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Location: Africa

CIMMYT’s work in Africa helps farmers access new maize and wheat systems-based technologies, information and markets, raising incomes and enhancing crop resilience to drought and climate change. CIMMYT sets priorities in consultation with ministries of agriculture, seed companies, farming communities and other stakeholders in the maize and wheat value chains. Our activities in Africa are wide ranging and include: breeding maize for drought tolerance and low-fertility soils, and for resistance to insect pests, foliar diseases and parasitic weeds; sustainably intensifying production in maize- and wheat-based systems; and investigating opportunities to reduce micronutrient and protein malnutrition among women and young children.

CIMMYT at the AIM for Climate Summit

Written by Alison Doody on . Posted in News.

Sieg Snapp, Tek Sapkota, and partners photographed during AIM for Climate (Photo: CIMMYT)

As climate change threats accelerate, new technologies, products, and approaches are required for smallholder farmers to mitigate and adapt to current and future threats. Targeting smallholder farmers will benefit not only the farmers but the entire agri-food system through enhanced locally relevant knowledge that harnesses handheld sensors and advisories on management options, soil status, weather, and market information.

The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate / AIM4C) seeks to address climate change and global hunger by uniting participants to significantly increase investment in, and other support for, climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over five years (2021–2025).

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), as a partner of AIM for Climate, organized a breakout session titled “Smart Smallholder Fertilizer Management to Address Food Security, Climate Change, and Planetary Boundaries” during the AIM for Climate Summit in Washington DC, May 8-10, 2023.

Fertilizers are essential for increasing crop yields and ensuring food security, yet fertilizer use for food and fodder is severely skewed at the global level, leading to over-fertilization in some regions and under-fertilization in others.

Farmers in low-income countries are highly vulnerable to fertilizer supply shortages and price spikes, which have direct consequences for food prices and hunger. Improving fertilizer efficiency and integrated organic and inorganic sources is important globally as nutrient loss to the environment from inappropriate input use drives greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.

Innovation Sprint

Because smallholder farmers are the primary managers of land and water, the CIMMYT-led AIM4C Innovation Sprint, Climate-Resilient soil fertility management by smallholders in Africa, Asia, and Latin America is designed to implement and scale-up a range of climate robust nutrient management strategies in 12 countries, and to reach tens of millions of smallholder farmers in close collaboration with nearly 100 public-private partners organizations.

Sieg Snapp called for more investments in data synthesis (Photo: CIMMYT)

Strategies include innovations in extension where digital tools enable farmer-centered private and public advisories to increase the uptake of locally adapted nutrient management practices. Connecting farmers to investors and markets provides financial support for improved nutrient management.

By tailoring validated fertility management practices to their specific conditions, and integrated use of legumes and manure, smallholders will optimize productivity, enhance climate resilience, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Research from other organizations has determined that improved fertilizer management can increase global crop yield by 30% while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Right place, right time

“We need locally adapted fertilizer management approaches that work for smallholder farmers. By tailoring validated fertility management practices to their specific conditions, smallholders will optimize productivity, enhance climate resilience, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions,” said Sieg Snapp, CIMMYT’s Sustainable Agricultural Systems Program Director. She continued, “What is needed now is major investment in data synthesis. Through this SPRINT we are exploring options to enable taking sensors to scale, to reach tens of millions of farmers with hyper-local soils information.”

Inequality is the core of the problem in fertilizer management: some regions apply more than the required amount, where in other regions fertilizer application is insufficient for plant needs, leading to low yields and soil degradation.

Tek Sapkota spoke on fertilizer management (Photo: CIMMYT)

“Fertilizer efficiency can be improved through application of the right amount of fertilizer using the right source employing the right methods of application at the right time of plant demand,” said Tek Sapkota, CIMMYT Senior Scientist, Agricultural System/Climate Change.

The session included presentations by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), UN Foundation, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), USDA, and Alliance of CIAT-Bioversity. Highlights sustainable and climate-smart practices in Pakistan, novel plant genetics for improved nitrogen cycling, and soil water and nutrient management in the Zambezi to tackle food security and climate change challenges.

2023: The International Year of the Millet

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on . Posted in In the media.

The United Nations declared 2023 as the International Year of the Millet.

Millet, with other resilient cereal crops, provides a nutritious and affordable option to families worldwide. CIMMYT and ICRISAT are scaling-up millet cultivation when climate change has placed pressure to protect the food systems that safeguard food security in Africa.

How does CIMMYT’s improved maize get to the farmer?

Six New CIMMYT maize hybrids available from eastern Africa Breeding Program

Written by Leslie DomĂ­nguez on . Posted in News.

How does CIMMYT’s improved maize get to the farmer?

CIMMYT is happy to announce six new, improved tropical maize hybrids that are now available for uptake by public and private sector partners, especially those interested in marketing or disseminating hybrid maize seed across eastern Africa and similar agro-ecologies in other regions. NARES and seed companies are hereby invited to apply for licenses to pursue national release, scale-up seed production, and deliver these maize hybrids to farming communities.

 

Newly available CIMMYT hybrids Key traits
CIM21EAPP1-01-23 Intermediate maturing, white, high yielding, drought tolerant, NUE, and resistant to GLS, TLB, Ear rots, and MSV
CIM21EAPP1-01-22
CIM21EAPP1-02-13 Early maturing, white, high yielding, drought tolerant, NUE, and resistant to GLS, TLB, Ear rots, and MLN
CIM21EAPP1-02-11
CIM21EAPP2-01 Late maturing, white, high yielding, drought tolerant, NUE, and resistant to GLS, TLB, Ear rots, and Striga
CIM21EAPP2-05

 

Performance data Download the CIMMYT Eastern Africa Maize Regional On-Station (Stage 4) and On-Farm (Stage 5) Trials: Results of the 2021 to 2022 Seasons and Product Announcement from Dataverse.
How to apply Visit CIMMYT’s maize product allocation page for details
Application deadline The deadline to submit applications to be considered during the first round of allocations is 21 May 2023. Applications received after that deadline will be considered during subsequent rounds of product allocations.

 

The newly available CIMMYT maize hybrids were identified through rigorous, years-long trialing and a stage-gate advancement process which culminated in the 2022 Eastern Africa On-Farm (Stage 5) Trials. The products were found to meet the stringent performance and farmer acceptance criteria for CIMMYT’s breeding pipelines that are designed to generate products tailored in particular for smallholder farmers in stress-prone agroecologies of eastern Africa .

Applications must be accompanied by a proposed commercialization plan for each product being requested. Applications may be submitted online via the CIMMYT Maize Licensing Portal and will be reviewed in accordance with CIMMYT’s Principles and Procedures for Acquisition and use of CIMMYT maize hybrids and OPVs for commercialization. Specific questions or issues faced with regard to the application process may be addressed to GMP-CIMMYT@cgiar.org with attention to Nicholas Davis, Program Manager, Global Maize Program, CIMMYT.

APPLY FOR A LICENSE

Increasing smallholder inclusion in markets boosts rural livelihoods

Written by Tawanda Hove on . Posted in News.

Sieglinde Snapp (right), director, Sustainable Agrifood Systems Program, CIMMYT, poses with Mr, and Mrs. Banda, who are part of seed producers who sell seed to fellow farmers. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Smallholder farmers have long been considered purely subsistence producers without the capacity to participate in commercial value chains. This has led to their exclusion from many agribusiness enterprises which typically focus on medium- to large-scale growers.

Through the Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and partners are supporting smallholder farmers to enter viable legume value chains. Soybean is one crop experiencing a rapidly expanding market. This is a unique opportunity for small-scale farmers to access a legume value chain, one that drives sustainable intensified farming for improved income and livelihoods.

In the Kasenengwa District, in eastern Zambia, Josephine Mbewe produces soybean for local oil production and grain traders who export the commodity to neighboring countries like Zimbabwe and Malawi. She is one of many farmers who are benefitting from the Agriculture Development Agent model, a concept that has been developed by CIMMYT’s implementation partner Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and scaled up in the AID-I project.

“For years we always wanted to produce for the market, but the costs were just too high. In addition, we didn’t exactly know who to sell to so this model really helps us as we sell our products locally but knowing that our aggregated produce will go to distant consumers. This model is helping us to have access to high quality inputs such as improved seed, crop chemicals, fertilizers, and other related products,” Mbewe said.

The Agriculture Development Agent model aims to create a consortium of village based agrodealers who double as seed producers multiplying seed and selling it to surrounding farmers. The same dealers buy back the grain and sell it to oil pressing companies and export commodity trading companies.

The AID-I project scales promising innovations with proven ability to address some of the systemic constraints that have discouraged agribusinesses from engaging with smallholder farmers.

“This is a model that is leveraged on community social capital where trust exists between the ADA and the local farmer,” said James Nguluwe from CRS. “Issues related to seed diversion or side marketing of the harvested crop are kept at a bare minimum as farmers don’t want to spoil their relationship with the Agriculture Development Agent and their general reputation within the community.”

“The model is also catalytic to the use of improved seed as farmers have to produce using a particular seed type. The interactions with ADA over soya seed, production and reverse purchase set up has seen the farmers extending to procure improved maize varieties as well, as opposed to times past where they would recycle seed and reap poor harvests,” he said.

Paitana Mwanza, an ADA agreed and spoke of his positive experiences of the model.

“I have had no contractual breach with the farmers. When they buy the seed, we agree on a separate grain buy back arrangement – the farmers have always delivered as per agreement.”

For years, farmers have been growing recycled seed and use of improved seed has been very uncommon among smallholder farmers. Having a financial incentive where ADAs provide an assured market is proving to be a good enough incentive to facilitate behavioral change.

Agribusiness agents face high costs associated with aggregation of produce, which the Agriculture Development Agent model overcomes. Farmers are organized and supported by ADAs, who are registered market players that have been extensively trained in business practices, seed handling and seed and grain production. As such, both grain traders and processors can make a realistic profit through this innovative system that facilitates small-scale farmers accessing new markets.

One of the key objectives of the AID-I project is to ensure that participating in market systems is a choice for smallholder farmers and exclusion from viable value chains is a thing of the past. The Agriculture Development Agent model promises to transform not only eastern Zambia but the whole country at large.

Twenty Years of Enriching Diets with Biofortification

Written by Leslie DomĂ­nguez on . Posted in Features.

It is an important year for biofortification: 2023 will mark the 20th anniversary of this nutrition-agricultural innovation, for which its pioneers were awarded the World Food Prize.

More than three billion people around the world, mostly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, cannot afford a nourishing, diverse diet that provides enough vitamins and minerals (micronutrients). While efforts to pursue dietary diversity—the accepted gold standard for optimal health—must continue, a healthy diet remains out of reach for a vast majority of the world’s population.

The consequences are dire. A staggering two billion people get so little essential micronutrients from their diets that they suffer from “hidden hunger”, the often-invisible scourge of micronutrient malnutrition.

To combat hidden hunger requires a range of context-specific combinations of evidence-based interventions that complement each other, including dietary diversification, supplementation, commercial food fortification, biofortification, and public health measures (like safe water, sanitation, and breastfeeding).

There is no single solution to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to an affordable, diverse, and healthy diet. Biofortification is one of the many important solutions being implemented by global research partners working together across CGIAR to ensure a food-secure future for all.

It is imperative to implement interventions that are practical and accessible in regions and among people most affected by hidden hunger, such as women and children in rural farming families in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), who primarily eat what they grow. This is particularly important during periods of rapid growth and development like in the first 1,000 days of life, after which the negative impacts of an insufficient diet become largely irreversible.

In this 20th anniversary year of HarvestPlus and biofortification, we review biofortification’s role, advantages, and scale as an essential part of CGIAR-wide effort to improve global nutrition.

Biofortification: A Complementary Approach to Reduce Malnutrition

“Biofortified crops are going to be game-changers in dealing with
 malnutrition in our world today.”
Dr. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, World Food Prize Laureate

Staple food crops contain fewer vitamins and minerals than animal-based foods and some vegetables and fruits. Yet wheat, maize, rice, cassava, sweet potato, beans, pearl millet, and other staple foods make up the foundation of most diets around the world, and should therefore be as nutritious as possible.

Staple foods also offer nutritional protection against food systems shocks, especially for vulnerable populations who are unable to access a healthy and diverse diet, and whose reliance on staple food crops increases during times of crises. Through biofortification, staple crops can contribute a high proportion of the micronutrients needed for good health and nutrition.

Biofortification efforts to date have focused mainly on using conventional plant breeding and agronomic techniques to add more of the micronutrients most lacking in diets around the world—zinc, iron, and vitamin A— into staple crops. This approach acknowledges that many poor people cannot afford or access the variety of non-staple foods they need for optimal health, and are often underserved by other large-scale public health nutrition interventions.

“[Biofortified] crops provide a sustainable source of much needed nutrients to rural communities.”
Prof. Watts, Chief Scientific Advisor and Director for Research and Evidence, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Eating poor-quality, and often unsafe, food perpetuates a cycle of poverty, infection, and malnutrition. Enriching nutrients into staple crops that farmers are already eating provides a safety net against severe levels of deficiency and helps mitigate challenges of nutrition insecurity due to climate change.

CGIAR transdisciplinary, participatory, and action-oriented research and innovations to improve nutritional outcomes, including biofortification, are making a vital contribution towards realizing Sustainable Development Goal 2 to end hunger and all forms of malnutrition.

Meeting Nutritional Needs

Biofortified crops are targeted mostly at rural food systems in LMICs, where deficiencies in vitamin A, iron, and zinc are highly prevalent. Young children, adolescent girls, and women are the priority groups for biofortification because their relatively high micronutrient needs predispose them to hidden hunger.

The scientific body of evidence supporting biofortification spans over two decades. Each biofortified crop is the subject of extensive research to evaluate its intrinsic nutritional value and its potential impacts on human nutrition and health.

Vitamin A orange sweet potato (OSP) was the first biofortified staple to be delivered at scale and evaluated in sub-Saharan Africa, a joint effort by HarvestPlus, the International Potato Center, and the International Food Policy Research Institute. It has very high levels of vitamin A (traditional white varieties contain none) and long-term studies indicate it can help reduce diarrhea in children and is a cost-effective way to improve population vitamin A intake, thereby improving child and maternal health and reducing the likelihood of vitamin A deficiency. Breeding efforts are now simultaneously increasing the iron content of OSP, to deliver more of multiple stacked micronutrients.

Evidence from additional randomized controlled trials have demonstrated that nutrient-enhanced staple crops generate positive direct and indirect health effects on multiple age groups, for example:

Supplementation studies have clearly shown that improvements in micronutrient status, particularly zinc, vitamin A, and iron status, generate improvements in immunity, growth, and multiple other dimensions of good health. The improvements are not specific to how the micronutrients are delivered (e.g., by food or pills), but rather due to positive changes in nutritional status.

Breeding for Improved Grain Yield and Nutritional Quality

“The reason for growing these varieties, is better yield, more profitability and better zinc nutrition for our families.”
— Mr Tariq, Pakistani farmer

Adoption of biofortification is demand driven. All released biofortified varieties are agronomically competitive in the agricultural zone(s) for which they were developed, relative to the varieties farmers already grow.

Crop breeding efforts are responsive to the expressed priorities and preferences of farming families and their countries. High yields are among the traits considered non-negotiable by breeders and farmers alike, and are a driver for national authorities to approve the release of new varieties in their countries to farmers to grow them.

Innovative breeders at CGIAR centers and National Agricultural Research Extension Systems have successfully been able to achieve exceptional yield and nutrition gains simultaneously in biofortified varieties, a benefit that is realized by farmers.

“[Nyota, an iron bean] can easily give me over 3 tons per hectare, as compared to other varieties that yield about 2 tons.”
— Mr Burde, Kenyan seed producer

 

Breeding pipelines are dynamic and always adapting to new stresses. Nutrient-enriched varieties of crops are continuously improved by breeders who breed varieties for progressively higher levels of micronutrients, which are also agronomically competitive (e.g., disease and pest resistant), well adapted to a wide range of climatic conditions (e.g., drought and heat tolerant), and exhibit food quality traits desired by farmers, food processors, and consumers (e.g., fast cooking time and good taste).

In Pakistan, one of the highest wheat-consuming countries in the world, the zinc wheat variety Akbar-2019 is now a ‘mega-variety’. It provides 30 percent more zinc and 8-10 percent higher yield than previous popular varieties. Developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in partnership with HarvestPlus, and released by the Wheat Research Institute of the Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Akbar-2019 is also resistant to rusts and well adapted to a range of sowing dates. Farmers attest to the good quality of the chapatti (flat bread) made from its flour. Akbar-2019 is already being grown on more than three million hectares of land—and soon an estimated 100 million people will eat chapatti made from its flour and reap the benefits of added zinc in their diets.

“My father-in-law
 has expressed a desire to continue growing only biofortified zinc wheat from now on. In addition to the grain quality, the plants also grow well in tough geographical conditions.”
— Ms Devi, Indian farmer

In Nigeria, HarvestPlus and partners including the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture have developed varieties of vitamin A cassava with multiple traits attractive for farmers. Survey data indicates vitamin A cassava varieties have an average fresh root yield of 20.5 metric tons per hectare (MT/Ha), well above the average yield of 10.2 MT/Ha of other improved but non-biofortified varieties. Nearly 2.1 million farmers are growing vitamin A cassava in Nigeria, providing added dietary vitamin A to over 10 million people in a country where vitamin A deficiency is a severe, yet preventable, public health problem.

Farmers carefully consider yield, profitability, stress tolerance, taste, and more when selecting the varieties they grow—over 17 million farming households chose to grow biofortified varieties in 2022, enriching the diets of over 86 million people.

Contributing To Agricultural Diversity

To establish new crops with higher levels of micronutrients, breeders tap into the spectrum of genetic diversity stored within global plant gene banks to find nutrient-dense qualities from underutilized plant species (including wild species or those naturally evolved in certain geographic areas).

Through breeding for improved nutrition, biofortification also transfers otherwise untapped variation for traits other than micronutrients into newly developed crops, increasing the genetic agrobiodiversity not only in biofortified varieties, but also non-biofortified varieties derived from crossing micronutrient-dense plant ‘parents’ to produce high micronutrient ‘offspring’.

Micronutrient genes are not subject to erosion in the breeding process (as genes are for disease or pest resistance), like the dwarfing genes in wheat and rice that catalyzed the green revolution.

CGIAR has committed to mainstreaming improved nutrient traits in most of their breeding lines through crop breeding, given its proven cost-effective and sustainable approach to enriching staple food crops.

Committed to Scaling

 

Governments and other “Our aim should be to make every family farm a biofortified farm.”
— Dr MS Swaminathan, World Food Prize Laureate, Father of Indian Green Revolution

HarvestPlus partners, collaborators, and advocates support country-level initiatives that promote the integration of biofortified seeds, crops, and foods into local, national, and regional policies and programs. These collective efforts and alliances are the catalyst behind the scale up to over 86 million people in farming households eating nutrient-enriched foods in 2022, 22% more than in 2021.

In 2022, a declaration adopted by the African Union to scale up food fortification and biofortification in Africa—to make nutrient-rich foods sustainably available, accessible, and affordable—was centered on ensuring healthy diets reach those who need them most.

The Government of DR Congo has committed to scaling biofortified crop adoption and production, and its integration into the wider food system. Biofortified crops are included as one component of a wide-reaching, multi-sectoral nutrition program, funded with a loan from the World Bank.

In India, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research established minimum levels of iron and zinc to be bred into national varieties of pearl millet. The All-India Coordinated Research Project on Pearl Millet encouraged National Agricultural Research Systems to begin breeding programs for micronutrients along with higher yields in 2014. Joint efforts by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and HarvestPlus to enhanced the levels of iron in pearl millet have brought notable endorsement of biofortification by the Honorable Prime Minister Modi as a solution to address malnutrition.

The Copenhagen Consensus, a global research think-tank and policy advisory group, assessed biofortification and concluded for every USD 1 spent on biofortification, as much as USD 17 in benefits could be generated, and deemed biofortification, supplementation, and fortification as some of the smartest ways to spend money and advance global welfare.

Systematic reviews and ex-ante (before intervention) analyses of several micronutrient-crop and country scenarios have shown that biofortification is highly cost-effective when measured by the World Bank’s criteria of cost per Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) saved. These analyses show biofortified crops to be in the range of USD 15-20 per DALY saved—far below the World Bank’s cost-effectiveness threshold of USD 270 per DALY.

“Patience, perseverance, and vision are required to achieve the cost-effectiveness of linking agriculture and nutrition in general, and biofortification in particular. The donors to the CGIAR system realized this by continuing investments well after the 20th anniversaries of CIMMYT and the International Rice Research Institute.” — Howarth (Howdy) Bouis, HarvestPlus Founding Director, World Food Prize Laureate

Global Benefit

The number of vulnerable rural families and communities growing and benefiting from nutrient-enriched crops has significantly increased year over year. Today, over 86 million people in farming households are eating biofortified foods—progressing rapidly towards 100 million in later 2023.

Eliminating malnutrition requires multiple solutions, and biofortification is an extremely important part of CGIAR’s efforts in pursuit of this goal.

Research has proven biofortification to be an efficacious, cost-effective, and scalable innovation that can play a pivotal role in transforming food systems to deliver affordable and accessible nutritious food for all.

This story was originally posted by HarvestPlus: Twenty Years of Enriching Diets with Biofortification.

Cover photo: Experimental harvest of provitamin A-enriched orange maize, Zambia. (Photo: CIMMYT)

On-farm-Maize Select

Written by Leslie DomĂ­nguez on . Posted in Uncategorized.

The On-farm-Maize Select project will pilot a new genomics-driven selection method based on on-farm performance of Stage 1 maize breeding materials that is expected to deliver increased rates of genetic gain to the farmers through:

  • More accurate selection for the conditions of small-scale producers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), especially women and the poorest farmers, who often apply fewer inputs.
  • Improved sampling of the diversity of on-farm conditions across the entire target population of environments (TPE).
  • Improved understanding of the diversity of socio-economic factors, agronomic management (especially by women), and environmental on-farm conditions across the TPE.
  • Genomic-assisted rapid recycling of parents (population improvement) to reduce breeding cycle time.
  • Improved social inclusion in breeding processes, leading to greater gender responsiveness and wider appeal of breeding outputs.

The hypothesis is that generating genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) based on on-farm phenotyping will lead both to increased selection accuracy for performance under farmer management, including challenging conditions that women and the poorest farmers face, and enable rapid cycling of parents by reducing the number of years of testing before new crosses are made. This hypothesis will be initially tested by estimating expected genetic gain on-station and on-farm based on the genetic correlation between on-station and gender-disaggregated on-farm performance of the same set of genotypes, as well as the repeatability of selection on-station versus on-farm. The value of on-farm versus on-station testing for estimating GEBVs for parent selection and early-stage advancement will be confirmed in two selected CIMMYT maize breeding pipelines (one each in eastern and southern Africa – EA-PP1 and SA-PP1) by comparing the performance on-farm of a sample of Stage 1 breeding lines from the second cycle of on-farm vs on-station selection. The efficacy and costs of undertaking on-farm genomic selection versus on-station selection at Stage 1 of the two selected breeding pipelines will also be evaluated.

Key Outputs

  • The genetic correlation between, and accuracy of estimation of, on-farm and on-station breeding values will be measured in terms of ability to predict performance under farmer management. This will enable comparison of the relative efficiency of direct selection on-farm versus indirect selection on-station. We expect that increased on-farm genetic gains will be achieved if the genetic correlation between on-farm and on-station performance is 0.8 or less.
  • Elite breeding populations improved for on-farm performance will be generated, and products extracted from them will be compared on-farm with those selected the same founder populations using conventional on-station selection (comparison of the products of the pipelines will not be possible until the second project phase, if approved).
  • Separate GEBVs generated for lines under the management of male and female farmers, with genetic correlations estimated to ensure that performance on female-managed farms is adequately weighted in selection indices.
  • Genomic-assisted on-farm sparse testing network, experimental design and capacity developed.
  • Improved representativeness of results due to enhanced gender and social inclusion approaches in the on-farm trial design.

Expected Outcomes

  • Greater rates of genetic gain delivered on-farm through more extensive sampling of TPEs
  • Improved accuracy of selection based on performance in farmers’ fields in the TPE.
  • Incorporation of farmer-preferred traits in selection decisions supports faster replacement of older hybrids with newer products.

1000FARMS

Written by Leslie DomĂ­nguez on . Posted in Uncategorized.

1000FARMS is an institutional platform of NARES/CGIAR breeding networks whose purpose is to magnify their effectiveness and impact by enabling them to generate sufficient on-farm data and product insights on late-stage maize breeding selection candidates and new releases to ensure they will be high-performing in the hands of farmers, are farmer-preferred and climate-adapted, and can be recommended for scaling by the seed system. The platform achieves this by integrating three primary components:

  1. tricot, or triadic comparison of technology options, a research methodology that helps farmers to identify the most suitable technologies for the local conditions of their farm, engaging them in the testing or validation of new crop varieties and other promising technologies.
  2. ClimMob, a digital public software package developed by the Alliance of Bioversity-CIAT that allows farmers and field agents to record crowdsourced data, such as variety preferences, notes on performance, images, and gender/socio-economic data.
  3. An on-farm trial (OFT) community of practice embedded in the NARES/CGIAR Breeding Networks in Africa.

These tools and methodologies already exist and have been well-tested; the innovation of 1000FARMS is to put all three components together to accelerate the uptake of the OFT approach across CGIAR and NARES breeding networks.

Objectives:

  1. Expand and improve OFT tools to enable streamlined workflows and extract more insights from OFT data.
  2. Implement appropriately scaled on-farm testing programs in partnership with at least 20 NARES/CG crop breeding networks.

Government of Zambia and CIMMYT strengthen ties in agricultural development

Written by Tawanda Hove on . Posted in News.

Bram Govaerts, Sieg Snapp, Minister Mtolo Phiri and Prassana Boddupalli pose at the conclusion of the high level meeting between CIMMYT and the Government of Zambia. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)

Senior government officials in Zambia have embraced the rollout of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT’s) new innovations which target smallholder farmers and agriculture-based value chain actors in the country.

On January 17, 2023, CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts met with Minister of Agriculture Reuben Mtolo Phiri. The Minister reassured Govaerts that the investments made by CIMMYT in the country had the Government’s full support.

Earlier this year, a delegation led by Cary Fowler, the US Special envoy for Global Food Security met the Minister and his team at the Government complex in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, to deliberate on a variety of agriculture development issues concerning the country.

Govaerts’ visit came off the back of the new Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I), a CIMMYT-led project funded by the United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID). The project seeks to scale up promising innovations that could transform the maize and legume value chains within the southern African region, with a focus on Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania.

“As the Government of Zambia, we intend to create a private sector driven economy for which agriculture plays a critical role. Having progressive partners like CIMMYT helps us achieve this cause and this new program is received with open arms,” said Phiri.

The aims of the AID-I project include strengthening seed systems, the promotion and adoption of stress-tolerant maize and legume varieties, demonstration of good agriculture practices that respond to the effects of climate change and addressing systemic constraints in maize and legume value chains.

Through AID-I, CIMMYT experts are working with over 20 global, regional, national and local partners including the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Catholic Relief Services (TLC), Total Land Care (TLC), the International Water Management Institution (IMWI) and World Vegetable Center.

Also attending the meeting was AID-I Technical Lead and CIMMYT Scientist Hambulo Ngoma who discussed some of the latest project activities.

“As this project focuses on accelerated delivery, we have set up more than 40 demonstrations in eastern Zambia with the intention of showcasing stress-tolerant varieties for maize and legume under conservation agriculture. In addition, we are showcasing other good agriculture practices such as strip cropping which not only enhances intensified crop production but is a biological control for fall armyworm,” Ngoma said.

Hambulo Ngoma receiving a verbal vote of confidence from Zambian Minister of Agriculture Mtolo Phiri. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)

The Minister appreciated the rationale of the project and indicated that participatory variety selection for farmers was crucial if they were going to maximize their yields and returns from farming.

Phiri further emphasized that CIMMYT and partners’ investment in legume value chain strengthening came at a welcome time as upscaling soya bean production was a key priority in the Government’s strategic plan for agricultural development because of its export-ready market within the region.

“Markets such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Tanzania can readily take up the soya we produce, and we are looking to export legumes such as soya and groundnuts to East Africa. This project therefore fits very well within our strategic road map,” Phiri said.

The demonstration plots set up by CIMMYT experts will help farmers grow the right varieties for their agro ecologies and have greater response capabilities to the export market opportunities the Government is facilitating.

The Minister also indicated that he hoped CIMMYT would assist in strengthening the country’s capacity to deal with fall armyworm. CIMMYT Global Maize Program Director B.M. Prasanna reassured Phiri that through the Zambian Agriculture research Institute (ZARI), CIMMYT had already released three fall armyworm-tolerant varieties. He also discussed how the AID-I project would be instrumental in scaling up their uptake, especially amongst smallholder farmers who have minimal disposable income to buy enough pesticides to control the pest.

Concluding the meeting, Govaerts spoke of CIMMYT’s commitment to supporting Zambia achieve its food security and agricultural export goals.

“As CIMMYT, we want you to recognize us as a listening partner. We are of the conviction that we can only combat climate change and achieve shared prosperity through the strength of convening power, where we leverage on each other’s strength.”

As the project is focused on scaling existing promising technologies and innovations, rapid transformative results are on the horizon for the people of Zambia.

Rapid modern wheat variety adoption key to supply chain security in Malawi

Written by Tawanda Hove on . Posted in News.

CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts, USAID Special Envoy for Global Food Security Carey Fowler, and USAID staff assess the new wheat variety trials at PYXUS. (Photo: CIMMYT/Tawanda Mthintwa Hove)

Scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are helping to scale up wheat production and productivity in Malawi.

The political conflict between Russia and Ukraine has disrupted food supply chains globally and Malawi’s wheat supply has been adversely affected. As a response, Pyxus Trading, the biggest agribusiness private company in Malawi, has endeavored to partner with CIMMYT to accelerate the growth of wheat production in the country.

At a recent visit by CIMMYT’s Director General Bram Govaerts, the executive management of Pyxus provided detailed updates of how CIMMYT has facilitated access to 100 improved wheat varieties now undergoing trials in Malawi. The visit was part of the Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I), a new project funded by the United States of Agency for International Development (USAID).

Attending the Pyxus field visit was United States Department of State Special Envoy for Global Food Security Cary Fowler, Dina Esposito, Assistant to the Administrator at USAID Bureau of Resilience and Food Security, and other USAID staff.

Speaking at a field tour this January at the Pyxus farm headquarters, Commercial Manager John Gait expressed the importance of achieving self-sufficiency in countries like Malawi.

“It’s become very apparent with the global supply chain disruptions of wheat and related commodities that countries like Malawi should rise to a level of self-sufficiency for strategic commodities such as wheat,” Gait said. “Through the help of CIMMYT, we managed to obtain materials for 100 varieties which we have put under trial. Our objective is to select varieties that are most adapted to our agroecology and provide us with satisfactory yields and grain quality sufficient for our processing ambitions.”

CIMMYT Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) Director Sieg Snapp affirmed CIMMYT’s support for private sector companies like Pyxus.

“When they told me they were searching for high performing genetic materials I told them about the Global Wheat Program and how such material could easily be obtained from our headquarters in Mexico,” Snapp said. “I immediately facilitated linkages between Pyxus and CIMMYT headquarters which saw the quick delivery of the varieties. Considering that it was quite recent, I am impressed to see that the trials are already so well established.”

Multiple varieties on display at the Pyxus farm in Malawi imported from the CIMMYT gene bank in Mexico. (Photo: CIMMYT/Tawanda Mthintwa Hove)

Achieving global food security will require cooperation and collaboration between partners from different sectors. One of CIMMYT’s strategic thrusts is to encourage public-private partnerships where national governments can leverage on the competencies and capabilities of the private sector.

“We aim to be catalytic in all our functions. We believe we have a critical role in ensuring that countries like Malawi have access to the best genetics to ensure that they meet their food requirements. I am happy Pyxus identified us a strategic partner to work with in their wheat program, and through working hand in hand with the government and other key players, the quest to achieve food self-sufficiency can have a shortened pipeline,” Govaerts said.

From left: Hambulo Ngoma, Moses Siambe, Bram Govaerts, Siege Snaap and Regis Chikowo observing the wheat trials supported by CIMMYT in Malawi. (Photo: CIMMYT/Tawanda Mthintwa Hove)

In addition to witnessing the wheat trials, Govaerts received a tour of the entire Pyxus operations which included the groundnut and forestry operations. Pyxus staff each took turns explaining the various business models the company was employing to contribute to Malawi’s export earnings and food security.

As a commitment to help Malawi realise increased wheat production, CIMMYT will be closely following the Pyxus trials and providing technical support to ensure that the best varieties adopted are rapidly scaled.

Ethiopian machines for Ethiopian farmers

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Techno-Nejat owner Usman Abdella, operations manager Ali Mussa, and GIZ project manager Ralf Barthelmes with a recently completed seed cleaner at Techno-Nejat workshop in Adama, Ethiopia. (Photo: Adane Firde)

In many sub-Saharan countries, including Ethiopia, smallholder farmers of legume, wheat, and maize struggle to maintain their own food security, produce higher incomes, and promote economic growth and jobs in agricultural communities.

As farmers, fabricators, and aid workers collaborate to move forward on this problem, innovative solutions are moving out into the field – and generating new ideas across the continent.

Where are machines for small farmers?

Machines tailored to local needs and conditions can often make a big difference–but most agricultural technology is designed and produced to meet the requirements of massive, commercial farms. To help close this gap, Green Innovations Centers (GIC) work to connect smallholding farmers with locally produced technology that can transform their business, their family lives, and their local economies.

Launched in 2014 by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s special initiative, ONE WORLD No Hunger, the GIC collaborate with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) to increase agricultural mechanization in 14 countries in Africa and two in Asia.

Technician at Techno-Nejat workshop, Adama, Ethiopia. (Photo: Adane Firde)

The need for seed

Informal seed systems, in which farmers save and reuse seed, and exchange low quality seed with other farmers, are prevalent among Ethiopian smallholder farmers. Seed cleaning plays an important role in helping farmers build high-yielding seed development systems by removing seed pods and other chaff, eliminating seeds that are too small or infected, and refining the seeds to a high-quality remainder.

After GIC staff in Ethiopia identified seed cleaning as a critical need for smallholding farmers in the country, researchers set out to develop a solution that was affordable, sustainable, and adaptable to local demands.

Local machines for local farmers

In 2022, GIC Ethiopia partnered with Techno-Nejat Industries in Adama, Ethiopia, to design and produce a first run of mobile seed cleaners for use by smallholding farmers across the country. Techno-Nejat has an established track record in agricultural fabrication and was eager to take on the new collaboration.

In early March, the company completed the initial delivery of eight seed cleaners. The machines process chickpea, soy, wheat, and barley seed with a maximum capacity of 1.5 tons per hour. With wheels and a compact, efficient design, they are also easy to move from one farmer’s property to another. At a cost of US $7,500 and a production time of 55 days, the machines have potential both for expansion within Ethiopia and scaling up for export.

Mr. Zogo, owner of Techno Agro Industrie in Benin, with Ali Mussa, Adama, Ethiopia. (Photo: Adane Firde)

Seeding future collaboration

Smallholding farmer cooperatives will take delivery of the first eight seed cleaners in the coming weeks. And while Ethiopian farmers are ready to experience the immediate benefits for their operations, this innovation is also showing promise for additional collaboration.

“Through existing GIC networks, we have connected with Techno Agro Industrie, a company manufacturing seed cleaners in Benin,” said Techno-Nejat’s owner Usman Abdella. “We welcome partnership opportunities, and we extend the red carpet,” Usman said.

As funding for GIC’s mechanization effort winds down, this organic, private Ethiopia-Benin partnership holds promise to generate continued benefits of innovation after the project has concluded, fostering South-South collaboration within Africa.

A seed systems success story

Written by Tawanda Hove on . Posted in Features.

Stewards Global, trading as Afriseed, is a Zambia seed systems intervention success story. Thanks to support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other partners such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Afriseed is transforming rural farmers’ livelihoods through supplying drought tolerant maize seed.

What began as a start-up in 2007 has since grown to be one of the leading companies in Zambia’s seed industry. “I started this company with a team of three people. We did not have much, but we had a compelling vision,” says founder Stephanie Angomwile. “Initially, we were multiplying and distributing legume seed to the market as we had observed the deficit where it was very difficult for any serious farmer to procure improved and high-performing seed.”

“Having set up the business, we were fortunate to get AGRA’s support to secure proper industrial premises where we could focus our operations and serve the Zambian market,” she explains. “Using a basic drum seed dresser, we were able to churn out 100 metric tons of seed per season, which was quite impressive considering how rudimentary our equipment was.”

At this point, USAID bought into their vision and furnished Afriseed with a processing plant that could handle, sort, treat, and package seeds for both legume and maize. The company then pivoted to working with maize seed, based off the observation that most farmers were obtaining yields lower than the genetic potential of existing varieties.

“To do so,  it was quite clear that we needed an institution that could help us break into the maize seed industry dominated by large multinational seed companies,” Angomwile explains. “This led us to partner with CIMMYT, which is a partnership that still exists today and has enabled us to accelerate our market penetration strategy through providing us with high-performing drought-tolerant genetics which are growing in popularity among farmers.”

Stephanie Angomwile gives a tour to representatives from the USAID special envoy and CIMMYT during a visit to Afriseed. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)

The impact of CIMMYT support

Since 2017, CIMMYT has been working with Afriseed to help smallholder farmers access new and improved varieties that are drought-tolerant and can withstand seasonal weather variations induced by climate change. “As CIMMYT, our role is not only to breed improved genetic material that farmers can take up, but also to support business development for the private sector through intensive capacity building programs that position such entities to be sustainable and to excel in the absence project support,” explains Hambulo Ngoma, an agricultural economist working with CIMMYT. The organization has provided Afriseed with two high performing varieties so far: AFS 635 and AFS 638. In addition, CIMMYT has supported Afriseed in stimulating demand within the smallholder farmer market through facilitating the establishment of demonstration plots and designing targeted seed marketing strategies.

During CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts’ recent visit to Zambia, Ngoma highlighted that the organization is aware that small-to-medium enterprises may be constrained with regards to marketing budgets and market development investments. “As such, when we are convinced that there is a business case and an opportunity for a food security transformation, we usually support promising entities such as Afriseed with knowledge and resources to stimulate demand,” he said. “This is of extreme importance as farmers growing old, recycled seed from ancient varieties need to transition to new, improved varieties.”

Govaerts said, “We are happy we could contribute to the success of Afriseed in our own small way and we hope our partnership will take you to the next level.”

Afriseed has since grown and now comprises nearly 200 workers: 90 permanent staff and 110 casual workers during the peak season. Production has surged to an excess of 10,000 metric tons per season and there is a growing customer base stretching throughout all regions of the country. Angomwile is very grateful to have had a partner like CIMMYT, which facilitated Afriseed’s membership to the International Maize Consortium (IMC), a global body that provides access to an expanded genetic pool bringing exposure to new genetic gains. “Being a member of IMC is definitely an advantage for us as an entity because the seed supply market is highly competitive,” she explains. “So, we can now quickly become aware of the new genetic materials available and ask our research and development team — established through the immense support from CIMMYT — to develop new varieties for our target market.”

Through a series of exchange visits and trainings, CIMMYT has mentored the research and development team who are now in a position to breed their own varieties without external support. “The number of farmers in high potential areas that are remotely located that are still growing recycled seed is still quite large,” says Peter Setimela, a seed systems specialist who was part of the mentoring team. “We need to continuously render extensive support to entities such as Afriseed such that the seed quality deficiency gap can be greatly reduced.”

As the rains have been in abundance during this 2022/23 season, there is high anticipation that farmers who have grown seed from reputable seed suppliers such as Afriseed, are set for a bumper harvest.

Cover photo: Afriseed staff preparing legume seeds for processing in Zambia. (Photo: Agricomms)

Strengthening partnerships with government and private sector in Malawi

Written by Tawanda Hove on . Posted in News.

CIMMYT scientists and private sector partners photographed during a dinner hosted by CIMMT Director General Bram Govaerts in Lilongwe, Malawi. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)

Goal 17 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals calls to “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development”. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) answered this call to action by recently hosting a collaborative dinner to strengthen ties between the Center, the private sector and government partners in Malawi.

Hosted by CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts, the dinner followed a visit by US Special Envoy for Global Food Security Cary Fowler, Dina Esposito, Assistant to the Administrator, USAID Bureau of Resilience and Food Security and other USAID staff to discuss and witness the new Accelerated Innovation for Delivery Initiative (AID-I) in action.

“The challenges of today do not require a single sector approach but a pluralistic one in which partners from the private, public sectors agree to work hand in hand with science for impact organizations like CIMMYT and other CGIAR centers,” said Govaerts in his keynote address at the event. “I am very grateful for your support and your presence today is a testimony or our harmonious solidarity and spirit of collaboration in addressing food and nutrition security.”

Govaerts engages with government and agro industry captains in a dinner hosted in Lilongwe, Malawi. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)

The meeting was attended by seed industry players, agricultural input distributors, food processors and Government representatives including Director of Agriculture Research Services Grace Kaudzu, who expressed her appreciation for the gathering.

“As government, our role is to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive and progressive development partners are always welcome. Such gatherings enable us to hear the needs of colleagues and partners from other sectors to create this environment,” she said.

Malawi has established an ambitious roadmap where legume exports and maize production are to be significantly scaled up. The AID-I project dovetails with this roadmap as it focuses on strengthening maize and legume seed systems and addressing systemic constraints in both value chains.

The dinner further facilitated private sector players to meet various CIMMYT specialists ranging from seed system experts, soil scientists, breeders and plant physiologists. According to Peter Setimela, a seed system specialist at CIMMYT, such meetings are critical as they enable a diversity of partners to know what the other has to offer.

“CIMMYT has a lot of expertise which these private sector partners can take advantage of,” Setimela said.

The AID-I project seeks to scale up existing and high potential innovations, technologies and business models as opposed to initiating new ones. This only makes sense considering that the implementation period is only two years and scaling up existing innovations give greater prospects for success.

CIMMYT Regional Representative Moses Siambi labelled the event a success citing the huge turnout of the partners.

“The effectiveness of our interventions is dependent on the strength of the relationships we have with our partners. Such a massive attendance is indicative of cordial relations between CIMMYT and the private sector in conjunction with the government,” Siambi said.

Govaerts closed the event by stressing that through harnessing the potential of convening power, the future is bright regardless of the reality of climate change and geopolitical conflicts.