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.

The conference organized by the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium attracted the interest of a large group of participants. (Photo: African Union Commission)

International research-for-development coalition against fall armyworm, the not-so-nice, very hungry caterpillar

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on November 8, 2018. Posted in Features.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (CIMMYT) — African farmers have lost millions of dollars in earnings since 2016 due to the loss of crops to the voracious fall armyworm.

Since the initial shock, farmers, researchers, extension officers, agribusinesses, governments and donors have reacted quickly to fight the invasive pest in various ways, including with pesticides, agroecological approaches and new seeds.

Yet the situation is far from under control. A more coordinated research-for-development (R4D) action plan is urgently needed to ensure that effective and affordable solutions reach smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa so they can sustainably combat the devastating pest.

Smallholder farm socioeconomics are highly complex, which makes adoption of any new technology or practice a challenge. “We must look at the big picture to design safer, accessible, effective and sustainable solutions against fall armyworm,” said Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which jointly coordinated “Fall Armyworm Research for Development: Status and priorities for Africa,” an international conference held from Oct. 29 to 31 at the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Hosted by the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium, the conference was aimed at drawing a science-based roadmap to combat the hungry caterpillar. The partners organizing the conference were the African Union Commission (AUC), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), CIMMYT, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Vulnerable smallholder farmers

African leaders consider the invasive fall armyworm “a big threat for African food security,” said Amira Elfadil, African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs, at the opening of the conference.

The caterpillar has munched through thousands of hectares of maize, sorghum and a few other commercial crops across Africa and is causing severe concerns among food and agriculture experts and policymakers. Since it was first detected in Nigeria and São Tomé, the moth has spread across more than 40 African countries and has been seen in India since July 2018. It could also invade Europe and other continents.

“Fall armyworm has been the fastest pest to expand across the continent,” said Eyasu Abraha, Ethiopia’s state minister for agriculture development.

The pest is a familiar foe to agricultural experts and farmers in the Americas who have fought against it for several decades. However, the pest has found an ideal environment to flourish in Africa, with diverse agro-ecologies and a warmer climate all year round amplifying its persistent threat.

It has a host range of more than 80 plant species, including maize, a staple food on which millions of people throughout sub-Saharan Africa depend for food and income security. It can cause total crop losses, and at advanced larval development stages can be difficult to control even with synthetic pesticides. The female fall armyworm can lay up to a thousand eggs at a time and produce multiple generations very quickly without pause in tropical environments. The moth can fly 100 km (62 miles) a night, and some moth populations have even been reported to fly distances of up to 1,600 kilometers in 30 hours, according to experts.

Entomologists are trying to fill a knowledge gap on how the fall armyworm behaves and migrates throughout Africa.

Solutions that may work to combat the pest in Brazil or North America may not be applicable for the agricultural context in Africa where most farmers are low-resource smallholders, struggling to access new knowledge and technologies.

High cost of ineffective collaboration

Hans Dreyer, director of FAO’s plant protection division, listed many collaborative initiatives, including national task forces and expert working groups, which contributed to document and inform the current state of knowledge.

There are still many knowledge and technical gaps. Some resourceful information platforms are already available for the farmers and extension workers, including the fall armyworm web portal created by CABI, the mobile farmer Q&A service PlantVillage, or Precision Agriculture for Development’s text messaging advisory service MoA-Info.

“The cost of not collaborating is pretty severe,” said Regina Eddy, who leads the Fall Armyworm Task Force at the USAID Bureau for Food Security. The real gamechanger will be that “all experts in the room agree on a common and concrete research-for-development agenda and how to organize ourselves to implement it effectively,” she added.

During the conference, the experts debated intensely on the technical gaps and the best ways to combat the pest through an integrated pest management strategy, including how to scout the caterpillar in the crop field, establish monitoring and surveillance systems, pest control innovations and appropriate policy support to accelerate introduction of relevant innovations.

Safe, sustainable, farmer-centered solutions

Short-term responses to the pest at present include synthetic pesticide use. However, there are public health and environment concerns over some of the toxic pesticides being used in Africa to control the fall armyworm.

Brian Sobel from Catholic Relief Services recalled witnessing a woman in Malawi who, in an effort to combat the pest, sprayed much more chemical pesticide on her maize than necessary.

The rapid increase of the pesticide market in Africa has led to the circulation of plenty of banned or counterfeit products, some very toxic for the farmer, said Steven Haggblade, a professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at Michigan State University in the United States. Farmers are often not well trained in the use of such chemicals and do not protect themselves during application, he said.

Pesticide use has many negative trade-offs, said Paul Jepson, a professor of environmental and molecular toxicology in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University. Natural enemies like parasitic wasps are also often far more vulnerable to pesticides than fall armyworm larvae, which are hard to reach and hide themselves in the maize whorls for instance.

Continental action plan

A key recommendation made by the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium is to develop common methodologies and research protocols to ensure data from various studies across the continent are better used and compared. For example, how best could the true impacts of the fall armyworm on food and seed security, public health and environment be measured? Collaborative research could include multilocation assessment of the relationship between observed crop damages and yield losses, which is key to determine the efficacy of a pest control innovation.

Conference participants also agreed to work on defining economic and action thresholds for fall armyworm interventions, to ensure better recommendations to the farming communities.

Because no one solution can fit all farmers and socioeconomic contexts, advice must include use of environmentally safer pesticides, low-cost agronomic practices and landscape management and fall armyworm-resistant varieties, among other integrated pest management tools.

Enhanced cooperation between countries to access new technologies and manage the transboundary pest is seen as a priority. Consortium experts also urge an integrated pest management approach, initiated based on farmers’ needs. Controlling the fall armyworm in the long run will require important investments into research-for-development for generating and sharing knowledge and addressing technical gaps with farmers.

For more information on fall armyworm, this conference and the Fall Armyworm R4D International Consortium, please contact B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and of the CGIAR Research Program on MAIZE, at b.m.prasanna@cgiar.org.

Webinar: Do medium and large-scale farms generate income spillovers for rural households?

Written by on November 7, 2018. Posted in News.

Land acquisitions by foreign and local investor farmers has generated much speculation about the impacts on smallholder households and rural communities.

Jordan Chamberlin, a Spatial Economist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and Thomas Jayne of Michigan State University conducted a study in Tanzania to assess whether medium and large-scale farms generate income spillovers for rural households.

They presented their work in a webinar hosted by the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets.

The study looks at inter-district variation in farmland distribution patterns in Tanzania to determine the impact of localized farm structure on rural household incomes. It uses using three rounds of panel data from the Tanzanian National Panel Survey (2009, 2011 and 2013). Because farm structure is a multifaceted concept, five alternative indicators of farm structure are used in the analysis: the Gini coefficient, skewness, coefficient of variation, share of controlled farmland under medium-scale farms, and share of controlled farmland under large farms.

The study highlights four main findings. First, most indicators of farmland concentration are positively associated with rural household incomes, after controlling for other factors. Second, household incomes from farm, agricultural wage and non-farm sources are positively and significantly associated with the share of land in the district controlled by 5-10-hectare farms. Third, these positive spillover benefits are smaller and less statistically significant in districts with a relatively high share of farmland controlled by farms over 10 hectares in size. Fourth, poor rural households are least able to capture the positive spillovers generated by medium-scale farms and by concentrated farmland patterns.

Full study:

Does Farm Structure Matter? The Effects of Farmland Distribution Patterns on Rural Household Incomes in Tanzania. 2018. Chamberlin, J., Jayne, T.S. In: Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Paper 77. East Lansing: Michigan State University.

Farmers and scientists celebrate SIMLESA achievements

Written by Carolyn Cowan on November 7, 2018. Posted in Videos.

Maize is currently grown on 35 million hectares of land in Africa and is easily the most important staple food crop in the continent, feeding more than 200-300 million people and providing income security to millions of smallholder farmers. Nonetheless, African maize growers face many challenges, including lower than average yields, crop susceptibility to pests and diseases, and abiotic stresses such as droughts. They generally lack access to high yielding improved seed and other farming innovations that could help them overcome those challenges.

The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project, launched in 2010, supports farmers and partner organizations to achieve increased food production while minimizing pressure on the environment by using smallholder farmers’ resources more efficiently.

SIMLESA is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). It is implemented by national agricultural research systems, agribusinesses and farmers in partner countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

A new video highlights the outcomes and achievements of the SIMLESA project and it features interviews with farmers and scientists.

Among the outstanding achievements of the SIMLESA project are the release of 40 new maize varieties, the selection of more than 50 legume varieties for official release in partner countries, yield increases of 10 to 30 percent and enhanced adoption of innovative technologies that will aid sustainable intensification of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Over 230,000 farmers have adopted sustainable intensification technologies and the project has helped nurture future scientists by supporting more than 40 students pursuing MSc degrees and more than 20 PhD students.

“The SIMLESA project has successfully adapted and disseminated many scalable technologies to smallholder farmers that will help them achieve higher yields with reduced resource use,” said CIMMYT scientist Paswel Marenya, the coordinator of the project. “We have also sought to understand and improve the entire farming system so that farmers are supported through enabling policies, markets and institutional frameworks.”

The SIMLESA project will be coming to an end in 2019. “The lessons learned from SIMLESA can be used by national and international decision makers to help guide their policy, programming and investment priorities in support of achieving sustainable and resilient agricultural systems in Africa,” Marenya said.

To watch a playlist of SIMLESA videos, click here.

New publications: Does farm structure matter?

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on November 1, 2018. Posted in Publications.

Farmland distributions are rapidly evolving in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, as data from the World Bank’s Tanzanian Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys in Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) shows. Between 2009 and 2013, farms under 5 hectares have increased in absolute numbers – from 5.4 to 6.1 million – as smallholdings became increasingly fragmented due to demographic and land inheritance patterns. But farms greater than 5 hectares also grew in number, and their share in the rural landscape, in terms of land area, grew quickly. The share of total farmland held by “small” farms of less than 5 hectares declined from 62% to 56% over the period while the share of farmland under farms of 10 or more hectares grew by 6%. So, what are the implications of such rapid changes in farm structure and concentration of land under larger farms?

CIMMYT spatial economist Jordan Chamberlin is using household survey data in innovative ways to reveal how changing patterns of land access and farm size distributions are influencing farmers’ livelihoods. He is investigating whether medium- and large-scale farms generate benefits for nearby smallholder farmers. In a case study in Tanzania, Chamberlin and his colleague, T.S. Jayne, estimated how rural incomes are affected by land concentration measures, such as the Gini coefficient, after controlling for other household and geographical factors, including market access, population density, and rainfall.

Lushoto, Tanzania. Photo: Rod Waddington — *Lushoto, Tanzania. (Photo: Rod Waddington)*

Another important finding was the lack of evidence for positive impacts of farmland concentration when such concentration was measured as the share of land in farms of 10 or more hectares. The intuitive explanation of this result is that the larger the farm, the less likely it is to generate benefits for surrounding smallholders. This may be because medium-scale farms, relative to larger commercial farming enterprises, are more likely to employ labor from surrounding households, and may also provide services such as mechanized traction.

More research is needed to identify these spillover mechanisms, and to understand the conditions under which larger farms generate positive impacts for smaller neighbors. As the farmland landscape is evolving quickly in sub-Saharan Africa, understanding these mechanisms could be instrumental to drive more inclusive rural development. Such research could help to add nuance to the current debate in agricultural and land policy circles about whether the de facto expansion of medium-scale and larger farms are a boon or a threat to the smallholder majority within the region’s agrifood systems.

Jordan Chamberlin presented results from this study in a webinar on 6 November 2018 hosted by CGIAR’s Policies, Institutions, Markets Research Program.

This research was carried out in collaboration with T.S. Jayne, Michigan State University, with support from USAID’s Feed the Future Innovation Lab on Food Security Policy, the BMGF-funded Guiding Investments in Sustainable Agricultural Intensification in Africa (GISAIAA) initiative, the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM).

Check out other recent publications by CIMMYT researchers below:

BGGE: a new package for genomic-enabled prediction incorporating genotype × environment interaction models. 2018. Granato, I., Cuevas, J., Luna-Vazquez, F.J., Crossa, J., Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., Burgueño, J., Fritsche-Neto, R. In: G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics v. 8, no. 9, p. 3039-3047.
Carotenoid and tocochromanol profiles during kernel tevelopment make consumption of biofortified “fresh” maize an option to improve micronutrient nutrition. 2018. Cabrera-Soto, L., Pixley, K.V., Rosales-Nolasco, A., Galicia-Flores, L.A., Palacios-Rojas, N. In: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry v. 66, no. 36, p. 9391–9398.
Correction to: mapping adult plant stem rust resistance in barley accessions Hietpas-5 and GAW-79. 2018. Case, A.J., Bhavani, S., Macharia, G., Pretorius, Z.A., Coetzee, V., Kloppers, F.J., Tyagi, P., Brown-Guedira, G., Steffenson, B.J. In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics v.131, no. 10, p. 2267–2267.
Registration of spring wheat germplasm ND 735 combining tan spot, Leaf, and stem rusts. 2018. Mergoum, M., Frohberg, R.C., Ali, S., Singh, P.K., Rasmussen, J.B., Miller, J.D. In: Crop Science v. 46, no. 2, p. 1003-1004.

New initiative to improve access to high quality maize seed for African farmers

Written by on October 26, 2018. Posted in Press releases.

Research partners to develop new maize hybrid seed production system to help smallholder farmers access modern, high quality maize hybrid seed.

Pretoria, South Africa, 26 October 2018 – An initiative launched in 2016 seeks to provide African smallholder farmers with better quality and high yielding hybrid maize seed. The Seed Production Technology for Africa (SPTA) initiative strives to improve seed production systems to ensure that high-quality hybrid maize seed is available to smallholder farmers, as well as to deliver new hybrids with a high yield potential adapted for low fertility areas common in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

SPTA will utilize a technology provided by Corteva Agriscience, and implemented by the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa (ARC) alongside the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the four-year initiative will cost US$ 6.4 million.

“As Africa faces significant challenges of low maize yields, climatic extremes and variability, costly farm inputs, threats due to pests and diseases, and growing demand for food, it is critical to provide smallholder farmers with access to high quality and stress resilient modern maize hybrids to allow them to increase yields and incomes,” said Kingstone Mashingaidze, Senior Research Manager at ARC.

The SPTA process will address pressing seed production concerns in the region that include insufficient genetic purity due to pollen contamination resulting from improper or incomplete detasseling practices. As a result, small and medium seed companies are expected to produce greater volume of hybrid maize seed at lower cost. Partner seed companies in the region will access the technology royalty free.

Maize productivity in Africa lags behind other maize producing regions, and through SPTA more smallholders will improve their yield. Average maize yield in much of Africa is approximately 2 metric tons per hectare, which is less than 20 percent of the yield level in more productive parts of the world. Farmers cannot access or afford high quality seed. Only 57 percent of the SSA maize growing area is planted with recently purchased seed; a lot of hybrids grown in the region are obsolete – 15 years or older compared to an average of less than 5 years in highly productive regions. In many situations, seeds of these older varieties are no longer suited for the climate and cropping environments that exist today.

Hybrid maize seed delivered through SPTA will have higher yield in low fertility environments. This will enable resource-constrained farmers to harvest more despite limited inputs like fertilizer. This means stronger livelihoods coupled with improved professionalism in the maize seed value chain for farmers, seed companies, consumers, and governments to deliver a more food-secure future.

SPTA originated from the Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS) project that concluded in 2015. IMAS focused on developing maize hybrids that could use nitrogen fertilizer more efficiently to deliver higher yields under low fertility conditions prevalent in Africa. The IMAS project was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation together with the United States Agency for International Development.

Issued by Agricultural Research Council

For more information contact:

Agricultural Research Council (South Africa)
Mary James
Tel: +27 (0) 18 299 6100, Cell: +27 84 817 2376, Email: JamesM@arc.agric.za

Corteva Agriscience (South Africa)
Barbra Muzata
Tel: +27-11-218-8600, Email: barbra.Muzata@pioneer.com

Notes to editors:

The Agricultural Research Council (ARC), a schedule 3A public entity, is a premier science institution that conducts research with partners, develops human capital and fosters innovation in support of the agricultural sector. The Agricultural Research Council provides diagnostic, laboratory, analytical, agricultural engineering services, post-harvest technology development, agrochemical evaluation, consultation and advisory services, food processing technology services as well as various surveys and training interventions. ARC has successfully collaborated with international partners in the WEMA project. ARC has successful partnerships with local seed companies for deployment of its products to smallholder farmers. For more information, visit the website at www.arc.agric.za

Corteva Agriscience^™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont (NYSE: DWDP), is intended to become an independent, publicly traded company when the spinoff is complete by June 2019. The division combines the strengths of DuPont Pioneer, DuPont Crop Protection and Dow AgroSciences. Corteva Agriscience^™ provides growers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry — including some of the most recognized brands in agriculture: Pioneer^®, Encirca^®, the newly launched Brevant^™ Seeds, as well as award-winning Crop Protection products — while bringing new products to market through our solid pipeline of active chemistry and technologies. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.

The International Maize and Wheat 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 Research 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.

Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) is a corporate body created under the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Act of 2013 to establish suitable legal and institutional framework for coordination of agricultural research in Kenya with the following goals: Promote, streamline, co-ordinate and regulate research in crops, livestock, genetic resources and biotechnology in Kenya, and expedite equitable access to research information, resources and technology and promote the application of research findings and technology in the field of agriculture.

‘Merry-go-round’ groups spin Kenyan women farmers to success

Written by on October 22, 2018. Posted in Features.

This month’s report from the United Nations’ scientific panel on climate change highlights worsening food shortages as one of the key impacts of global warming.

Tackling the monumental challenges set out in the report may seem like a mountain to climb, given the policy changes and rapid government action required. Yet, on her 4-acre farm on the foothills of Mount Kenya in Embu county, 65-year-old Purity Gachanga proves it is possible to fight eroding soils, enrich farmland, and increase and diversify food production.

What’s more, she shares her methods with 60 women making up a “merry-go-round” group that meet regularly in her front garden. They each contribute a small sum of money which forms their communal savings system. “Many have put the money towards their farms but we also use it for other things we want like blankets, utensils or chairs,” explains Gachanga.

The group also helps the women share new methods, she adds. “I have learnt many techniques from scientists during training days and I am always one of the first to try these out on my farm. So when we get together for the merry-go-round meetings, I show the others what I am doing and how well it works. They then want to try on their own farms.”

Gachanga points to neat rows of fodder plants on the edges of her farm. “Before I would lose all this topsoil when it rained heavily. I learnt that planting certain varieties of fodder plants with deep roots holds the soil together. The plants also add fertility to the soil and give me good feed for my goats.”

Her goats are very precious as besides providing milk and meat, they helped her pay the school fees for nine of her children. The animals are an essential part of her sustainable farming system as they provide fertilizer for her fields.

The farm is flourishing with beans, kale, amaranth, tomatoes and pumpkins. Gachanga rotates the crops so the soil is never left exposed. “I get a profit from each patch so it makes sense to plan how to use it. I make money, keep my soil and animals in good health and we have a varied diet ourselves.”

The training she has received is part of an initiative called the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA), whose goal is to scale up proven soil conservation and food production techniques. Its demonstration sessions bring researchers, extension agents, the private sector, and farmers together to discuss and share expertise, and Gachanga is a keen learner.

Richer soils, more food

Continual farming and mono-cropping of maize along with minimal fertilizer and manure use has rapidly depleted African soil nutrients and resulting yields. Farmers are also used to feeding their livestock with crop remnants from their fields which leaves the soils exposed, further worsening erosion and soil fertility. To address this, farmers are encouraged to leave either all or some crop residues on the field and add nitrogen-fixing legume crops in rotations with cereal crops and forages.

SIMLESA is on target to achieve its overall goal of reaching 650,000 farmers and increasing farm productivity in Eastern and Southern Africa by 30 percent by 2023.

Rahma Adam, gender specialist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) which is leading SIMLESA, said rural women can access better opportunities by being part of a farming innovation group.

The Liganwa women farmers group in Siaya County in Kenya’s Nyanza Province, started in 2007 to help widows in the community get capital to start micro-businesses, and also uses the rotating ‘merry-go-round’ credit and savings system.

After initial challenges in raising capital, as some members were unable to pay their contribution, they joined SIMLESA as part of an agriculture innovation platform. “By experimenting with the demonstrated conservation agriculture techniques, the Liganwa women have since transformed their farming and incomes,” says Adams.

The platform has also enabled women as a group to negotiate better prices to buy inputs and sell produce. Better yields and markets mean members bring money to the group from the surplus maize they sell. So, the merry-go-round now turns with 3 to 5 times more borrowing capacity and 100 percent repayment rates.

One priority of the United Nations’ International Day of Rural Women on October 15 each year is to foster women’s empowerment through climate-resilient agriculture, as with Gachanga and the merry-go-round farmers groups. The challenge is making sure governments put policies and systems in place to ensure other farmers can, and want to, follow suit.

This article was originally published by Thomson Reuters Foundation here.

Sustainable Intensiﬁcation of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) is an eight-year food security program supported by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

Launched in 2010, SIMLESA is managed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and implemented by national agricultural research systems in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. In Kenya, CIMMYT is working closely with the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO).

Cobs & Spikes podcast: Matthew Rouse discusses research on wheat diseases

Written by on October 12, 2018. Posted in Podcasts.

This week the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) launched a new podcast: Cobs & Spikes. This is a space where we’re going to break down complex science into bite-sized, audio-rich explainers. We’re going to have real conversations with experts from around the world who are innovating in the fields of agriculture, food security and nutrition. We’re also going to listen to stories that link CIMMYT’s research with real-world applications.

In this episode, we are celebrating World Food Day, October 16. Also this week, food experts and leaders from around the world are gathering in Iowa for the 2018 Borlaug Dialogue and the World Food Prize Laureate Award Ceremony.

Today we’re talking to the recipient of the World Food Prize 2018 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application.

Matthew Rouse is a researcher with the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. Rouse works on developing wheat varieties that are resistant to diseases, and he’s being recognized for his work on Ug99 — a devastating race of stem rust disease. Throughout his career, Rouse has collaborated with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Music credit: Loam by Podington Bear

You can subscribe to Cobs & Spikes on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher and other podcast platforms.

*See our coverage of the 2018 Borlaug Dialogue and the World Food Prize.*

In your seeds I trust: African seed companies test the SeedAssure application

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on October 11, 2018. Posted in Features.

NAIROBI (Kenya) — More than 20 representatives of eastern and southern African seed companies and regulatory agencies recently took part in the demonstration of a new seed certification application that can help get quality seed to market more quickly and curb sales of counterfeit seed.

As part of an event organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Program (CIMMYT) at the Kiboko research station of the Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) on September 17, 2018, participants field-tested a beta version of SeedAssure, a digital platform that gives automatic feedback on compliance and seed production management, along with remedy options.

SeedAssure was developed by Cellsoft, a supply chain management software company, with input from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Qualibasic Seed Company, the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) and CIMMYT.

“This is very useful for companies like ours, spread as we are over different countries, to manage at a distance our seed growers,” said Andy Watt of QualiBasic Seed Company, who has been testing SeedAssure on the company’s farms. “The application’s dashboard will point out which farms to visit quickly for corrections.”

Mobile innovations enhance quality and speed

For over a decade, the region’s seed sector has sought fast, cost-effective and transparent seed quality control and certification approaches for use across the value chain and the region. Seed companies often rely on under-staffed national certification agencies that may miss critical inspections or give inaccurate reports. Registration of new varieties can take many years, discouraging investment in improved seed and impeding regional trade.

Worse, by some estimates as much as 40 percent of the seed sold in eastern and southern Africa is falsely labelled or not what farmers are told they are buying. KEPHIS recently confiscated over 13 tons of “fake” seeds.

The seed sector has sought mobile innovations such as tablet-based field inspections whose data load to centralized, cloud-based dashboards.

With SeedAssure’s “traffic light” system, field inspection results for factors such as plant population will score green (complied – good quality), amber (needs improvement) or red (reject) and be readily visible to key actors in the seed certification and supply chain, according to David Laurence-Brown, SeedAssure co-developer.

“This quality assurance system can help seed companies get licenses faster, speeding product to market and greatly reducing the financial risk of getting new varieties to farmers,” said Laurence-Brown. “The vision is that all actors have access to timely and accurate data on products, licensing and trade movements, with quality control checks along the value chain.”

He said that SeedAssure features 260 critical questions in 13 seed production checklists. “Putting the right questions in the right order is crucial to determine how sustainable your seed production is,” Laurence-Brown explained.

*Partners test the SeedAssure app on a tablet during a field visit in Kiboko, Kenya. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)*

Fixing the bugs

Participants emphasized that national and regional regulatory bodies needed to be on board.

“Advocacy has to be done at different levels, from COMESA, national plant protection organizations, big and small seed companies, and research institutes and donors,” said Kinyua Mbijjewe, a well-known figure in the African seed industry and co-creator of SeedAssure, adding that this has been underway for a year now with a positive response, and public engagement is now ramping up with partners like AGRA and USAID.

Participants also suggested simplifying SeedAssure by reducing the number of questions and the subjectivity of certain data fields. For example, they observed that a more objective method was needed for scoring pest infestations, rather than SeedAssure’s current approach of rating infestations as low, moderate or intense via visual estimation.

“This will not be adopted if it’s too complex,” said Nicolai Rodeyns, NASECO seed company, Uganda.

Developers are addressing these issues, as well as comments that the application should not mix compliance and seed production management features.

CIMMYT announced that it would offer members of the International Maize Improvement Consortium (IMIC) a one-year trial subscription to SeedAssure.

Finally, AFSTA, AGRA, CIMMYT, COMESA, USAID, and other partners are forming a SeedAssure Alliance to support testing and rollout with companies and public organizations in eastern and southern Africa.

CIMMYT shows partners in Kenya new breakthroughs in maize and wheat research

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on October 10, 2018. Posted in News.

NAIROBI (Kenya) — Members of the International Maize Improvement Consortium (IMIC) and other partners had a chance to go on a field visit to the Kiboko and Naivasha research stations in Kenya on September 18 and 19, 2018. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Kenya Agriculture & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) held their annual partner field days to share the latest developments in maize and wheat research.

On the first day, CIMMYT invited IMIC researchers to evaluate Material Under Development at the Kiboko site. These maize lines are not publicly released yet but are available to IMIC partners, so they can select the most promising ones for their research and crop improvement work.

Each seed company was looking for certain traits to develop new hybrid varieties. For instance, Samit Fayek, from Fine Seeds Egypt was looking for ‘erect type’ maize, as he wants higher crop density and grains that look big. Christopher Volbrecht, from Lake Agriculture in South Africa, was looking for “cobs that stick out as this is what farmers want.” Josephine Okot, from Victoria Seeds in Uganda, said that “seed companies often look at drought tolerance only, but we need now to integrate resistance to Maize Lethal Necrosis.”

Using Doubled Haploid breeding in Kiboko

*Some of the workers at Kiboko station sorting out maize seed varieties. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)*

Next on the tour to Kiboko, partners visited various stress-tolerant breeding materials, sustainable intensification cropping demonstrations and the Doubled Haploid facility. Vijaya Chaikam, Maize Doubled Haploid Scientist, explained how CIMMYT uses this methodology to cut down breeding time from six to two cycles, which drastically reduces costs.

According to B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, doubled haploid breeding is possibly the biggest innovation to speed up genetic gain since the inception of hybrid technology a century ago. “In the next 4 or 5 years, CIMMYT aims at 80 percent use of double haploid lines for new hybrid development; breeding will be faster and much cheaper that way,” Prasanna said. “For now, breeders and seed companies need to know how to use double haploid lines to cost-efficiently crossbreed with their varieties for high-quality hybrids.”

At the end of the visit to Kiboko, CIMMYT officially opened a new maize seed storage cold room. This facility will serve to keep seeds in good condition and to better manage inventory. At the opening were the director of KALRO’s Food Crops Research Institute, Joyce Malinga, CIMMYT’s Africa Regional Representative, Stephen Mugo, and CIMMYT’s Technical Lead for the Global Maize Program, Aparna Das.

Fighting Maize Lethal Necrosis and rust in Naivasha

*A worker at the Naivasha MLN research station conducts a mock inoculation (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)*

On the second day, partners visited the Naivasha research station. There, CIMMYT presented the latest efforts to contain Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN), a devastating maize viral disease first reported in Kenya in 2011 which caused severe crop losses across Eastern Africa, causing severe crop losses. The Naivasha research station is home to a world-class facility to screen for Maize Lethal Necrosis, jointly managed by CIMMYT and KALRO.

At the facility, maize lines are evaluated for MLN resistance. The best lines and varieties are nominated for further development and shared with partners. National Agriculture Research partners can request MLN screening at no cost, while private seed companies are charged for the service. In the last four years, more than 150,000 germplasm have been screened.

CIMMYT wheat scientist Mandeep Randhawa explained how to recognize the different types of wheat rust diseases: stem, stripe and leaf rusts. He emphasized the Ug99 black stem rust strain, which appeared in Uganda in 1998 and has since severely impacted wheat production in the region and globally. Randhawa explained how CIMMYT develops varieties resistant to stem rust using a phenotyping platform and marker-assisted selection.

These two field days were a great opportunity to showcase progress in developing more resilient maize varieties in a fast and cost-effective way. This responsiveness is crucial as pests and diseases continue to threaten the livelihoods of African smallholders. Such impact could not happen without the strong collaboration between CIMMYT and KALRO.

The director of KALRO's Food Crops Research Institute, Joyce Malinga (left), the director of CIMMYT Global Maize Program, B.M. Prasanna (center), and CIMMYT's Regional Representative, Stephen Mugo, open the maize seed cold room in Kiboko (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT) — The director of KALRO’s Food Crops Research Institute, Joyce Malinga (left), the director of CIMMYT Global Maize Program, B.M. Prasanna (center), and CIMMYT’s Regional Representative, Stephen Mugo, open the maize seed cold room in Kiboko (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

The Doubled Haploid Facility in Kiboko and the Maize Lethal Necrosis screening facilty in Naivasha were opened in 2013 with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Syngenta Foundation.

The International Maize Improvement Consortium (IMIC) is a public-private partnership initiative launched in May 2018 as part of CIMMYT’s mission to ramp up seed breeding and production innovations.

View of the interface of the Maize-Seed-Area app on mobile phones and tablets. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Are advisory apps a solution for collecting Big Data?

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on October 2, 2018. Posted in Blogs.

Big Data is transforming the way scientists conduct agricultural research and helping smallholder farmers receive useful information in real time. Experts and partners of the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture are meeting on October 3-5, 2018, in Nairobi, Kenya, to share their views on how to harness this data revolution for greater food and nutrition security.

Jordan Chamberlin, Spatial Economist at CIMMYT, will give his insights on best practices on electronic data capture on October 4, 2018.

NAIROBI (Kenya) — Agronomic researchers face several challenges and limitations related to data. To provide accurate predictions and useful advice to smallholder farmers, scientists need to collect many types of on-farm data; for example, field size, area devoted to each crop, inputs used, agronomic practices followed, incidence of pests and diseases, and yield.

These pieces of data are expensive to obtain by traditional survey methods, such as sending out enumerators to ask farmers a long list of questions. Available data is often restricted to a particular geographical area and may not capture key factors of production variability, like local soil characteristics, fertilizer timing or crop rotations.

As a result, such datasets cannot deliver yield predictions at scale, one of the main expectations of Big Data. Digital advisory apps may be part of the solution, as they use crowdsourcing to routinize data collection on key agronomic variables.

The Taking Maize Agronomy to Scale in Africa (TAMASA) project has been researching the use of mobile apps to provide site-specific agronomic advice to farmers through agro-dealers, extension workers and other service providers.

At CIMMYT, one of the research questions we were interested in was “Why are plant population densities in farmers fields usually well below recommended rates?” From surveys and yield estimates based on crop-cut samples at harvest in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Tanzania, we observed that yields were correlated with plant density.

What was making some farmers not use enough seeds for their fields? One possible reason could be that farmers may not know the size of their maize field. In other cases, farmers and agro-dealers may not know how many seeds are in one packet, as companies rarely indicate it and the weight of each seed variety is different. Or perhaps farmers may not know what plant population density is best to use. Seed packets sometimes suggest a sowing rate but this advice is rather generic and assumes that farmers apply recommended fertilizer rates. However, farmers’ field conditions differ, as does their capacity to invest in expensive fertilizers.

To help farmers overcome these challenges, we developed a simple app, Maize-Seed-Area. It enables farmers, agro-dealers and extension workers to measure the size of a maize field and to identify its key characteristics. Then, using that data, the app can generate advice on plant spacing and density, calculate how much seed to buy, and provide information on seed varieties available at markets nearby.

Maize-Seed-Area is developed using the Open Data Kit (ODK) format, which allows to collect data offline and to submit it when internet connection becomes available. In this case, the app is also used to deliver information to the end users.

Advisory apps usually require some input data from farmers, so advice can be tailored to their particular circumstances. For example, they might need to provide data on the slope of their field, previous crops or fertilizer use. Some additional information may be collected through the app, such as previous seed variety use. All this data entered by the user, which should be kept to a minimum, is routinely captured by the app and retrieved later.

Hello, Big Data!

As the app user community grows, datasets on farmer practices and outcomes grow as well. In this case, we can observe trends in real time, for instance on the popularity of different maize varieties.

In a pilot in western Kenya, in collaboration with Precision Agriculture for Development (PAD), some 100 agro-dealers and extension workers used the app to give advice to about 2,900 farmers. Most of the advice was on the amount of seed to buy for a given area and on the characteristics of different varieties.

Data showed that the previous year farmers grew a wide range of varieties, but that three of them were dominant: DK8031, Duma43 and WH505.

Preferred variety of maize for sample farmers in western Kenya (Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega and Siaya counties), February-March 2018.

A phone survey among some 300 of the farmers who received advice found that most of them anticipated to do things differently in the future, ranging from asking for advice again (37 percent), growing a different maize variety (31 percent), buying a different quantity of seed (19 percent), using different plant spacing (18 percent) or using more fertilizer (16 percent).

Most of the agro-dealers and extension workers have kept the app for future use.

The dataset was collected in a short period of time, just two months, and was available as soon as app users got online.

The Maize-Seed-Area pilot shows that advisory apps, when used widely, are a major source of new Big Data on agronomic practices and farmer preferences. They also help to make data collection easier and cheaper.

TAMASA is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) and Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS).

Innovation, partnerships and knowledge for African farmers meet at AGRF 2018

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on September 19, 2018. Posted in Features.

KIGALI, Rwanda (CIMMYT) — The African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) is the place to be for organizations interested in Africa’s agricultural development. Research institutions, development agencies, funders, farmers’ organizations, large agribusinesses and green start-ups came together for the latest edition of this event in Kigali, Rwanda, on September 4-8. Organized by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) since 2010, this year’s theme was “Lead. Measure. Grow.”

The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, recalled a sentence stuck in his memory since childhood: “Everything is agriculture, the rest is good luck”. All the top leaders present at AGRF 2018 agreed that investing in smallholder agriculture is a top development priority, since the growth of the primary sector “drives down poverty, two to four times faster than other sectors” and provides livelihoods for three quarters of the African population.

Transforming policy declarations into impact on the ground

Even though African governments agreed on a roadmap towards inclusive agricultural growth — the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme, or CAADP — in 2003, the agriculture sector has remained stagnant since the 1980s. A majority of African countries continue to be net food importers despite their bountiful natural resources, as highlighted in the Africa Agriculture Status Report 2018.

Some African food ventures are quite successful exporting beans, roses or avocados to Europe. However, most African farmers still live on less than one dollar a day, on small rain-fed plots of less than two hectares, having to cope with high climate variability and damages from numerous pests and diseases. They often plant low quality seeds, on acid and degraded soils, with little fertilizer. Rapid ageing of the farming population, 60 years old on average, is a particular concern at a time when many young people are underemployed.

“African agriculture is at a defining moment” was a message hammered home by several keynote speakers of AGRF 2018. So what makes this moment different?

In recent years, some countries have seen a significant rise in farm productivity. Ethiopia, for instance, exceeded the CAADP target of 6 percent annual agricultural growth in the last 25 years, halving its poverty rates over the same period.

African agriculture is facing new threats, from climate change to devastating pests like the fall armyworm, but researchers can be fast to respond, particularly if they are properly funded and listened to.

“The challenge is to design the right partnerships or business models between research, government, civil society and the private sector, to reach impact at scale”, explained CIMMYT’s director general, Martin Kropff. One example would be the Fall Armyworm Research for Development (R4D) International Consortium, officially launched at AGRF 2018.

CIMMYT has also partnered with public and private organizations to implement a very successful breeding program to fight maize lethal necrosis and to develop detailed guidelines for integrated pest management of the fall armyworm.

Research has to anticipate and respond to the needs of smallholder farmers in diverse ecological and socioeconomic contexts. The agenda has to become demand-driven and researchers have to look at new collaborations if they want to reach the farmers.

The director general of CIMMYT, Martin Kropff, was the keynote speaker of the AGRF 2018 round-table discussion "Quality Means Quantity – Seed Processing Technology and Production Approaches for Agricultural Benefit." (Photo: CIMMYT) — The director general of CIMMYT, Martin Kropff, was the keynote speaker of the AGRF 2018 round-table discussion “Quality Means Quantity – Seed Processing Technology and Production Approaches for Agricultural Benefit.” (Photo: CIMMYT)

Make agriculture resilient and attractive to youth

Leaders discussed the ways to build viable, fair and sustainable food systems that will provide good opportunities for African farmers, especially the next generation, and affordable, nutritious food for the whole population.

In their view, the roadmap for the coming years includes several key actions: investing in infrastructure, investing in youth and education, investing in value addition and food processing and removing trade barriers.

Speakers also flagged irrigation as a top priority. “African farmers do not need rain; they need water,” summed up John Mellor, who coordinated the African State of Agriculture Report 2018. He explained that top-down irrigation schemes are difficult to manage and maintain, so the focus should rather be on farmer-led irrigation.

The conference highlighted how digital agriculture, big data and other innovations offer the opportunity to leapfrog agriculture growth and make farming attractive to youth. For instance, Hello Tractor, a CIMMYT partner, is an Uber-like service linking tractor owners and machinery service providers with farmers. CIMMYT research shows that appropriate rural mechanization adapted to smallholders, like two-wheel tractors, will ease labor problems and enable adoption of more sustainable practices, like direct sowing. This can make farming more attractive for young people and create opportunities for them to become service providers.

Taking knowledge to farmers

Many innovations are out there to help African farmers grow more and better food; from climate resilient new varieties and customized agronomic advice to new e- or m-business models.

Mobile finance solution Tulaa brings together farmers, agro-dealers and credit providers on a virtual marketplace. Through Tulaa, farmers can borrow money to purchase the right fertilizers or seeds at the right time. Another platform, Precision Agriculture for Development, is providing more than 120,000 Kenyan farmers with agronomic advice via SMS, so they can better identify and manage fall armyworm. Other new digital platforms are linking smallholder farmers with quality inputs, extension services, finance, food processing and market opportunities.

All these operators will need to use accurate, science-based data. That is where CIMMYT’s expertise could play a big role, for instance providing customized fertilization recommendations to individual farmers, as planned in the Taking Maize Agronomy to Scale in Africa (TAMASA) project.

B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program, concluded that “AGRF is an excellent platform to network, debate issues relevant to African agriculture, form alliances and think forward.” Providing more resources in agricultural research for development will generate a stream of new technologies and solutions that will drive agricultural growth. Something African countries urgently need with their fast-growing population (2-3 percent annually) and one additional billion people to feed by 2050.

When legumes are intercropped with maize they act as a green manure adding nutrients to the soil through nitrogen fixation. Intercropping legumes and cereals along with the principles of conservation agriculture are considered away to sustainable intensify food production in Africa. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)

What is green manure? And how is it helping maize farmers?

Written by Matthew O'Leary on September 14, 2018. Posted in Features.

Farmer Eveline Musafari intercrops maize and a variety of legumes on her entire farm. She likes the ability to grow different food crops on the same space, providing her family with more food to eat and sell. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)

Honest Musafari, a fifty-year-old farmer from rural Zimbabwe, eagerly picks up a clump of soil from his recently harvested field to show how dark and fertile it is. A farmer all his life, Musafari explains the soil has not always been like this. For years, he and his neighbors had to deal with poor eroding soil that increasingly dampened maize yields.

“My soil was getting poorer each time I plowed my field, but since I stopped plowing, left the crop residues and planted maize together with legumes the soil is much healthier,” says Musafari. His 1.6-hectare maize-based farm, in the Murehwa district, supports his family of six.

For over two years, Musafari has been one of the ten farmers in this hot and dry area of Zimbabwe to trial intercropping legumes and green manure cover crops alongside their maize, to assess their impact on soil fertility.

The on-farm trials are part of efforts led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in collaboration with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and government extension services to promote climate-resilient cropping systems in sub-Saharan Africa.

Increasing land degradation at the farm and landscape level is the major limitation to food security and livelihoods for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, says CIMMYT senior cropping systems agronomist Christian Thierfelder.

“Over 65 percent of soils in Africa are degraded. They lack the nutrients needed for productive crops. This is a major part of the reason why the region’s maize yields are not increasing,” he explains. “The failure to address poor soil health will have a disastrous effect on feeding the region’s growing population.”

The area where Musafari lives was chosen to test intercropping, along with others in Malawi and Zambia, for their infamous poor soils.

Mixing it up

Planted in proximity to maize, legumes — like pigeon pea, lablab and jack beans — add nitrogen to the soil, acting as green manure as they grow, says Thierfelder. Essentially, they replace the nutrients being used by the cereal plant and are an accessible form of fertilizer for farmers who cannot afford mineral fertilizers to improve soil fertility.

“Our trials show legumes are a win for resource poor family farmers. Providing potentially 5 to 50 tons per hectare of extra organic matter besides ground cover and fodder,” he notes. “They leave 50 to 350 kg per hectare of residual nitrogen in the soil and do not need extra fertilizer to grow.”

Added to the principles of conservation agriculture — defined by minimal soil disturbance, crop residue retention and diversification through crop rotation and intercropping — farmers are well on their way to building a resilient farm system, says Geoffrey Heinrich, a senior technical advisor for agriculture with CRS working to promote farmer adoption of green manure cover crops.

For years Musafari, as many other smallholder farmers in Africa, tilled the land to prepare it for planting, using plows to mix weeds and crop residues back into the soil. However, this intensive digging has damaged soil structure, destroyed most of the organic matter, reduced its ability to hold moisture and caused wind and water erosion.

Letting the plants do the work

Growing legumes alongside maize provides immediate benefits, such as reduced weeding labor and legume cash crops farmers can sell for a quick income. The legumes also improve the nitrogen levels in the soil and can save farmers money, as maize needs less fertilizer. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)

Musafari says the high price of mineral fertilizer puts it out of reach for farmers in his community. They only buy little amounts when they have spare cash, which is never enough to get its full benefit.

He was at first skeptical green manure cover crops could improve the quality of his soil or maize yields, he explains. However, he thought it was worth a try, considering growing different crops on the same plot would provide his family with more food and the opportunity to make some extra cash.

“I’m glad I tried intercropping. Every legume I intercropped with my maize improved the soil structure, its ability to capture rain water and also improved the health of my maize,” he says.

Thierfelder describes how this happens. Nitrogen fixation, which is unique to leguminous crops, is a very important process for improving soil fertility. This process involves bacteria in the soil and nitrogen in the air. The bacteria form small growths on the plant roots, called nodules, and capture the atmospheric nitrogen as it enters the soil. The nodules change the nitrogen into ammonia, a form of nitrogen plants use to produce protein.

In addition, legumes grown as a cover crop keep soil protected from heavy rains and strong winds and their roots hold the soil in place, the agronomist explains. They conserve soil moisture, suppress weeds and provide fodder for animals and new sources of food for consumption or sale.

Farmers embrace intercropping

Extension worker Memory Chipinguzi explains the benefits of intercropping legumes with cereals to farmers at a field day in the Murehwa district, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)

Working with CIMMYT, Musafari and his wife divided a part of their farm into eight 20 by 10 meter plots. On each plot, they intercropped maize with a different legume: cowpea, jack bean, lablab, pigeon pea, sugar bean and velvet bean. They also tried intercropping with two legumes on one of the plots. Then they compared all those options to growing maize alone.

“Season by season the soil on each of the trial plots has got darker and my maize healthier,” describes Musafari. “Rains used to come and wash away the soil, but now we don’t plow or dig holes, so the soil is not being washed away; it holds the water.”

“I really like how the legumes have reduced the weeds. Before we had a major problem with witchweed, which is common in poor soils, but now it’s gone,” he adds.

Since the first season of the trial, Musafari’s maize yields have almost tripled. The first season his maize harvested 11 bags, or half a ton, and two seasons later it has increased to 32 bags, or 1.5 tons.

Musafari’s wife Eveline has also been convinced about the benefits of intercropping, expressing the family now wants to extend it to the whole farm. “Intercropping has more advantages than just growing maize. We get different types of food on the same space. We have more to eat and more to sell,” she says.

The family prefers intercropping with jack bean and lablab. Even though they were among the hardest legumes to sell, they improved the soil the most. They also mature at the same time as their maize, so they save labor as they only have to harvest once.

The benefits gained during intercropping have influenced farmers to adopt it as part of their farming practices at most of our trial sites across southern Africa, CRS’s Heinrich says.

“Immediate benefits, such as reduced weeding labor and legume cash crops that farmers can sell off quick, provide a good incentive for adoption,” he adds.

Honest and Eveline Musafari with extension worker, Memory Chipinguzi. Neighbors have noticed the intercropping trials on the Musafari’s farm and are beginning to adopt the practice to gain similar benefits. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)

Climate-resilient farming systems for Africa

Food security is at the heart of Africa’s development agenda. However, climate change is threatening the Malabo Commitment to end hunger in the continent by 2025. Temperatures are increasing: the past three decades have been the warmest on record, according to the International Panel on Climate Change.

Hotter climates, more dry spells and erratic rainfall are a major concern to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, where over half of maize is grown in rain-fed farming without irrigation.

The majority of African farmers are smallholders who cultivate less than 2 hectares, explains Thierfelder. If they are to meet the food demand of a population set to almost double by 2050, bringing it to over 2 billion people while overcoming multiple challenges, they need much more productive and climate-resilient cropping systems.

New research identifies that the defining principles of conservation agriculture alone are not enough to shield farmers from the impacts of climate change. Complementary practices are required to make climate-resilient farming systems more functional for smallholder farmers in the short and long term, he warns.

“Intercropping with legumes is one complementary practice which can help building healthy soils that stand up to erratic weather,” says Thierfelder. “CIMMYT promotes climate-resilient cropping systems that are tailored to farmers’ needs,” he emphasizes.

“To sustainably intensify farms, growers need to implement a variety of options including intercropping, using improved crop varieties resistant to heat and drought and efficient planting using mechanization along with the principles of conservation agriculture to obtain the best results.”

Service provider Bedilu Desta and his helper Fekadu Assefa drive a two-wheel tractor and thresher in the village of Gudoberet, Basona district, Ethiopia, in 2015. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Planting the seed of agricultural innovation in Africa

Written by on September 14, 2018. Posted in Director General's corner.

In the last two decades, Africa has taken a leap forward in the development and adoption of agricultural innovations. We have seen an increased use of improved seed, appropriate technologies and agricultural machinery, all adapted to the specific needs of African farmers.

As leaders gather at the African Green Revolution Forum this month, it is time to discuss the best way to take this progress even further, so small farmers across the continent can reap the benefits of sustainable intensification practices and produce more food.

How can we spread access to these technologies and resources and put them into the hands of Africa’s half a billion farmers? How can we best align the efforts of governments, agribusiness and academia? How can we unlock Africa’s agricultural potential and achieve the Malabo Declaration to end hunger by 2025?

It all starts with a seed. Access to quality seed – that stands up to drought, resists diseases and pests, and has nutritional value – helps family farmers adapt to climate change. Bundled with sustainable agronomic practices and technologies, these seeds have the power to unleash an economic shift that could lift millions of Africans out of poverty.

To make this happen, a strong seed system is imperative. Local seed companies need adequate and reliable foundation seed, as well as access to elite germplasm they can include in their own breeding programs. They also want to use new hybrid varieties and improve their certified seed production. Only then they will be able to sell low-cost improved seed to smallholders with low purchasing power and limited market access.

Climate-resilient seeds

The negative effects of climate change have been felt throughout Africa, particularly for maize farmers. The staple for more than 200 million resource-poor people, maize crops have increasingly been affected by changing climate conditions.

To address this challenge, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is developing a breeding pipeline of maize varieties, which are deployed by small and medium-sized local agribusinesses. Working in partnership with national governments, private companies and nonprofits, CIMMYT has so far released nearly 300 climate-resilient maize varieties, adapted to the different agroecologies in Africa.

Despite severe El Nino-induced droughts, farmers growing new maize varieties that withstand heat and drought have yielded twice as much as those with common commercial varieties, helping them ensure household food security. In Ethiopia, the estimated economic value of increased maize production due to climate-resilient varieties reached almost $30 million.

In other cases, biofortified food crops are helping to improve nutrition and fight ‘hidden hunger’, by adding micronutrients to people’s diets. For example, nutritious orange maize containing higher amounts of vitamin A is already growing in several southern African countries, preventing children from stunting and losing eyesight.

Modern seed production technologyis providing African seed companies with efficient and affordable ways to develop quality seed and get it to farmers.

Through strong public-private partnerships, the amount of climate-resilient maize grown by African farmers has more than doubled over the last eight years, benefiting an estimated 53 million people. The increased volumes of improved seed reaching farmers now is encouraging, but far from adequate.

When innovation meets collaboration

Traditionally, new varieties can take up to 20 years to reach farmers, but new technologies are helping to speed up the breeding process. Data from flying drones loaded with cameras and other sensors can cut the time to monitor crop health from days to minutes.

The establishment of the region’s first double haploid facility in Kenya reduces the cost and time for breeding work – it enables rapid development of homozygous maize lines and fast-tracks the release of new varieties. It was essential in the emergency response to the deadly Maize Lethal Necrosis, as breeders could release new varieties in just three years, instead of seven. The facility, open to public and private breeders, is currently being used to develop maize varieties that could resist the fall armyworm pest.

New types of small agricultural machines are helping to increase productivity, save time and reduce farmers’ workload. For example, two-wheel tractors allow smallholders to farm with more precision, conserve valuable resources and, ultimately, produce more. Renting agricultural equipment and providing mechanization services is also becoming a way for young entrepreneurs in rural areas to earn a living while giving access to powerful farming tools to family farmers who could not afford them otherwise.

Last June, representatives from dozens of African seed companies and national agricultural research institutions convened in Zimbabwe to establish the International Maize Improvement Consortium (IMIC) in Africa, similar to those already operating in Asia and Latin America. The consortium offers a systematic way to identify and share pre-release maize germplasm, which partners can use in their own breeding.

To address all these issues and democratize access to agricultural innovation, collaboration is crucial. Through past experience, we have learned that partnerships need to be more ambitious and that knowledge needs to be shared across borders. Any new solution must incorporate the expertise and action of national extension systems, private sector companies and other relevant stakeholders.

Donors need to consider long-term funding mechanisms that can operate at a regional and global scale.

Let’s build on the existing success and take it even further. Together, we can build robust seed systems and equip African farmers with the technology they need to envision a safe and sustainable future.

Martin Kropff is the director general of CIMMYT and Stephen Mugo is CIMMYT’s regional representative in Africa.

This article was originally published by Thomson Reuters.

CIMMYT's director general Martin Kropff (right) greets the president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, at Munhumutapa Offices in Harare. (Picture by Tawanda Mudimu)

Forecast drought: ED engages experts

Written by on September 12, 2018. Posted in Director General's corner.

While traveling through Africa and stopping at CIMMYT’s regional offices, I had the pleasure of meeting the President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, and discussing ways of enhancing agricultural productivity in the face of erratic rains expected in the 2018-19 farming season.

Read a news story about this meeting on The Herald: https://www.herald.co.zw/forecast-drought-ed-engages-experts/

A farm landscape in Ethiopia. (Photo: Apollo Habtamu/ILRI)

Suitcase-sized lab speeds up wheat rust diagnosis

Written by on September 10, 2018. Posted in News.

Despite her unassuming nature, the literary character Miss Marple solves murder mysteries with her keen sense of perception and attention to detail. But there’s another sleuth that goes by the same name. MARPLE (Mobile And Real-time PLant disEase) is a portable testing lab which could help speed-up the identification of devastating wheat rust diseases in Africa.

Rust diseases are one of the greatest threats to wheat production around the world. Over the last decade, more aggressive variants that are adapted to warmer temperatures have emerged. By quickly being able to identify the strain of rust disease, researchers and farmers can figure out the best course of action before it is too late.

The Saunders lab of the John Innes Centre created MARPLE. In collaboration with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), researchers are testing the mobile diagnostic kit in Holeta, central Ethiopia.

“These new pathogen diagnostic technologies … offer the potential to revolutionize the speed at which new wheat rust strains can be identified,” says Dave Hodson, a CIMMYT rust pathologist in Ethiopia. “This is critical information that can be incorporated into early warning systems and result in more effective control of disease outbreaks in farmers’ fields.”

Hodson and his colleagues will be presenting their research at the CGIAR Big Data in Agriculture Convention in Nairobi, on October 3-5, 2018.

Read more about the field testing of the MARPLE diagnostic kit on the ACACIA website.