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Location: Madagascar

CGIAR Initiative on Diversification in East and Southern Africa

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in Uncategorized.

East and Southern Africa is a climate hotspot, with more than US$45 billion in agricultural production at risk from higher temperatures, shorter growing seasons and more extreme droughts and floods. Maize, a staple crop covering up to 75% of cropland in parts of the region, is particularly vulnerable and is projected to face yield declines of 15%, among other climate impacts if no adaptation measures are taken. Many of the affected areas already have serious levels of hunger and malnutrition, with the highest burden experienced by women and youth from marginalized and vulnerable communities. If these systems are sustainably diversified, they can contribute to stabilizing regional and global agrifood systems.

The next decade will be critical for strengthening food, land and water systems in East and Southern Africa. The agribusiness ecosystem for both regions has been identified as a critical engine for agricultural and economic development, climate change adaptation and gender and youth empowerment. Investment in innovation, capabilities and supportive environments will be essential for driving sustainable growth.

Objective

This Initiative aims to support climate-resilient agriculture and livelihoods in 12 countries in East and Southern Africa by helping millions of smallholders intensify, diversify and reduce the risks in maize-based farming through improved extension services, small and medium enterprise development, supporting governance frameworks and increased investment with a gender and social inclusion lens.

Activities

This objective will be achieved through:

  • Diversifying and sustainably intensifying production by assessing needs and options for the introduction of crops, livestock, mechanization and irrigation, applying innovations in value chains and building capacity while scaling to larger farming communities.
  • Reducing risk and digitalizing value chains by co-designing and delivering “Innovation Package” bundles of digital agro-advisory systems and research management products — including mobile apps, TV programs and social media — to build resilience and improve productivity.
  • Supporting and accelerating value chain business enablers in maize mixed systems by using CGIAR’s expertise and partner network to unlock access to funding, investment and tailored technical assistance.
  • Promoting the governing and enabling of multifunctional landscapes for sustainable diversification and intensification with a focus on strengthening the evidence base for decision-makers.
  • Empowering and engaging women and youth in agribusiness ecosystems by mapping challenges and opportunities to address gender and social inequality and applying inclusive and coordinated interventions for transformative change.
  • Scaling innovations and coordinating CGIAR and partner activities in the region through a scaling hub that uses the “scaling readiness” approach to inform, activate and bring to scale innovations that respond to regional or country demand.
Participants of the kick-off meeting for the Ukama Ustawi Initiative stand for a group photo in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo: Mwihaki Mundia/ILRI)

New CGIAR Initiative to catalyze resilient agrifood systems in eastern and southern Africa

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in News.

Participants of the kick-off meeting for the Ukama Ustawi Initiative stand for a group photo in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo: Mwihaki Mundia/ILRI)
Participants of the kick-off meeting for the Ukama Ustawi Initiative stand for a group photo in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo: Mwihaki Mundia/ILRI)

Partners of CGIAR’s new regional integrated Initiative in eastern and southern Africa held a kick-off meeting in Nairobi on March 2–3, 2022. Eighty-five people participated, including national agricultural research extension programs, government representatives, private sector actors, funders and national and regional agricultural research and development organizations.

Entitled Ukama Ustawi, the Initiative aims to support climate-smart agriculture and livelihoods in 12 countries in eastern and southern Africa: Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe (in Phase 1); Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda (in Phase 2); and Eswatini, Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa (in Phase 3).

The Initiative aims to help millions of smallholders intensify, diversify and de-risk maize-mixed farming through improved extension services, institutional capacity strengthening, targeted farm management bundles, policy support, enterprise development and private investment.

Ukama Ustawi is a bilingual word derived from the Shona and Swahili languages. In Shona, Ukama refers to partnerships, and in Swahili, Ustawi means well-being and development. Together, they resemble the vision for the Initiative to achieve system-level development through innovative partnerships.

The meeting brought together partners to get to know each other, understand roles and responsibilities, identify priorities for 2022, and review the cross-cutting programmatic underpinnings of Ukama Ustawi — including gender and social inclusion, capacity strengthening and learning.

Baitsi Podisi, representing the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), said he is excited to be part of the Initiative: “CCARDESA, in its cooperation and coordination mandate, can learn a lot from CGIAR in restructuring to respond to the changing times.” Podisi supported the partnership with CGIAR in the Initiative’s embedded approach to policy dialogue, working with partners such as CCARDESA, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN).

Similarly, FANRPAN’s Francis Hale emphasized the need not to re-invent the wheel but to work with partners who already have a convening power, to advance the policy agenda for diversification and sustainable intensification.

What were key issues discussed?

One of the features of Ukama Ustawi is the use of four interconnected platforms: a scaling hub, a policy hub, an accelerator program and a learning platform. These will provide spaces for exchange and learning with partners across all CGIAR Initiatives in the region. Partners conducted a series of ‘fishbowl’ interactions across work packages to review the planned activities and provide a clearer understanding of deliverables, identify synergies, potential overlaps, common partners and countries, and set timelines.

The Initiative will work with innovative multimedia platforms to change knowledge, attitudes and practices of millions of farmers in eastern and southern Africa. One key partner in this area is the Shamba Shape Up TV show and the iShamba digital platform. Sophie Rottman, Producer of Shamba Shape Up, said she is looking forward to the work with Initiative partners, that will help expand the show to Uganda and Zambia.

Jean Claude Rubyogo, representing the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) said: “It is time we move away from CGIAR-initiated to country-initiated development activities. This is what Ukama Ustawi is all about”.

Martin Kropff, Global Director of Resilient Agrifood Systems at CGIAR, explained CGIAR’s regional integrated initiatives are designed to respond to national/regional demands. “The initiatives will start by working with partners to assess the food and nutritional challenges in the region, and tackle them by bringing in innovative solutions.”

The event was concluded by agreeing on the implementation of the inception phase of the Ukama Ustawi Initiative, and follow-on discussions to finalize key activities in 2022.

Learn more about the Ukama Ustawi Initiative.

Materials from the meeting are available online:

This article was originally published on CGIAR.org.