CIMMYTâs 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.
A Maasai woman holding a baby (center) attends the plenary session of the GLF Nairobi 2018. (Photo: Global Landscapes Forum)
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) â The latest event of the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) took place on August 29-30 in Nairobi, Kenya, under the topic of forest and landscape restoration in Africa. To tackle the urgent issue of deforestation and land degradation, the sessions and panels covered topics as diverse as community-led restoration, how to address social inclusion in land management, or how to work with supply chain actors to achieve sustainable landscapes and better livelihoods for local communities.
Landscape degradation directly affects 1.5 billion people. Local communities are usually the first ones to experience the negative effects of this problem on their livelihoods, access to water and loss of topsoil and farm productivity.
Sustainable landscapes play a role in CIMMYTâs work. In Ethiopia, CIMMYTâs research in collaboration with CIFOR showed that a landscape approach can improve the nutrition and resilience of farming families. The transfer of organic matter and nutrients from forest patches to farmersâ fields, through livestock manure and fuelwood, enriches the soils and increases the zinc and protein content of wheat grain.
While agronomy tends to look at the fieldâs scale, a landscape perspective may also be important for more efficient pest control, as CIMMYTâs research with Wageningen University found. A useful learning as agriculture experts look at ways to combat emerging pests like the fall armyworm.
Voices of the Landscape Plenary at the GLF Nairobi 2018. (Photo: Global Landscapes Forum)
Better soil and rights
Participants in GLF Nairobi 2018 called for concrete collective action to restore degraded landscapes.
Having real-time accurate dashboards of land degradation could help governments and development organizations build coherent policies and restoration programs. Mark Schauer from the Economics of Land Degradation Initiative explained why soil is important and how monetizing the costs and benefits of sustainable soil management practices could help decision-makers build more sustainable food systems. Sharing data in transboundary contexts is a challenge but can be overcome, as the Eastern Africa Forest Observatory (OFESA) has shown.
Asking uncomfortable questions is necessary to support the people who depend the most on landscapesâ health. Milagre Nuvunga from the MICAIA Foundation in Mozambique recommended to put womenâs rights at the center of landscape restoration programs. Several testimonies reminded that women living in patriarchal societies often do not have land rights, so land will go back to the husbandâs family in case of death or divorce. Even if they know the benefits of landscape restoration, âwhy would women careâ to invest time and energy on it if their rights are not secured, she asked.
Matthew Rouse, a researcher with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS), has been named the winner of the 2018 Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application. Rouse is recognized for his essential leadership efforts to contain and reduce the impact of Ug99, a devastating new race of the stem rust pathogen that poses a serious threat to the worldâs wheat crops and food security.
The Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application is presented annually to a young extension worker, research scientist or development professional who best emulates the dedication, perseverance, and innovation demonstrated by Norman Borlaug while working in the field with Mexican farmers in the 1940s and ’50s.
âWhen I learned that I was selected for the Borlaug Field Award, I was humbled by both the legacy of Norman Borlaug and by the fact that any impact I made was a part of collaborations with talented and hard-working individuals at USDA-ARS, the University of Minnesota, CIMMYT, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, and other national programs,â Rouse said.
Rouse has been an essential collaborator for a wide range of crucial projects to protect the worldâs wheat crops. His research supports more than 20 breeding programs in the U.S. and 15 wheat genetics programs around the world, including those at CIMMYT. As the coordinator of ARSâs spring wheat nursery project in Ethiopia and Kenya, he has provided Ug99 resistance genes to breeders worldwide, accelerating the process for incorporating enhanced stem rust protection into wheat varieties.
Rouse also collaborated with CIMMYT in 2013, when a race of stem rust unrelated to Ug99 caused an epidemic in Ethiopia. He rapidly assembled a team of scientists from CIMMYT, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) and USDA-ARS, and developed a research plan to establish four stem rust screening nurseries. This led to the selection of promising new wheat breeding lines by Ethiopian and CIMMYT scientists and the rapid 2015 release of the variety âKingbirdâ in Ethiopia, which was shown to be resistant to four of the most dangerous races of stem rust in addition to Ug99.
A new 3-D animation video published yesterday shows farmers how to scout for and identify the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda).
The video shows scouting techniques and highlights the importance of identifying any pest damage at the early stages of crop growth. If the fall armyworm is present, integrated pest management practices can help farmers protect against this pest.
Farmers should avoid applying an indiscriminate amount of chemical pesticides, as that will lead to the fall armyworm building resistance to pesticides. It may also cause harm to people and to the environment.
The video was produced by Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), funded by USAID and developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Michigan State University.
After receiving training from CIMMYT, this group of young men started a small business offering mechanized agricultural services to smallholder farmers near their town in rural Zimbabwe. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
The sound of an engine roars as Gift Chawara, a 28-year-old from rural Zimbabwe, carefully removes a mesh bag bulging with maize grain hooked to his mechanized sheller. Fed with dried maize cobs, the sheller separates the grain from the shaft before shooting the kernels out the side into the awaiting bag. Chawara swiftly replaces the full bag with an empty one as the kernels continue to spill out.
It is eleven in the morning and the sun beats down over the small farm. Chawara and his friends have only been working a few hours and have already shelled 7 tons for their neighbor and customer Loveness Karimuno; thirteen more tons to go.
The widowed farmer watches as the bags of grain line up, ready for her to take to market. It used to take Karimuno two to three weeks to shell her maize harvest by hand, even with the help of hired labor. This grueling task saw her rub each maize ear on a rough surface to remove the grain from the shaft. Now, these young men and their mechanized sheller will do it in just a few hours for a small fee.
âWhen my neighbor told me the boys were shelling small amounts of maize at reasonable prices, I got in contact with them,â said Karimuno. âItâs cheaper than hiring people to help me do it manually and the speed means I can sell it faster.â
It used to take widowed farmer Loveness Karimuno (left) two or three weeks to shell her 20-ton maize harvest manually, even with the help of hired labor. Using mechanization services, all of her maize is shelled within a day, meaning she can take her grain to market faster. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
The group of young entrepreneurs is serving almost 150 family farms around the village of Mwanga, located about two hours northwest of the capital Harare. They offer services such as shelling and planting, powered by special machinery. Since Chawara and his partners started the business three years ago, word has spread and now they are struggling to keep up with demand, he expressed.
The five young men are among the increasing number of youth across eastern and southern Africa creating a stable living as entrepreneurs in agricultural mechanization service provision, Baudron said.
Tired of the lack of profitable work in their rural community, the group of youths jumped on the opportunity to join a training on agricultural mechanization, run by CIMMYT. They heard about this training through local extension workers.
âWe would probably be out of work if we hadnât had the opportunity to learn how agricultural mechanization can be used to help smallholder farmers and gain skills to run our own business to provide these services,â Chawara expressed as he took a quick rest from shelling under a tree.
âIt has really changed our lives. Last season we shelled over 300 tons of maize making just under US $7,000,â he said. âIt has gone a long way in helping us support our families and invest back into our business.â
Masimba Mawire, 30, and Gift Chawara, 28, take a break from shelling and rest under a tree. The small car behind was bought by Chawara with his profits earned from the mechanization service business. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
Chawara and his partners attended one of these trainings, hosted on the grounds of an agricultural technical college on the outskirts of Harare. For a week, they participated in practical courses led by local agriculture and business experts.
As part of the CIMMYT research project, the youth group paid a commitment fee and were loaned a planter and sheller to start their business, which they are now paying off with their profits.
Youth tend to be better at managing modern technologies and successfully take to service providing, said Baudron, who leads the FACASI project.
âWe found consistently, in all countries where we work, that being a successful service provider is highly correlated to being young,â he highlighted. âHowever, other factors are also important, such as being entrepreneurial, educated, able to contribute to the cost of the machinery and preferably having an experience in similar businesses, particularly in mechanics.â
(From left to right) Shepard Kawiz, 24, gathers dried maize cobs into a bucket passing it to his brother Pinnot Karwizi, 26, who pours the maize into the sheller machine by feeding the hopper. The maize falls into the shellerâs barrel where high-speed rotation separates the grain from the cob. As the bare shafts are propelled out one side, Masimba Mawire, 30, is there to catch and dispose of them. Meanwhile, Gift Chawara, 28, is making sure a bag is securely hooked to the machine to collect the maize grain. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
Mentoring and support are key to success
The young men operate like a well-oiled machine. Shepard Kawiz, 24, gathers dried maize cobs into a bucket and passes it to his brother Pinnot Karwizi, 26, who pours the maize into the sheller machine by feeding the hopper. The maize falls into the shellerâs barrel where high-speed rotation separates the grain from the cob. As bare shafts are propelled out one side, Masimba Mawire, 30, is there to catch and dispose of them. Meanwhile, Gift Chawara is making sure a bag is securely hooked to the machine to collect the maize grain.
Trials showed that when youth form a group and are provided guidance they are more inclined to succeed as service providers, explained CIMMYT agribusiness development specialist Dorcas Matangi.
âThe group model works because they share the costs, the workload and they are more attractive to lenders when looking for investment capital,â she remarked.
Throughout the season, Mantangi works with local government extension workers and engineers from the University of Zimbabwe to mentor those starting out. They also organize meetings where service providers can gather to discuss challenges and opportunities.
âThis is a good opportunity to iron out any problems with the machines, connect them with mechanics and spare part providers and we gain their feedback to improve the design of machinery,â she added.
Mechanization backs resilient farming systems
CIMMYT has provided a model to promote the use of agricultural mechanization among smallholder farmers through service providers, affirmed Misheck Chingozha, a mechanization officer with Zimbabweâs Ministry of Agriculture.
Farm machinery helps farmers implement sustainable crop practices that benefit from greater farm power and precision,â he said. âThis is in line with the governmentâs strategy to promote conservation agriculture â defined by minimal soil disturbance, crop residue retention and diversification through crop rotation and intercropping.â
CIMMYT promotes small-scale mechanization, such as two-wheel tractor-based technologies, including direct seeding planters that reduce labor and allow for improved resource allocation when implementing these practices, described CIMMYTâs Baudron.
Conservation agriculture is a sustainable intensification practice that seeks to produce more food, improve nutrition and livelihoods, and boost rural incomes without an increase in inputs â such as land and water â thus reducing environmental impacts.
With support from CIMMYT, students at the University of Zimbabwe are working to develop agricultural machinery fitted to the environmental conditions and needs of farmers in their country and other parts of Africa. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
Students fuel next-generation machinery
As part of their degree, students at the University of Zimbabwe are working with CIMMYT to continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of agricultural machinery.
In a bid to improve the allocation of resources, agricultural engineering student Ronald Mhlanga, 24, worked on a prototype that uses sensors to monitor the amount of seed and fertilizer distributed by planters attached to two-wheel tractors. The device sends information to the driver if anything goes off course, helping farmers improve precision and save resources.
âOften planters will get clogged with mud blocking seeding. The sensors identify this and send a signal to the driver,â said Mhlanga. âThis allows the driver to focus on driving and limits wasted resources.â
Learning from farmer feedback and working with agricultural engineers and the private sector, CIMMYT is building agricultural mechanization suited to the needs and conditions of sub-Saharan African farms, concluded Baudron.
Ashley Muzhange eats sadza with her family in rural Zimabwe. Her sadza is made with vitamin A orange maize, a variety improving the nutrition of children and families in the nation. Photo: Matthew O’Leary/ CIMMYT
In the rural Chiweshe Communal Area, about two hours north of Zimbabweâs capital Harare, 18-month-old Ashley Muzhange tucks into a bowl of vitamin A orange maize sadza. Sadza, a thickened porridge made from finely ground maize grain with a side of stewed vegetables, is the staple dish for rural families.
Ashleyâs sadza is made from biofortified maize, conventionally bred by researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) under the work of HarvestPlus to contain a higher amount of nutritious vitamin A.
Recent prolonged drought pushed malnutrition to levels not seen in over 15 years, with almost 33,000 children in need of urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition, according to the United Nations Childrenâs Fund (UNICEF). Many experience micronutrient deficiencies, since their diets lack the vitamins and minerals required for growth and development.
Ashley’s mother, Lilian Muzhange, prepares fritas made with vitamin A orange maize grown on their family farm. Photo: Matthew O’Leary/ CIMMYT
According to the World Health Organization, 35.8 percent of preschool aged children suffer from vitamin A deficiency. The leading cause of preventable blindness in children, it compromises the immune system increasing the risk of death from diseases like measles, diarrhea and respiratory infections.
Biofortification increases the density of vitamins and minerals in a crop through conventional plant breeding or agronomic practices. When consumed regularly, biofortified crops generate measurable improvements in health and nutrition. The process develops crops rich in nutrients for consumers as well as the agronomic characteristics like drought and disease resistance valued by farmers. It is considered a sustainable way to bring micronutrients to populations with limited access to diverse diets.
Even though baby Ashley is unaware her sadza not only fills her stomach, but also provides her with a dose of vitamin A, her family is conscious of the benefits.
âThis orange maize assures me that my daughter gets a nutritious meal and means we donât only rely on the supplements provided by the government,â said Lilian Muzhange, her mother.
Orange the color of health
The farming family first began trialing the biofortified vitamin A orange maize in 2015 and are now growing it in place of traditional white maize. The nutritious variety contains high levels of beta-carotene, a vitamin A precursor that produces the rich orange color and once ingested is converted into the micronutrient, acting as an antioxidant to protect cells.
âOur family now prefers the new vitamin A orange maize over the white maize, as it has great health benefits for my children and granddaughter and the taste is delicious. The sadza truly is better,â said Ashleyâs grandfather Musonza Musiiwa. âI was also pleased the variety is drought tolerant. Despite a dry spell in January my maize was able to yield a good harvest.â
Orange maize conventionally bred to contain high amounts of vitamin A is fighting child malnutrition in Zimbabwe. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/ CIMMYT)
Rural diets mainly consist of what farming families can grow, which is predominantly maize, said CIMMYT maize breeder Thokozile Ndhlela. The majority of rural households do not meet minimum dietary diversity, reliant on a cereal-based diet where meat is a rarity, the Zimbabwe Food and Nutrition Council finds.
âWhite maize traditionally used for the staple sadza is predominantly starch and very low in nutritional value,â said Ndhlela, who leads CIMMYTâs biofortified breeding efforts in Zimbabwe. âBiofortifying this staple crop ensures consumers have access to nutritious food season after season as farmers continue to grow it.â
Musiiwa not only sees the health and agronomic benefits of vitamin A orange maize, but has also identified its economic opportunity. The farmer is planning to increase the amount he grows to capitalize on the market he believes is set to grow.
Getting vitamin A maize into farmersâ fields and onto plates
Sakile Kudita, HarvestPlus researcher, explains the benefits of of vitamin A orange maize to seed company and government representatives. Photo: Matthew O’Leary/ CIMMYT
For the new biofortified maize to be part of the food system it must be commercialized creating a full value chain, said Sakile Kudita, a demand creation researcher with HarvestPlus, a program improving nutrition and public health by developing and promoting biofortified food crops.
âVitamin A orange maize needs to be a product millers take up and processed foods are made of, so that seed companies have an incentive to keep producing seed and farmers have an incentive to grow more than just for consumption but also sale in order to generate income,â she said.
The efforts of HarvestPlus and CIMMYT to engage government, food processors and seed companies at field days, where they learn about the nutritional and agronomic benefits and taste the orange maize have yielded success, said Kudita. Working with the government, four biofortified varieties have been commercialized since 2015.
Prime Seed Co, a subsidiary of the regional certified seed company Seed Co, was the first company commissioned by the government to commercialize vitamin A orange maize in Zimbabwe and now sells the variety Musiiwa uses in his field.
Prime Seed Co worked with CIMMYT, HarvestPlus and the Zimbabwe government to release the first vitamin A orange maize variety onto the market. Photo: Thoko Ndhlela/ CIMMYT
âThrough our partnership with CIMMYT and HarvestPlus we are developing a market for vitamin A orange maize in Zimbabwe,â said Masimba Kanyepi, a sales manager at Prime Seed Co. âWe have seen our sales improve since launching the first variety and expect an increase.â
Kanyepi is confident the market will grow following a new government regulation requiring all processed maize products to contain added micronutrients, including vitamin A, through fortification.
Food industry representatives taste-test foods made with vitamin A orange maize at an open day. Photo: Matthew O’Leary/ CIMMYT
âAdding vitamin A to maize at the processing stage is expensive for food companies due to the cost of importing the vitamin from overseas,â said Kanyepi. âBuying vitamin A orange maize grown by local farmers already biofortified at the same price as the white variety makes economic sense.â
Food companies see the saving with Zimbabwe manufacturer, Cairns Foods, confirming itâs taking steps to include biofortified maize in its cereals and biofortified beans in its canned products.
With food processors and millers buying vitamin A orange maize there is demand for farming families like the Musiiwas to grow more, ensuring not only a boost to their health but also their livelihood, said Kudita.
Breeding for a more nutritious future
Vitamin A orange maize in a farmer’s field. Photo: Matthew O’Leary/ CIMMYT
The crop diversity found in the maize species is key to nutritional gain. The plant grows in distinct environments and has developed a diverse range of valuable traits including nutritional properties.
Following a lengthy analysis of thousands of samples in the CIMMYT Maize Germplasm Bank researchers discovered native landraces and varieties from South and Central America containing increased levels of beta-carotene, explained Ndhlela. These were included in breeding programs in Africa and crossed with local varieties to ensure they were fit for the subtropical climate and were tolerant to local biotic and abiotic stresses.
Working alongside Zimbabweâs national breeding program Ndhlela continually monitors, improves and combines dozens of characteristics, which include high yield potential, nitrogen use efficiency, and tolerance to drought, into new varieties that meet farmersâ preferences.
The most recent biofortified varieties contain about 39 percent more vitamin A compared to the first, she said.
âCIMMYTâs support through free access to maize germplasm and breeding expertise has allowed us to continue developing this nutritious maize,â said Prince Matova, a maize breeder with the Zimbabwe Ministry of Agriculture. âIn the next few years we expect to release two more varieties.â
At the end of the day, farming is a business and farmers value varieties with high yield, adapted to stress conditions. The breeders are currently trialing new vitamin A maize varieties with the hope of identifying those with the potential to yield as much as the traditional white varieties and are already garnering positive feedback from farmers.
CIMMYT maize breeder Thoko Ndhlela shows food industry representatives the agronomic benefits of vitamin A orange maize in the field. Photo: Matthew O’Leary/ CIMMYT
CIMMYTâs biofortified vitamin A maize breeding is  supported by HarvestPlus. HarvestPlus improves nutrition and public health by developing and promoting biofortified food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals, and providing global leadership on biofortification evidence and technology. HarvestPlus is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH). CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by its 15 research centers in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. The HarvestPlus program is coordinated by two of these centers, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
HarvestPlusâ principal donors are the UK Government; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the US Governmentâs Feed the Future initiative; the European Commission; and donors to the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health. HarvestPlus is also supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
ROME — A new training manual is set to provide practical guidance for agricultural mechanization entrepreneurs in rural areas, where family farmers commonly lack capital to invest in the farm power required to increase food production.
The five-module training manual targeted at farm mechanization hire service providers, including youth and women, was developed by researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and official launched July 13 at FAO’s Rome headquarters.
It sets out a syllabus which trainers can tailor to local environments to equip entrepreneurs with essential business skills and knowledge to promote appropriate mechanization farmers need to sustainably intensify production, said Josef Kienzle, an agricultural engineer at FAO.
The manual will initially be rolled out in sub-Saharan African rural communities where improved access to agricultural mechanization is crucial, he said.
Small-scale mechanization, such as two-wheel tractor based technologies including direct seed planters, represent a shift away from destructively intensive agriculture. However, the decline of hire tractor schemes means resource-poor farmers often lack the financial means to obtain them, said Bruno Gerard, director of CIMMYTâs sustainable intensification program.
âTo increase the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of their farms, family farmers need greater access to affordable yield-enhancing inputs. Hire service providers can improve access to mechanization that reduces labor drudgery and promotes sustainable intensification practices,â he said.
Sustainable intensification seeks to produce more food, improve nutrition and livelihoods, and boost rural incomes without an increase in inputs â such as land and water â thus reducing environmental impacts.
âInclusive mechanization strategies create an enabling environment and provide a framework for making decisions on how to allocate resources, how to address current challenges, how to take advantage of opportunities that arise while in the meantime emphasize the concept of sustainable crop intensification and the roles of the private and public sectors,â said Kienzle. Farm machinery enables farmers to adopt sustainable crop production intensification practices â such as conservation agriculture â that benefit from greater farm power and precision.
The manual will be initially distributed and courses organized through FAO and CIMMYT field projects in sub-Saharan Africa utilizing local trainers and experts in machinery and agribusiness, he said. The manual is expected to be rolled out to other subregional offices and hubs in the future.
Clara Chikuni has gained a reliable income since becoming a mechanization service provider and offering maize shelling in her local area. (Photo: Matthew OâLeary/CIMMYT)
Clara Chikuni, a mother from rural Zimbabwe, has secured a stable income after starting her own mechanized shelling business two years ago. Servicing maize farmers in a 5 kilometer radius of her home, Chikuni has more customers than she says she can handle and has developed reliable employment compared to her previous job buying and selling shoes.
âThere is a lot of demand for mechanized maize shelling services. I am happy I can provide a service to the community and make money to support my family,â she said. âI hope with the profits I can move into the two wheel tractor business in the future.â
âThe training and support gave me the know-how and confidence to start my business,â said the mother. âOther women now ask me how I did it and I encourage them to also get involved.â
There is a market for farming mechanization services that can make a big difference for a smallholder farm and help it transition from subsistence farming to a more market-oriented farming enterprise, said FAOâs Kienzle.
Apart from hire services, mechanization creates additional opportunities for new business with repair and maintenance of equipment, sales and dealership of related businesses including transport and agro-processing along the value chain.
The knowledge and expertise of both CIMMYT and FAO combined has made this manual unique and very praxis oriented, focused on smallholder mechanization businesses, he said.
Yellow spores of the fungus Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici, which causes stripe rust disease in wheat. Photo: CIMMYT/Mike Listman.
Rapidly emerging and evolving races of wheat stem rust and stripe rust diseaseâthe cropâs deadliest scourges worldwideâdrove large-scale seed replacement by Ethiopiaâs farmers during 2009-14, as the genetic resistance of widely-grown wheat varieties no longer proved effective against the novel pathogen strains, according to a new study by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center(CIMMYT).
Based on two surveys conducted by CIMMYT and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research(EIAR) and involving more than 2,000 Ethiopian wheat farmers, the study shows that farmers need access to a range of genetically diverse wheat varieties whose resistance is based on multiple genes.
After a severe outbreak in 2010-11 of a previously unseen stripe rust strain, 40 percent of the affected farm households quickly replaced popular but susceptible wheat varieties, according to Moti Jaleta, agricultural economist at CIMMYT and co-author of the publication.
âThat epidemic hit about 600,000 hectares of wheatâ30 percent of Ethiopiaâs wheat landsâand farmers said it cut their yields in half,â Jaleta said. âIn general, the rapid appearance and mutation of wheat rust races in Ethiopia has convinced farmers about the need to adopt newer, resistant varieties.â
The fourth most widely grown cereal after tef, maize, and sorghum, wheat in Ethiopia is produced largely by smallholder farmers under rainfed conditions. Wheat production and area under cultivation have increased significantly in the last decade and Ethiopia is among Africaâs top three wheat producers, but the country still imports on average 1.4 million tons of wheat per year to meet domestic demand.
National and international organizations such as EIAR, CIMMYT, and the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) are working intensely to identify and incorporate new sources of disease resistance into improved wheat varieties and to support the multiplication of more seed to meet farmer demand.
New wheat varieties have provided bigger harvests and incomes for Ethiopia farmers in the last decade, but swiftly mutating and spreading disease strains are endangering wheatâs future, according to Dave Hodson, CIMMYT expert in geographic information and decision support systems, co-author of the new study.
Ethiopian wheat farmers like Abebe Abora, of Doyogena, have benefitted from adopting high-yielding wheat varieties but face threats from fast mutating races of wheat rust disease pathogens. Photo: CIMMYT/Apollo Habtamu.
âIn addition to stripe rust, highly-virulent new races of stem rust are ruining wheat harvests in eastern Africa,â he explained. âThese include the deadly Ug99 race group, which has spread beyond the region, and, more recently, the stem rust race TKTTF.â
As an example, he mentioned the case of the wheat variety Digalu, which is resistant to stripe rust and was quickly adopted by farmers after the 2010-11 epidemic. But Digalu has recently shown susceptibility to TKTTF stem rust and must now be replaced.
âIn rust-prone Ethiopia, the risks of over-reliance on a widely-sown variety that is protected by a single, major resistance geneâDigalu, for exampleâare clearly apparent,â he added. âCIMMYT and partners are working hard to replace it with a new variety whose resistance is genetically more complex and durable.â
Hodson said as well that continuous monitoring of the rust populations in Ethiopia and the surrounding region is essential to detect and respond to emerging threats, as well as to ensure that the key pathogen races are used to screen for resistance in wheat breeding programs.
Hodson and partners at the John Innes Centre, UK, and EIAR are leading development of a handheld tool that allows rapid identification of disease strains in the field, instead of having to send them to a laboratory and lose precious time awaiting the results.
CIMMYT and partners are also applying molecular tools to study wheat varietal use in Ethiopia. âThere are indications that yields reported by farmers were much lower than official statistics, and farmer recollections of varietal names and other information are not always exact,â Hodson explained. âWe are analyzing results now of a follow-up study that uses DNA fingerprinting to better document varietal use and turnover.â
On April 11, 2018 representatives from the Embassy of Canada in Ethiopia, Ivan Roberts, Head of Development Cooperation and Carolyn MacLeod, Development Team leader for Human Development, Environment and Agriculture, visited the Ethio Veg Fru Farm, one of the main field sites of the NuME project.
âWe were very much interested and happy to see such a success story as the Ethio Veg Fru Farm,â said MacLeod. Roberts and MacLeod both said they appreciated the efforts made by the NuME project in working collaboratively with private seed companies to fill the seed shortage of QPM varieties. They were also happy with the field performance of the crop under production.
MacLeod said she looked forward to continued collaboration with CIMMYT and indicated continued support to projects such as NuME under the International Assistance Policy of Canada, in which agricultural development must benefit women and girls.
The NuME projectâs goal is to bring nutritious, quality protein maize (QPM) to rural maize producers in the Ethiopian maize belt and beyond.
Maize lacks two essential amino acids â lysine and tryptophan, making maize protein less useful for humans. In the southern region of Ethiopia, where maize accounts for more than 60 percent of the dietary protein intake, an estimated 85 to 90 percent of the population â especially young children and women â are at risk of inadequate lysine intake and protein deficiency.
In Ethiopia, maize now ranks first among cereals for production, and second in area planted. Ethiopian families increasingly rely on maize as a staple due to its higher productivity and lower production costs, compared to other cereals.
QPM looks and tastes the same as normal maize but contains up to twice as much lysine and tryptophan. Studies have shown that children who consume QPM grow roughly 10 percent more in both height and weight.
Over the last few years the Ethiopian government has been stepping up nutrition interventions targeting women and children, with aims for a 3 percent annual reduction in the number of stunted and underweight children. As part of this initiative, the Ethiopian government allocates around 10 percent of the total national budget to agriculture, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resource (MoANR) has officially made QPM part of their extension agenda.
The EthioVeg Fru Farm Plc., with the financial and technical support of the NuME Project, is multiplying parental lines of BHQPY545 under irrigation. BHQPY545, developed from CIMMYT lines, is a highly popular single cross QPM hybrid released by the Ethiopia Institute of Agricultural Research.
Although the variety has been quite popular, seed companies have been reluctant to produce and market the seed due to it low seed-yield potential, making it more difficult for seed companies to produce a sufficient supply. Due to the stigma of low seed-yield, NuME organized a high-level field day on March 27, 2018 to demonstrate the genetic potential of the parental lines and effectiveness offseason maize seed multiplication with irrigation.
Seed company managers briefed on QPM seed multiplication during visitors day. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Visitors to the field day included the state minister for agricultural development from MoANR, Tesfaye Mengiste, general managers of public and private seed companies and a Farmersâ Cooperative Union that work in partnership with the NuME project.
Mengiste stressed maize as the number one strategic food crop for the country as it is the most produced and consumed cereal. He thanked NuME for bringing QPM technologies to the country and said it has to be up to the extension system now to reach every farmer.
Impressed by the field performances he saw, Mengiste probed seed company managers about why they have not multiplied seeds during the offseason to overcome seed scarcity and help reach the annual target of 200,000 ha land planted with QPM, approximately 10 percent of land currently devoted to maize production.
Mengiste wondered why there seems to be a QPM seed paradox, where farmers criticize seed unavailability while seed companies complain about the lack of demand. He said that QPM is essential for the national food and nutrition security and urged seed companies to make all possible effort to produce and sell QPM seeds, as part of their responsibility to reach rural smallholder farmers in exchange for government support.
Most seed companies had considered the inbred lines incompetent and weak but the field visit made them realize the potential of the lines, even under high plant density. They were convinced that the poor field performance previously noticed was not due to lack of inherent potential, but to the agro-techniques applied.
The general manager of the South Seed Enterprise (SSE), Ato Belay Hariso said he learned a lot from the field day and will use the experience to produce seed using irrigation during the off-season to fill seed supply shortages.
After seeing the crop in the field and knowing that QPM is useful to curb malnutrition in the country, seed mangers expressed great enthusiasm to increase seed production of BHQPY545 and other QPM varieties.
Mengiste recommended a number of efforts to help increase the scalability of QPM seeds, starting with continued dissemination of QPM varieties by NuME and the governmental extension system until sustainable demand is created. He suggested that seed company managers must seriously plan QPM seed production for the coming main season and perhaps  look for more private seed companies, who have the interest and capacity to produce QPM seed to partner with. Mengiste said that seed enterprises should be able to sell all the QPM seed they produce by promoting the nutritional advantages of QPM, with support of the NuME project and the extension system.
The Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia project is funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by CIMMYT-Ethiopia in collaboration with various stakeholders from agriculture, nutrition and health sectors. The project is designed to contribute to the reduction of malnutrition, especially among women and young children, and to increase food security for resource-poor smallholder farmers in Ethiopia through the widespread adoption, production and utilization of QPM varieties and crop management practices that increase farm productivity.
Women at a maize mill in Ethiopia. (Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)
It’s been four years since African leaders met in Equatorial Guinea to commit themselves to boosting agricultural growth across the continent. This is an important way to create real change in Africa. During the gathering, all the African Unionâs heads of state signed the Malabo Declaration. It offered a blueprint for Africaâs agricultural sectors, to be achieved by 2025.
For example, the declaration called for at least 10% of any nationâs public expenditure to be allocated to agriculture and rural development. It also set out plans for increasing countriesâ food security by intensifying agriculture in a way that didnât destroy the environment.
There has been some progress in attaining these goals, as a recent status report conducted by the African Union Commission shows. But thereâs still a great deal of work to be done.
The report shows that in 2015 and 2016 only ten of the 47 signatory states reached or exceeded the target of 10 percent investment in public expenditure in agriculture and rural development. These are Malawi, Ethiopia, Angola, Egypt, Sudan, Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea. Some other countries had invested as little as 0.6 percent of public expenditure in these crucial sectors. Only 20 of the 47 signatories are on track to meet the declarationâs goals by 2025.
Thereâs no doubt that investment in agriculture can empower economic transformation in the region. But money alone canât solve Africaâs agricultural problems. International collaboration is key. And it can yield real results, as a project weâre involved in has proved.
The project has relied on multidisciplinary teams of both local and international researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre, The University of Queensland and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa. Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzaniaâs departments of agriculture are also involved.
The collaborative effort has meant that itâs been possible to address multiple constraints. These include low crop productivity, poor market access, environmental degradation, and social inequalities. The project had a strong value chain focus. This involves linking â among others â farmers, agribusinesses, traders and policy makers. The result has been improved productivity. Weâve also seen reduced climate risks and improved soil fertility and soil conservation among highly vulnerable smallholder farmers in five East and Southern African countries.
Initiatives like these can help translate the Malabo Declaration from mere document to reality.
Great gains
The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa Programme is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre. It is funded by the Australian government. Researchers from Australia and the participating African countries have worked together with researchers from the centre.
The project was set up in 2010 in response to major concerns about food security across the eastern and southern Africa regions. So far, 258,393 smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania have benefited from our activities. We expect this number to increase to 600,000 by 2020.
To date, up to 91 percent of the targeted farmers have adopted at least one of sustainable intensification practices the project promotes. These practices include using drought tolerant maize non-GMO varieties; the rotation of maize and legumes; and intercrops, where a legume is sown into a standing maize crop.
Yields have increased between 30 and 60 percent across the five countries because these practices and associated technologies were adopted.
We donât only work directly with farmers. Itâs important to develop skills and capacity in crop and soil management, market development, resource conservation, gender issues and project management and evaluation.
One key resource here has been the Australia Awards Scholarships. These give people from developing countries the chance to undertake undergraduate or postgraduate studies at Australian institutions. So far this award has supported 65 masterâs and doctoral candidates.
Once they return to their countries, these graduates can contribute to solving the complex problems of achieving food security and eliminating poverty. They apply modern research tools, inform policy, train others and even provide leadership in their original institutions.
Harnessing potential
The Malabo Declaration is a useful document against which to measure progress. It offers countries clear targets. It sets metrics against which they can monitor their success. This will help countries to achieve many of the UNâs Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 â including those related to agriculture and food security.
The work of the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa Programme offers an insight into how these goals can be met.
Countries must develop a better understanding of constraints and opportunities so they can massively scale out more productive, efficient and sustainable farm practices. They also need to develop markets, value chains and supporting policies and institutions. And crucially, continued collaborations will be necessary to increase the continentâs capacity in science, extension, policy, institutions, governance and leadership.
These must be priorities to harness Africaâs agricultural potential and spur economic growth.
This article orinally appeared on The Conversation. For the full article, click here.Â
A blindfolded woman panelist performing a triangular test to differentiate dabbo samples made from different maize varieties. Photo: CIMMYT
In Ethiopia, 44 percent of children under the age of five are stunted, or experience impaired growth due to poor nutrition, and 29 percent are underweight, according to the United States Agency for International Development. Quality protein maize (QPM) â a biofortified crop that increases lysine and tryptophan, two amino acids necessary for protein synthesis in humans â helps combat stunting and boosts nutrition in children who survive on a maize-dominated diet.
As maize is Ethiopiaâs most consumed cereal, QPM could be especially beneficial to rural communities in the country, which consume more maize and suffer even higher rates of malnutrition than urban areas.
Until recently, farmers have been hesitant to adopt QPM over traditional varieties because the up-front cost is higher, and they have doubted the marketability due to the novelty of the variety. Â There is strong competition in productivity between QPM and conventional maize varieties and farmers tend to only plant newest or the best yielding varieties, where they feel sure they will get the highest return for their investment.
A study in Ethiopia found that farmers are willing to pay almost 50 percent more for quality protein maize (QPM) over conventionally grown maize, due to rising consumer preference for QPM varieties.
The major objective of the study was to know whether farmers as consumers have a preference for the QPM and if that would translate to a willingness to pay more for its attributes. As QPM is still a widely unknown variety, many farmers in the study had preconceived notions that it would be sour, would not taste good in traditional foods, or would be visually unappealing.
The study, conducted at CIMMYT as part of a MSc thesis, found that traditional food products made from QPM were correctly identified by most consumers, and were actually preferred over foods made from conventional maize. Farmers repeatedly expressed their preference for dabo, a local type of bread, made from QPM for its aroma, taste and texture. Mothers and children also consistently preferred genfo, a stiff maize-based porridge, made from QPM.
A slice of traditional bread called dabbo made from yellow QPM served for sensory evaluation. Photo: CIMMYT
Although traditional foods made from white grain/flour are usually preferred in Ethiopia, yellow QPM received higher preference than the white, signifying the trait responsible to its yellowness seems to contribute to its taste and functional property.
Based only on this taste difference, farmers were willing to pay as much as 48 percent more for QPM in some communities. On average, farmers were willing to pay 37 percent more for yellow QPM, but only five percent more for white QPM, due to the variability of sensory qualities between the white and yellow QPM varieties.
When given information about the increased nutritional benefit of QPM, farmer willingness to pay more for white QPM shot up to be roughly on par with yellow QPM, and reduced the amount that farmers said they would be willing to pay for conventional maize.
This suggests that the taste preference between white and yellow QPM is small and that education is a particularly powerful tool to increase its uptake among farmers.
Based on this study, QPM has an advantage in Ethiopiaâs maize market not only because of its nutritional benefits but also aroma, taste, and texture, which is significant for women who are responsible for household diet.
QPM requires a special value chain that considers its nutritional advantage and taste, and strong extension communication is vital for the adoption of QPM as nutritional information reinforces the market share, specifically for white QPM. Extension agents could use the reported sensory preference for yellow QPM to begin large-market dissemination of QPM, alongside information about its nutritional advantages.
Consumer willingness to pay more for QPM grain should encourage maize farmers, seed suppliers and other stakeholders to invest in the variety. Market acceptability of QPM means more profits for stakeholders, facilitating adoption, and in this case, contributing to the fight against malnutrition.
Christian Thierfelder is a Principal Cropping Systems Agronomist working with CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification program.
Since 2009, Thierfelder has led CIMMYT’s conservation agriculture systems research in Southern Africa with the aim to adapt conservation agriculture systems to the needs and environments of smallholder farmers. He currently focuses on fine-tuning conservation agriculture systems to different agro-ecologies and researching farmers’ adoption of new technologies, green manure cover crops and grain legumes integration into maize-based farming systems, climate-smart agriculture, GxExM and agro-ecological management of the fall armyworm.
His research mainly covers Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and to a lesser extent Namibia. Thierfelder works with a wide range of national and international partners from research and extension in all target countries. Capacity building is a central part of his work, which includes farmers, extension officers and national researchers but also university students from all degree levels.
Vijesh Krishna is a lead economist focusing on the economics of technological change in agriculture. He joined CIMMYT in 2017 and has been mainly working on inclusive technology adoption and its impacts on resource use, productivity, and farmer livelihoods. Before joining CIMMYT, Krishna worked as a senior research fellow at the University of Goettingen in Germany (2012-2017), where he examined the determinants and impacts of land-use transformation systems in Indonesia. He also worked as a production and resource economist for CIMMYT in South Asia (2009-2012) and as a Ciriacy-Wantrup post-doctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley (2008-2009).
Krishna holds a PhD in agricultural economics (University of Hohenheim), an MPhil in environmental policy (University of Cambridge), and an MSc in agricultural economics (University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore). His research findings are published in several peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.
Kemeriya Mohamed stacking harvested wheat, Kechema village, Dodola district,west Arsi zone Ethiopia. Photo: CIMMYT/P. Lowe
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (CIMMYT) â After eight years the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project concludes this June.
âThe work done by SIMLESA has yielded increasing farm-level food security and productivity, in the context of climate risk and change,â said Eyasu Abraha, Ethiopian Minister for Agriculture and Natural Resources, at the official opening of SIMLESAâs end of project external review and stakeholdersâ meeting. The four-day event reflected on the projectâs achievements, challenges and opportunities through an external project review and stakeholder discussions.
According to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Africa is the most vulnerable region to climate change, with erratic rainfall and increasing temperatures already causing crop failures. Small-scale family farmers, who provide the majority of food in Africa, are expected to be the worst affected.
In response, SIMLESA has facilitated the release of 40 improved maize and 64 legume varieties to smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania and spill over countries of Botswana, Rwanda and Uganda since 2010. The spillover countries are benefitting from ongoing SIMLESA research activities. Maize is a major staple crop and legumes provide nutrition, income and improve soil fertility in most of Africa, and both crops provide vital cash income to families across the region, says ACIAR.
The project focused primarily on improving maize-legume cropping systems by encouraging the adoption of intensification of agricultural practices that offer the potential to simultaneously address a number of pressing development objectives, unlocking agricultureâs potential to adapt farming systems to climate change and sustainably manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources, while improving food and nutrition.
The review also found that SIMLESA could have even greater impact by strengthening its livelihoods focus, such as promoting diversification in household food and nutrition.
âWhile taking stock on our achievements, we are aware that there are still major challenges to be overcome,â said Mulugetta Mekuria, CIMMYT senior scientist and SIMLESA project leader. âWe now seek to extend our impact by learning from past and current work, case studies and trying new ideas, technologies and approaches.â
SIMLESA is currently consolidating cropping trials and training farmers in its final year, and laying the foundations for a follow-up project that would focus on researching sustainable intensification, diversification, smallholder mechanization and crop-livestock integration across Africa. Meeting attendees also proposed a one-year extension period of the project to help consolidate, synthesize, publish and disseminate current achievements, and draw lessons and insights from the last two SIMLESA phases.
The project is working to improve maize and legume productivity by 30 percent and to reduce the expected downside yield risk by 30 percent for approximately 650,000 small farming households by 2023. There is high possibility for a third phase of the project although this has not been confirmed yet.
In the last decade, the climate of Africa has been changing in dramatic ways. Many regions face unpredictable levels of rainfall, which can lead both droughts and severe flooding. Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world with over 30 percent of children under five facing stunting â severe malnutrition, and is the only region where the rate of undernourished people has consistently increased.
Maize is a vital staple cash and sustenance crop in most of Africa, and legumes provide nutrition, income and improve soil fertility. However, farmersâ yields are suffering due to declining soil fertility, drought and poor access to improved technologies.
Over the last eight years, SIMLESA has developed productive, resilient and sustainable smallholder maize-legume cropping systems. SIMLESA focuses on improving maize-legume cropping systems by encouraging the adoption of sustainable agriculture systems through conservation agriculture practices such as crop residue retention, crop rotation and intercropping practices to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase proïŹts and protect the environment.
Recently, Elliud Kireger, director general of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), Mulugetta Mekuria Asfaw, SIMLESA project leader and Daniel Rodriguez, associate professor, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) The University of Queensland, wrote a joint opinion piece âAfrica: Science Can Reverse ‘New Normal’ of Hunger and Climate Disasterâ in All Africa on the impacts of SIMLESA, read it here.
The Sustainable IntensiïŹcation of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) programis funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
The project, titled âAppropriate Mechanization for Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Farming in Ethiopia,â aims to increase soil fertility through direct row planting of major crops in Ethiopia, such as maize, wheat and teff. However, they identified in their pilot phase that the necessary infrastructure and supply chains were not in place to ensure project sustainability and that the involvement of the private sector would be necessary.
Therefore, the project in its second phase focused on these critical activities, especially increasing capacity of service providers to deliver services and manage their businesses, and mechanics who closely support service providers in their daily business. Mechanics work with the local spare parts representatives identified by AMIO Engineering Plc, a local private sector partner in manufacturing and dealer of small scale agriculture technologies and machinery, to ensure that the fast moving and critical parts are always available in stock at their local warehouses.
In October 2017, two trainings were conducted at the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) in Melkassa.
The first training was organized for selected mechanics by AMIO and CIMMYT with funding from the Integrated Soil Fertility Management program (ISFM), part of the German Cooperation for International Development Agency (GIZ). The one-week training covered the use and function as well as maintenance, repair and spare parts of the two-wheel tractor (2WT).
The second training, intended for service providers (SPs), focused on capacity building and quality development of small-scale mechanization services. The 44 SPs in attendance were encouraged to exchange individual experiences and expertise about service provision businesses, technical challenges in the field and the extent of potential business opportunities.
These trainings specifically focused on the use, operation, maintenance and safety of the 2WT and its ancillaries, as with correct aggregation almost all farming tasks can be accomplished with a single machine. The use of a 2WT for these tasks reduces both the time required to establish a crop and the chore of the task, by increasing productivity of both labor and crops.
Economic assessments show that mechanized planting using a 2WT is an economically viable and attractive option for both farmers and SPs. This is especially true when services offered include full use of 2WT and attachments; as these services are useful 365 days a year.
After farmers see these technologies, they are often interested in purchasing the services associated with the equipment and service providers frequently asked to procure additional equipment.
In order to achieve the aim of increased soil fertility through direct row planting of major crops in Ethiopia, the project selected six micro-watersheds in January 2016 that corresponded to ISFM intervention sites to test the delivery of small mechanization through service provision. The sites are located in the regions of Amhara, Oromia and Tigray.
The project imported six equipment packages from China for mechanized crop establishment, harvesting of small grain cereals and water pumping. These machines were loaned to individual service providers in Oromia and Tigray, and to a farmers group in Amhara. In addition, EIAR locally manufactured six trailers and three threshers which have been be dispatched to service providers.
Furthermore, in this second phase, the GIZ-ISFM through CIMMYT with Ethiopiaâs Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR) dispatched 100 units of 2WT with plows, and an additional 15 trailers and 18 direct row planters that can be attached.
Based on encouraging results, the second phase of the project will focus on establishing viable, private sector-based input delivery mechanisms (maintenance and repair services, spare parts, and new equipment) and generating sufficient demand for self-sustained scaling-out processes.
