Skip to main content

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.

Top honors for young CIMMYT scientist

Written by on . Posted in News.

During the recently-concluded African Crop Science Society Conference, held in Cape Town, South Africa (28 September– 01 October 2009), Silvano Assanga, research technician working for CIMMYT in Kenya, won the top prize for the best presentation.

A familiar face at CIMMYT since 2005, Assanga joined the center as an M.Sc. student studying breeding and genetics at the University of Nairobi. After completing his degree 18 months ago, he joined CIMMYT as a research technician. The conference theme was “Science and technology supporting food security in Africa.” Assanga’s presentation titled “Combining ability of early quality protein maize (QPM) inbred lines adapted to the mid-altitude ecology of East Africa,” assessed the potential of inbred lines for developing stresstolerant QPM hybrids.

“I am very happy to receive this prize and equally surprised,” Assanga said. He expressed his gratitude to CIMMYT for providing an opportunity to further his research activities, and specifically to Dan Makumbi, CIMMYT scientist, who has been his mentor and provided invaluable support during his M.Sc. and during the preparation of the presentation.

The conference provided a forum for over 600 scientists, researchers, technicians, and government, industry, and commercial representatives to discuss application of science in the various dimensions of crop production, to share expertise in their specific fields of interest, and to present their products.

ZM 309 gets presidential nod in Malawi

Written by on . Posted in News.

On 3 September 2009, a new drought tolerant maize variety received presidential approval in Malawi. The variety, ZM 309, known by locals as ‘msungabanja’ (that which takes care of the family), will be included in the national farm input subsidy program and is to be planted by farmers in Malawi’s most drought prone areas this October.

Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika hosted CIMMYT’s Wilfred Mwangi, project leader of Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA), and Peter Setimela, maize breeder, at the State House in Lilongwe. The two briefed him on CIMMYT’s maize research activities and collaboration in Malawi, which date back to 1974. “The new maize variety, ZM 309, released under the auspices of the DTMA Project, will give Malawi farmers an advantage because it is high yielding and drought tolerant,” said President Bingu wa Mutharika on receiving a 10-ton consignment of ZM 309 seed presented by Mwangi and Setimela on behalf of CIMMYT. “We welcome this research because it will help Malawi cope with climate change and improve food security.”

The variety will be grown in Balaka, Chikwawa, Nsanje, and Karonga, and the consignment is adequate to plant a minimum of 400 hectares. “We at CIMMYT commend Malawi’s leadership for implementing innovative agricultural policies that have made the country a great example for improving national food security in Africa,” said Mwangi. “We will work with the government of Malawi to help farmers cope with climate change by using drought tolerant maize technology.”

ZM 309 is a drought tolerant, open-pollinated maize variety, meaning farmers have the option to save seed for subsequent seasons with minimum yield loss. ZM 309 was developed through collaborative research efforts with CIMMYT, Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and Chitedze Research Station. CIMMYT also included an information leaflet on ZM 309 in each 10-kilo bag of seed as part of efforts to provide information about new varieties to farmers. CIMMYT is most grateful to Andrew Daudi, Malawi’s principal secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and to Jeff Luhanga, controller of Agricultural Extension and Technical Services from the same department, for their support and facilitation assistance. Collaboration with SeedCo Malawi in producing the required seed is also acknowledged, and particular gratitude is due to SeedCo employees Dellings Phiri, general manager, and John Lungu, operations executive. Also participating in the event was Anne Wangalachi, CIMMYT science writer/editor.

CIMMYT strengthens its socioeconomic presence in Ethiopia

Written by on . Posted in News.

Girma1Girma Tesfahun, post doctoral fellow based at CIMMYT’s office in Addis Ababa, was elected president of the Agricultural Economics Society of Ethiopia (AESE) for the next two years. The AESE’s general assembly elected Tesfahun at their 12th annual conference from 14-15 August 2009 in Addis Ababa. The executive committee has five members and includes senior economists from universities, national agricultural research programs, the private sector, and staff from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) who are based in Addis Ababa.

“This appointment will help CIMMYT strengthen its collaboration with Ethiopian agricultural economists,” said Roberto La Rovere, CIMMYT impacts specialist, who recently relocated to Addis Ababa to support regional impact assessment efforts. “It may also provide opportunities for publishing Ethiopia-relevant work and facilitate partnerships with other research and development players in the region, especially given the new strength of the CIMMYT socioeconomic presence in Addis Ababa.” CIMMYT’s Olaf Erenstein also moved to Addis Ababa this year to fill the agricultural economist position within the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project.

Scientists open up to Fieldbook

Written by on . Posted in News.

zimbabwe1Is it possible for a software to act as a one-stop shop and help manage maize breeding? Indeed it is, and CIMMYT’s Fieldbook provides both.

This was the proof of the pudding for 15 visiting scientists in Harare, Zimbabwe. During 15–19 June 2009, CIMMYT-Zimbabwe hosted scientists from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe under the New Seed Initiative for Maize in Africa (NSIMA) / Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project. The visiting scientists learned to use Fieldbook, CIMMYT software designed for managing maize breeding programs. The software helps in handling field experiments, data, stocks, and pedigree  information. The participants practiced by analyzing their own data with the software.

Fieldbook is freely available. It is designed as a collection of macros in Visual Basic, and works with Microsoft Excel. Fieldbook gurus Cosmos Mogorokosho and Simbarashe Chisoro handled the introductory session. Peter Setimela, CIMMYT maize breeder, covered variety testing and release, showing participants how to summarize and prepare formats for variety release and registration. John MacRobert, CIMMYT maize seed systems specialist, coordinated an afternoon to explore various aspects of seed production. To familiarize themselves with the CIMMYT breeding program and other opportunities in the country, the scientists visited Mzarabani, a flood-prone rural area in northern  Zimbabwe.

At the end of the course, the participants felt their experience had been worthwhile, as expressed by P.G. Rupende from SeedCo, “I have used other software for managing breeding materials and analyses, but this is the best thing I have gone through. Fieldbook is a userfriendly program.” The proof of the pudding is truly in the eating—especially where one’s pudding is made of maize seed.

Four days under African skies

Written by on . Posted in News.

zimbabwe-jmr-034It was a short visit but by no means an unproductive one: from 18–22 May 2009, a Corporate Services team from CIMMYT-El Batán visited the center’s Nairobi and Harare regional offices. The team consisted of Luis De Anda, finance manager; Marisa de la O, human resources (HR) manager; Carlos López, information and communication technology (ICT) manager; and Scott Ferguson, deputy director general for Corporate Services.

“By having direct interactions with our CIMMYT colleagues in Africa, we have a better idea of the issues they face with respect to Corporate Services,” said López. “We also gained a greater understanding of their local circumstances and challenges.”

Working as a team, the group was able to address workplace issues in their corresponding areas, and each also met with their local counterparts. López expressed the need for better communication across CIMMYT offices and for more internet tools and systems. While in Harare he worked with staff to ameliorate the office’s internet access which is via satellite, and said he was grateful for the opportunity to see CIMMYT’s mission firsthand.

scott-ferguson-jospeh-makamba-at-muzarabaniIn Zimbabwe, the team visited the new dam that supplies water to CIMMYT’s Muzarabani station –the old dam was destroyed by flooding. Joseph Makamba, field supervisor, also showed them the station’s winter nursery, which had over seven hectares dedicated to nurseries and seed multiplication. Unfortunately, frequent power outages make nursery irrigation sporadic; during the visit Makamba had to travel 60 km to bring national power supply technicians to repair overhead power lines and restore electricity to the pumping station.

“I am impressed by the commitment, dedication, and ingenuity showed by the CIMMYT teams in Kenya and Zimbabwe,” said Ferguson, who also visited partner institutions with Mulugetta Mekuria, CIMMYT-Zimbabwe economist. While in Kenya, he urged staff to take the initiative and be creative in identifying solutions to problems and to share the solutions amongst themselves and with Corporate Services. “We will strive to streamline general administration and support services so that you can comfortably do what you do best,” he told staff.

zimbabwe-jmr-019De la O was especially touched by the temporary workers she met in Harare, many of whom are mothers that leave their families for months at a time to make ends meet. “I would like for all employees to have the same level of benefits, regardless of where they’re from or if they are temporary or permanent,” she said. “We want to offer a better level of support and work in a global sense.” De la O addressed some issues on the spot, and will followup with others after an analysis of all the regional offices and making a strategic HR plan.

“I feel a huge commitment to the people I met,” she said. “It was a very moving, emotional experience and I’m excited and enthusiastic about continuing my work with CIMMYT.” De Anda expressed similar feelings, saying, “This experience helped me to understand what CIMMYT is behind the finances and numbers. We all know poverty exists in the world, but it’s different when you really see it with your own eyes.”

Metal silo artisans trained in Malawi and Kenya

Written by on . Posted in News.

CIMMYT is taking a creative approach toward reducing postharvest grain losses in sub-Saharan Africa. The Effective Grain Storage Project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), targets and trains artisans in metal silo construction in order to provide farmers with better alternative storage solutions.

This 10-year project is in its 2-year pilot phase and currently focused in Malawi and Kenya. World Vision International, a project collaborator, trained artisans from the Dowa and Mchinji regions in Malawi 4-14 May 2009 at Lilongwe Technical College with assistance from Jose Contreras, an expert in silo construction. Covered topics included making metal silos of different sizes, cutting of metal sheets, and soldering and handling. “If anybody asks me if we have a solution to the enormous post harvest losses experienced by the farmer, I now have an answer,” said Mulugetta Abebe, director of World Vision International-Malawi.

Similar training courses held 18-29 May 2009 in Kenya targeted 10 artisans from the Homa Bay and Embu areas. Contreras and the Catholic Dioceses ran the courses at St. Bernard’s Youth Polytechnic (Homa Bay) and Embu Agricultural Staff Training College with assistance from metal silo artists Micah Okongo in Homa Bay and Benjamin Njue in Embu.

Metal silos for grain storage were successful in reducing post-harvest grain losses in Central America and provided inspiration for this project. By using the metal silos to store surplus grain, especially maize, African farmers will be able to better control post-harvest losses, stabilize supplies and prices of maize while increasing their food and income security. The technology will also increase employment and business opportunities for manufactures, traders, and processors. “The focus of the [Effective Grain Storage] project is to ensure that farmers use only well fabricated, high quality metal silos; that is why we are training the artisans who will make and sell these silos. We are promoting the technology while improving the artisans’ skills,” said Fred Kanampiu, CIMMYT agronomist and project leader who coordinated the training sessions.

DTMA news from Zambia

Written by on . Posted in News.

Wilfred Mwangi, program leader for the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project, presented the DTMA award for best breeding team in southern Africa to the Zambian Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI) on 26 March 2009. Peter Setimela, seed systems specialist, and Bindiganavile Vivek, maize breeder (both from CIMMYTZimbabwe) were among those who attended the ceremony at Mount Makulu Research Station in Chilanga, Zambia.

“I am truly excited to be a part of such an occasion. Awards such as these are very important as incentives for our researchers,” Dr. Watson Mwale, director of the ZARI, told guests.

A day before the ceremony, on 25 March 2009, 20 participants were in a variety release awareness workshop, supported by the DTMA. It was organized to enhance knowledge among researchers and the national variety release committee (NVRC) on variety release guidelines and procedures in Zambia. The researchers were plant breeders from seed companies and the national agricultural research systems (NARS).

During the workshop, variety release procedures and guidelines in selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa were compared and NVRC members were updated on new tools for screening and evaluating maize genotypes under drought and low-Nitrogen (N). The workshop also outlined methods for interpreting data for variety release and shared experiences on variety release from a seed company’s perspective.

Dr. Moses Mwale, deputy director of ZARI, said; “The current rise in food prices can be addressed through increased productivity by using improved varieties. I hope that the presentations and discussions made during the workshop will result in speeding up the release of improved varieties and distribution of quality seed.” Mwale also added, “Harmonization of variety release and registration in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region will help achieve this goal.”

New climate-ready maize varieties released in Malawi

Written by on . Posted in News.

ZM 309 and ZM 523 have been a success in Malawi—locals from Balaka District, greeted the new varieties with song, dance, and a poem at the government launch and field day on 20 March 2009. Malawian farmers who planted them on on-farm demonstrations have even given them local names calling ZM 309 “Mkawa sala” (early-maturing) or “Msunga banja” (that which takes care of or feeds the family). About 300 demonstrations of the new open pollinated varieties (OPVs) have been set up in farmers’ fields.

“We are grateful to CIMMYT for technical, financial, and scientific support in developing these new varieties that are suitable for the drought-prone areas and will help the people of Malawi to alleviate poverty and hunger and cope with climate change; which these days is becoming a reality,” said Dr. Andrew Daudi, principal secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Malawi. “ZM 309 is going to be included in the national subsidy program for the 2009/10 growing season.”

Both varieties were developed for drought-prone areas with infertile soils in eastern and southern Africa through joint efforts by CIMMYT and Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. They are also resistant to maize streak virus, gray leaf spot, and other diseases.

“We at CIMMYT are happy to be associated with Malawi and commend the Government of Malawi for boldly supporting its farmers through the national agricultural input subsidy program,” said Wilfred Mwangi, program leader, Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project. “The rest of Africa is going to learn from Malawi.”

Malawi’s green revolution

Malawi is now a net exporter of maize to the region and is being looked to as an African success story due to its food self-sufficiency. This success is owed to the country’s agricultural input subsidy program, initiated by the government in 2005 after Malawi experienced one of its worst harvests in years. Farmers are supplied with improved maize seed and fertilizer at subsidized prices and can choose either hybrid or OPV seed. Seed Co, Malawi, plans to produce enough certified seed of the new varieties for farmers to plant in coming summer seasons. As well, both varieties are OPVs so farmers can save and re-use the seed optimally for up to three subsequent seasons.

Also organizing and participating in the launch from CIMMYT were Peter Setimela, seed systems specialist; Brian Chiputwa, research associate, Socio-Economics Program; and Anne Wangalachi, science writer/editor. CIMMYT is grateful to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Malawi for supporting Innovation Learning Platform (ILeP) activities and the launch of the new varieties. Special thanks also goes to Dr. Andrew Daudi; Dr. Jeff Luhanga, controller of Agricultural Extension and Technical Services; and to Christine Mtambo, chief agricultural officer (crop production).

Similar field days will be held in Balaka District to raise awareness and allow farmers to interact freely with researchers, seed producers, and other stakeholders.

CIMMYT Global Maize Program experiences Zimbabwe

Written by on . Posted in News.

From 28 February to 3 March, the Global Maize Program (GMP) team and participants from the Socioeconomics and Genetic Resources programs (forming ‘GMP Plus’) were in Harare, Zimbabwe for their annual review and work planning meeting. It was a good time for old colleagues to reunite and for the many new colleagues to become better integrated—finally putting faces to Bish Das, Yoseph Beyene, Kassa Semagn, Sarah Kibera, and HĂ©ctor SĂĄnchez.

For four days the participants critically reviewed on-going and proposed projects. Presentations on activities in Latin America, Africa, and Asia set the stage for lively discussions and clearly-defined follow-ups. Covered topics included the germplasm bank, molecular breeding, new germplasm, seed systems, more effective product communication, and socio-economic approaches for various projects. Project scientists also identified and listed points of interaction with other units such as corporate communications, administration, and human resources to ensure broad support for project activities.

“Last year was a great year for maize research at CIMMYT and our funding base has become stronger,” said Marianne BĂ€nziger, GMP director. “But let’s also face the challenges by scaling up molecular breeding so that it indeed accelerates our breeding progress by getting the best germplasm more rapidly through varietal release and to more farmers, and by being clever in how we interact in a patchwork of multidisciplinary projects that span the globe. I won’t tell you the solutions are easy, but we have the right skills and let’s be open to learning new ones to effectively tackle these challenges.”

Teamwork and cooperation were recurrent themes in the meeting. “I have only been with the GMP for four years, but I find the sense of teamwork truly outstanding,” said Guillermo Ortiz-Ferrara, who leads the Hill Maize Research Project in Nepal.

Participants also got a taste of reality in Harare. The meeting was held in a beautiful location about three kilometers from the CIMMT Zimbabwe station where Internet access was slow and daily life was affected by a generator which ran out by 9:00 p.m.

“We salute our Zimbabwe colleagues for keeping our commitment to the development of maize in Zimbabwe and to the uplifting of poor farmers within the region despite challenging circumstances,” said Wilfred Mwangi, leader of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project. “We also thank CIMMYT management for having faith in and continuing to support the GMP work in Zimbabwe.”

On the last day, HĂ©ctor SĂĄnchez and Anne Wangalachi gave a presentationon web interaction tools that focused on CIMMYT’s Wiki, Maize Trials Reporter (which is in final testing stages before commercial release), Maize Doctor, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) module. The last three are hosted on the DTMA Project website (http://dtma.cimmyt.org). Sarah Kibera, GMP program advisor, presented a proposed Program Management System, developed in Nairobi by Aaron Pesa with assistance from Kibera, Kimani Kamau, and BĂ€nziger. The system (also in final testing) is expected to assist in more effective planning, better use of resources, and increased ease of interaction. “This will improve project communications since, with just a few clicks, you can access information on teams’ work plans, reports, and timelines all across CIMMYT,” said Kamau.

The meeting included a party to honor Augustine Langyintuo, outgoing CIMMYT economist, and meeting participants expressed thanks for their CIMMYT-Zimbabwe colleagues who provided logistical support to make the meeting successful under challenging national circumstances, especially Mulugetta Mekuria, Bindi Vivek, Irene Gwabi, Tsungai Gumbo, Simbarashe Chisoro, Fred Sikirivawu, and Mafiyo Wadi.

Swaziland on track with maize variety development

Written by on . Posted in News.

Farmers in Lesibovu, Swaziland, are delighted; their new seed company “Lesibovu Community Seed Company” is completing its registration. This is a big step for the small community, because thanks to The New Seed Initiative for Maize in Africa (NSIMA) Project, the farmers will now be able to produce their own seed and buy it at a lower cost than if they were to import it. The farmers of Lesibovu could not celebrate their success without thanking Nelson Mavuso, seed quality control specialist from Department of Agricultural Research and seed services, Swaziland, as well as CIMMYT seed systems specialists, Peter Setimela, and John MacRobert, and maize breeder, Cosmos Magorokosho, with whom they collaborated to make their dream come true. To complement this development, a training workshop for about 20 farmers on community seed will be conducted by March 2009.

During 1-3 February 2009 Setimela and Magorokosho visited Swaziland to view this and other developments for themselves. “We are planning to plant two hectares of breeder and foundation seed of ZM 309 in April and May,” Victor Semelane, a maize breeder, Department of Agricultural Research and seed services from Swaziland, told them proudly, as they passed by. “There is also a lot of interest from a number of NGOs in the multiplication of certified seed of the OPV.” ZM 309 is a new open pollinated variety (OPV) suitable for drought-prone areas that was released in Swaziland in 2008.

T. Gama, a Swazi extension officer department of extension Cereals Promotion Unit, said: “Nineteen of the twenty maize demonstrations we planted in November are doing very well and we’re planning fifteen field days around February or March, to demonstrate these varieties to farmers.”

Setimela and Magorokosho, as well their collaborators, recommendreplacing ZM 421 and ZM 611 with some newer drought tolerant OPV’s. “We are very much encouraged by all this progress in Swaziland,” confirmed Setimela and Magorokosho.

A national coordination unit (NCU) meeting was also held, where it was recommended that a course on managing maize trials would be organized for June/July 2009 and new proposals were to be made in accordance to the NSIMA vision and mission.

Thank you, CIMMYT-Zimbabwe!

Written by on . Posted in News.

The largest regional office outside of CIMMYT-HQ and in operation since 1985, the CIMMYT Regional Office for Southern Africa in Zimbabwe is central to implementing major regional and global projects. In the face of challenging political and economic circumstances, staff there have worked heroically and creatively to ensure that key breeding trials, on-farm research, socio-economic studies, and seed shipment activities are conducted to meet objectives with excellence.

This feeling of achievement was echoed at the 2008 end-of-year staff party on 12 December. The colorful party, joined by CIATTSBF staff, got off with a welcome and a “Thank you, CIMZIM!” address from Mulugetta Mekuria. Pat Wall got everyone involved in participatory games with exciting prizes. Long service awards were presented to Sign Phiri (20 years), Moses Chiputu (20 years), and Evelot Nyamutowa (10 years). The crowd thanked and congratulated the colleagues for their extended service, and staff received Christmas baskets.

CIMMYT collaborators meet in Malawi

Written by on . Posted in News.

The annual collaborators meeting of the New Seeds Initiative for Maize in Southern Africa (NSIMA), which included the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project, was held in Lilongwe, Malawi, during 13-14 August, 2008; with 35 participants from 9 southern African countries sharing their progress reports on in-country projects supported by NSIMA and DTMA, and being updated on some of the new tools in crop research.

The meeting was opened by the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, A.T. Daudi. He emphasized the need for continued development of the maize sector through facilitating government policies, illustrating this with the advances Malawi has made in improving maize production through government funded input support subsidies. These policies have increased maize yields in Malawi in recent years, and enabled the country to export significant quantities of grain to other southern African countries. Other presentations were “National Agricultural Policies for Advancement of the Seed Sector in Malawi” by J. Luhanga (Controller of Agricultural Extension and Technical Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Republic of Malawi); “Use of Marker Assisted Breeding for Improving Yield Gains in Maize” by Bindi Vivek, CIMMYT Maize Breeder, and “Advances in Drought Breeding in South Africa” by K. Mashingaidze (Department Manager: Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, ARC-Grain Crops Institute, South Africa).

Notably in 2008, the research projects released several new varieties – many of which were CIMMYT open pollinated varieties such as ZM309, ZM523, ZM623, and ZM721. Other outcomes were: basic seed production by national programs for distribution to seed houses and community seed producers; identification of improved varieties from regional and national trials; and training workshops for research associates in Angola and Malawi.

One of the highlights of the meeting was the award of prizes for the best national breeding team and the best technology dissemination team. These prizes are awarded through the DTMA Project and serve to stimulate excellence in breeding and rapid scale-up of improved drought mitigating technologies, such as improved varieties. For 2008, the awards were won by Zambia for the best breeding team, and Zimbabwe for the best technology dissemination team. Our congratulations to the two national teams!

Conservation agriculture course at El BatĂĄn

Written by on . Posted in News.

Between 26 May and 27 June 2008 CIMMYT El Batán hosted a five-week course in conservation agriculture (CA) for visiting scientists, entitled “Laying the ground for sustainable and productive cropping systems.” The eight participants came from China, Ethiopia, and Romania for intensive training in CA and resource conserving technologies in irrigated and rainfed wheat and maize production systems, including reduced tillage and crop residue management strategies.

Many CIMMYT specialists contributed to the course: “It was a very holistic approach, with diverse content from a number of disciplines—from breeders, soil specialists, agronomists, crop protection people, and so on,” said Tesfay Araya, from Ethiopia. He will be the first conservation agriculture specialist in northern Ethiopia, and is keen to introduce this interdisciplinary way of working. “I saw people here working together with good communication,” he said. “That’s the most important thing, and it’s very unique. It’s one lesson I learned.”

Another important element of the course was hands-on learning: the trainees participated in the ongoing activities of CIMMYT’s Cropping Systems Management team at El Batán and at the Toluca research station, and in nearby farmers’ fields, developing the skills for trial planning, management, and monitoring. Each participant also had to define a clear research objective and draft a paper during the course, and the results will be combined in a special publication. “We learned skills in publishing, writing, reviewing data
we didn’t miss anything,” said Tesfay Araya.

For Zhang Bin, from China, seeing the way CIMMYT researchers communicated with farmers was food for thought: “maybe we can do more to transfer conservation agriculture,” he said. “When I go back I will do research on conservation agriculture, and if I have good results I will demonstrate it to farmers and try to transfer the technology to them.”Between 1996 and 2008 over 30 visiting scientists and 86 trainees from 26 countries participated in long-term courses and research on zero-tillage and bed planting conducted at CIMMYT’s El Batán and Obregón research stations in Mexico.

(Source: Training Office databases.)

CIMMYT and IITA train economists in Stata

Written by on . Posted in News.

During 07–12 April 2008, CIMMYT and IITA gave a training course for 25 collaborators from 13 countries in eastern, western, and southern Africa on “Modeling Agricultural Technologies Using Stata,” in Johannesburg, South Africa. The course was intended to contribute to harmonization of survey data collection, management, analysis, and econometric modeling using Stata by CIMMYT-IITA and its collaborators.

The course coordinators, CIMMYT–Zimbabwe economist Augustine Langyintuo and IITA economist Diakalia Sanogo, used a practical, hands-on approach and took participants through aspects of technology adoption modeling—rationale for adoption studies, adoption determinants, and technology adoption models. Langyintuo introduced Stata–econometric software and highlighted its potential for use in data analysis and modeling adoption of agricultural technologies.

The participants also had a go at working with the software, which was installed in their computers.

Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project leader, Wilfred Mwangi, underlined the expected roles of socioeconomists in his presentation on the DTMA project. He also acknowledged the support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Mwangi urged course participants to use the knowledge gained to determine the impact of drought at household and national levels and thus inform the design of technologies, institutions, and policies.

Additionally, CIMMYT’s impact specialist Roberto La Rovere demonstrated, step-bystep, how to use the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) in streamlining data collection during surveys.

“I generate a lot of data and I am looking forward to using my new skills in Stata data management to prepare reports of my work with CIMMYT. I am confident that this process will now be much easier!” said Shamiso Chikobvu, principal agricultural economist with Zimbabwe’s Department of Agriculture and Extension. “The hands-on approach of the course made it more interesting and interactive and I look forward to sharing with my students what I have learnt about the use of Stata in modeling adoption,” said Simeon Bamire, Assistant Dean, Faculty of Agriculture at Obafemi Awolowo University and an IITA collaborator.

The course also represented collaboration between two CIMMYT projects—the DTMA and the New Seed Initiative for Maize in Southern Africa (NSIMA).