendations be adapted to parkland agroforestry systems? Case studies from Ethiopia and Rwanda

Farmers evaluate traits of wheat varieties, Ethiopia. (Photo: Jeske van de Gevel/Bioversity International)

Reaching women with improved maize and wheat

Written by Marcia MacNeil on . Posted in Features.

By 2050, global demand for wheat is predicted to increase by 50 percent from today’s levels and demand for maize is expected to double. Meanwhile, these profoundly important and loved crops bear incredible risks from emerging pests and diseases, diminishing water resources, limited available land and unstable weather conditions – with climate change as a constant pressure exacerbating all these stresses.

Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat for Improved Livelihoods (AGG) is a new 5-year project led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) that brings together partners in the global science community and in national agricultural research and extension systems to accelerate the development of higher-yielding varieties of maize and wheat.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), AGG fuses innovative methods to sustainably and inclusively improve breeding efficiency and precision to produce seed varieties that are climate-resilient, pest- and disease-resistant, highly nutritious, and targeted to farmers’ specific needs.

AGG seeks to respond to the intersection of the climate emergency and gender through gender-intentional product profiles for its improved seed varieties and gender-intentional seed delivery pathways.

AGG will take into account the needs and preferences of female farmers when developing the product profiles for improved varieties of wheat and maize. This will be informed by gender-disaggregated data collection on current varieties and preferred characteristics and traits, systematic on-farm testing in target regions, and training of scientists and technicians.

Farmer Agnes Sendeza harvests maize cobs in Malawi. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)
Farmer Agnes Sendeza harvests maize cobs in Malawi. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

To encourage female farmers to take up climate-resilient improved seeds, AGG will seek to understand the pathways by which women receive information and improved seed and the external dynamics that affect this access and will use this information to create gender-intentional solutions for increasing varietal adoption and turnover.

“Until recently, investments in seed improvement work have not actively looked in this area,” said Olaf Erenstein, Director of CIMMYT’s Socioeconomics Program at a virtual inception meeting for the project in late August 2020. Now, “it has been built in as a primary objective of AGG to focus on […] strengthening gender-intentional seed delivery systems so that we ensure a faster varietal turnover and higher adoption levels in the respective target areas.”

In the first year of the initiative, the researchers will take a deep dive into the national- and state-level frameworks and policies that might enable or influence the delivery of these new varieties to both female and male farmers. They will analyze this delivery system by mapping the seed delivery paths and studying the diverse factors that impact seed demand. By understanding their respective roles, practices, and of course, the strengths and weaknesses of the system, the researchers can diagnose issues in the delivery chain and respond accordingly.

Once this important scoping step is complete, the team will design a research plan for the following years to understand and influence the seed information networks and seed acquisition. It will be critical in this step to identify some of the challenges and opportunities on a broad scale, while also accounting for the related intra-household decision-making dynamics that could affect access to and uptake of these improved seed varieties.

“It is a primary objective of AGG to ensure gender intentionality,” said Kevin Pixley, Director of CIMMYT’s Genetic Resources Program and AGG project leader. “Often women do not have access to not only inputs but also information, and in the AGG project we are seeking to help close those gaps.”

Cover photo: Farmers evaluate traits of wheat varieties, Ethiopia. (Photo: Jeske van de Gevel/Bioversity International)

Nancy Wawira (29) stands among ripening maize cobs of high yielding, drought-tolerant maize varieties on a demonstration farm in Embu County, Kenya. Involving young people like Wawira helps to accelerate the adoption of improved stress-tolerant maize varieties. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

The future of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa

Written by Shiela Chikulo on . Posted in Features.

The theme for International Youth Day 2020, Youth Engagement for Global Action, highlights the various ways in which the engagement of young people at local, national and global levels enriches national and multilateral institutions and processes.

Up to 60% of Africa’s youth face challenges such as limited employment opportunities, financial constraints to access land and adequate technical equipment. However, agriculture is increasingly providing options. Through it, young people are participating and leveraging on new technologies that can optimize farming systems and create employment.

This photo essay depicts youth in on-farm and off-farm activities across East and Southern Africa. These young men and women are innovators and adopters of improved technologies such as small scale mechanization, appropriate farming practices, employment opportunities and research innovations implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

In Embu County, Kenya, 25-year-old Jackline Wanja stands in a demonstration plot of high-yielding, drought-resilient and fast-maturing maize varieties. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
In Embu County, Kenya, 25-year-old Jackline Wanja stands in a demonstration plot of high-yielding, drought-resilient and fast-maturing maize varieties. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Beyene Chufamo (28) is a two-wheel tractor technology service provider based in Meki, Ethiopia. In 2016, with the support of CIMMYT, he started providing repair and maintenance services to service providers in different areas. (Photo: Ephrem Tadesse/CIMMYT)
Beyene Chufamo (28) is a two-wheel tractor technology service provider based in Meki, Ethiopia. In 2016, with the support of CIMMYT, he started providing repair and maintenance services to service providers in different areas. (Photo: Ephrem Tadesse/CIMMYT)
Beyene Chufamo (center, in green t-shirt) provides technical training on operation, safety, repair and maintenance to machinery hire service providers in different CIMMYT operation sites. His participation in small mechanization supply chain enables service providers and farmers to effectively use their machinery and significantly reduce the downtime of their machinery. (Photo: Ephrem Tadesse/CIMMYT)
Beyene Chufamo (center, in green t-shirt) provides technical training on operation, safety, repair and maintenance to machinery hire service providers in different CIMMYT operation sites. His participation in small mechanization supply chain enables service providers and farmers to effectively use their machinery and significantly reduce the downtime of their machinery. (Photo: Ephrem Tadesse/CIMMYT)
Nancy Wawira (29) stands among ripening maize cobs of high yielding, drought-tolerant maize varieties on a demonstration farm in Embu County, Kenya. Involving young people like Wawira helps to accelerate the adoption of improved stress-tolerant maize varieties. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Nancy Wawira (29) stands among ripening maize cobs of high yielding, drought-tolerant maize varieties on a demonstration farm in Embu County, Kenya. Involving young people like Wawira helps to accelerate the adoption of improved stress-tolerant maize varieties. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Rose Salimanja (34) from Nyanga District, Zimbabwe, operates a two-wheel tractor and trailer during a trailer operations training course. Under the Zimbabwe Building Resilience Fund (ZRBF), CIMMYT is implementing appropriate small-scale mechanized solutions and services for smallholder farmers and service providers. (Photo: Dorcas Matangi/CIMMYT)
Rose Salimanja (34) from Nyanga District, Zimbabwe, operates a two-wheel tractor and trailer during a trailer operations training course. Under the Zimbabwe Building Resilience Fund (ZRBF), CIMMYT is implementing appropriate small-scale mechanized solutions and services for smallholder farmers and service providers. (Photo: Dorcas Matangi/CIMMYT)
Targeting youth in interventions such as the Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project provides pathways for training in appropriate mechanized solutions to support farmers in rural areas. The enterprising Mwanga Youth Group members Pinnot Karwizi (28), Shepherd Karwizi (26) and Masimba Mawire (32) provide grain shelling services to farmers in Makonde District, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Targeting youth in interventions such as the Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project provides pathways for training in appropriate mechanized solutions to support farmers in rural areas. The enterprising Mwanga Youth Group members Pinnot Karwizi (28), Shepherd Karwizi (26) and Masimba Mawire (32) provide grain shelling services to farmers in Makonde District, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Zvikomborero Karimudengu skillfully operates a two-wheel tractor and trailer during a training session in Nyanga South district, Zimbabwe. Small scale mechanization services are proving to be immensely useful during the COVID-19 pandemic as services can be provided while adhering to social distancing regulations and without requiring additional labour. (Photo: Dorcas Matangi/CIMMYT)
Zvikomborero Karimudengu skillfully operates a two-wheel tractor and trailer during a training session in Nyanga South district, Zimbabwe. Small scale mechanization services are proving to be immensely useful during the COVID-19 pandemic as services can be provided while adhering to social distancing regulations and without requiring additional labour. (Photo: Dorcas Matangi/CIMMYT)