Location: Senegal

Transforming agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: a new dawn for millet production

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on July 4, 2024. Posted in Blogs.

As the world grapples with climate change, resilient crops such as millets play an increasingly important role. Their ability to thrive in low soil fertility and limited moisture levels makes them ideal for Africa’s changing climate. However, despite their potential, it remains largely untapped.

In an initiative to address the untapped potential and the growing challenges associated with the cultivation of pearl and finger millets in Africa, a high-profile discussion convened experts from various fields. This session, part of a workshop titled “Bottlenecks to Expansion of Pearl and Finger Millets in Africa,” organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in collaboration with the Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA) and CIMMYT, aimed to identify and prioritize key bottlenecks in crop improvement.

A panel of experts from different organizations discuss the importance of national and international initiatives in promoting crop improvement and millet innovations, emphasizing collaboration as a key driver of agricultural progress. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)

Significance of the International Year of Millets

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 the International Year of Millets to raise awareness of and direct policy attention to the nutritional and health benefits of millets and their suitability for cultivation under adverse and changing climatic conditions. The program highlighted the critical need to promote sustainable agriculture and enhance food security by adopting climate-resilient crops like millets, which play an important role in mitigating the effect of climate change, due to their adaptability to adverse and changing climatic conditions.

“We have been actively engaged in gathering input and support from all over the world, not just from Africa and Asia but also from regions like Latin America and Eastern Europe,” said Makiko Taguchi of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). “This year has seen a surge in interest and collaboration in the millet community and we are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead,” she added.

Makiko Taguchi of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) emphasizes the significance of the 2023 International Year of Millets. Kevin Pixley, director of CIMMYT’s Dryland Crops Program, attentively listens. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)

National strategies to enhance millet production

In an effort to ensure food security and achieve production goals over the next five years in Senegal, a strategic plan encompassing various key initiatives will be implemented to meet the demands of millets.

Hamidou Diallo, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Equipment, and Food Sovereignty of Senegal (MAERSA), summarized the strategy. First, is a focus on enhancing production and productivity. Second, the plan calls for the use of high-quality seeds and collaboration with ISRA to provide foundational seeds. Third, aiming to equip producers with the necessary tools and equipment. Last, the plan seeks to increase the overall cultivated area of millets.

“We align ourselves with the needs of the local community. By doing this, it ensures that the initiatives undertaken are not only impactful but also resonate with the agricultural landscape and the needs of the communities served,” said Diallo.

Hamidou Diallo from Senegal’s Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Equipment, and Food Sovereignty (MAERSA) highlights the government’s strategic plan for meeting the country’s millet demand. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)

Innovative initiatives for the Dryland Crops Program

Kevin Pixley, director of the Dryland Crops Program (DCP) and Wheat Program director a.i. at CIMMYT, highlighted four initiatives in which the program is involved. One is the establishment of the Africa Dryland Crops Improvement Network, comprising national program scientists and led by the steering committee from Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) and Western and Central Africa (WCA). Their mandate is examining investments in capacity development and infrastructure and shape breeding programs. Second, a legumes mining project at Colorado State University, focusing on genetic diversity and using big data tools to identify resilient traits. Third, working on gene editing projects such as reducing rancidity in pearl millets in countries that are open to these technologies. Last, the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) project, that will include millets as a prioritized crop. These initiatives are crucial for creating pathways to improve farmers’ livelihoods and popularize millets.

“Creating an effective pathway is critical to these approaches. We need to find innovative ways to reach more farmers with options to improve their livelihood and popularize millets across different market segments,” said Pixley.

Kevin Pixley, director of the Dryland Crops Program at CIMMYT, discusses CIMMYT’s current initiatives as Hamidou Diallo (MAERSA, Senegal) and Makiko Taguchi (FAO) listen. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)

CIMMYT’s program on Dryland Crops is at the forefront to improving breeding and seed systems, with the aim to improve the livelihoods of small-scale producers and consumers of these crops in sub-Saharan Africa.

Aware of the changing needs of the global community, CIMMYT has begun on a journey to advance research and broaden its impact by implementing the Dryland Crops Program. This approach is based CIMMYT’s 2030 Strategy, which has the potential to shape the future of agriculture as a catalyst of climate resilience, sustainable and inclusive agricultural development, and food and nutrition security.

The program is critical in promoting climate resilience, sustainable agricultural practices, and food and nutrition security in sub-Saharan Africa. CIMMYT is working on dryland crops like millets and legumes, which have untapped potential for contributing to food security, particularly in climate-vulnerable regions.

Research and innovative labs

Geoff Morris from Colorado State University shared insights on the recently concluded United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Innovation Lab on Sorghum and Millets. This activity spanned the entire value chain from trait discovery to breeding program support to the development of value-added products. The most successful projects, in his opinion, were those led by African-based scientists.

“It is essential for Africa scientists to be in the driver sear to ensure that research agenda aligns with their needs,” he said. “There is a gap in knowledge not about what we know here but about what U.S. researchers know about supporting African breeders. It’s crucial for researchers to define the needs to guide effective collaborations,” said Morris.

Pioneering role in millet sector growth

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has contributed significantly to driving growth in the millet sector, including innovation generation and knowledge sharing. Damaris Odeny, ICRISAT India, highlighted the organization’s contributions particularly in the agri-business incubation platform. The platform serves as a bridge, identifying suitable technologies to specific regions and supporting local entrepreneurs in deploying these technologies to reach smallholder farmers. While the model has been successful in India, its adoption in Africa has been slower, owing to regional differences and varying levels of investments.

Damaris Odeny of ICRISAT India shares insights on ICRISAT’s impact on the agri-business incubation platform. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement, managed by USAID and Cornell University efforts in fostering regional collaborations funds a center for innovations across regions, fostering regional collaborations that are critical for sharing knowledge and resources, benefiting not only regions within Africa but also further afield.

“Moving forward, we should align these initiatives and identify synergies to maximize their impact. This approach will encourage greater engagement and the adoption of innovative solutions at the local level,” said Odeny.

The path forward for millets in Africa and beyond is not only promising but essential for addressing issues of food security, climate resilience, and sustainable development. This can be accomplished by aligning these initiatives with global sustainability goals and focusing on innovative, collaborative efforts.

Changing the narrative through communication

Turning to the power of communication, Douglas Gayeton, co-founder of The Lexicon emphasized the role of effective messaging in changing people’s perceptions of millets.

“When consumers understand what they are purchasing and how it aligns with their values, they can make informed decisions that benefit the entire food system,” said Gayeton.

He also underscored the importance of changing the narrative around millets. He emphasized the importance of shifting away from terms like ‘neglected’ and ‘orphaned’ crops to more positive empowering language that resonates with consumers and policy makers.

“In order to change the food system, we must provide consumers with information at the point of purchase that applies to their values. By linking that benefit to consumer values, this approach has the potential to significantly expand millet markets,” said Gayeton.

Douglas Gayeton, co-founder of The Lexicon, emphasizes the role of effective messaging while Geoff Morris from Colorado State University shared insights on research and innovation labs on sorghum and millets. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)

The discussions highlighted the valuable lessons to be learned from the efforts to enhance millet utilization in Africa and other regions. The collaboration across various sectors, from government to research institutions and the private sector, highlights the multifaceted approach in addressing the challenges facing millet cultivation and utilization. Recognizing the significance of local engagement and the empowerment of local scientists underscores a crucial lesson: solutions need to be tailored to the specific context, utilize local knowledge, and address local needs to ensure sustainability. In addition, the significant impact of communication in reshaping perceptions about millets demonstrates the importance of storytelling in shaping consumer behavior and policy.

Revolutionizing food security: Africa’s millet renaissance

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on March 26, 2024. Posted in News.

In a landmark initiative to bolster sustainable agriculture and food security, the consultative workshop ‘Bottlenecks to Expansion of Pearl and Finger Millets in Africa’ marked a pivotal step towards revitalizing millet cultivation across the continent. Spearheaded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in collaboration with CIMMYT and the Senegalese Institute of Agricultural Research (ISRA), a meeting held in Senegal united global experts to unlock the untapped potential of millets as a cornerstone of sustainable agriculture and food security in Africa.

The discussions included identifying the symptoms of the problem, underlying issues causing these symptoms, and the interventions needed to be implemented to address these issues. This collaborative efforts among national and international organizations including government bodies, research institutes, and NGOs, demonstrated the goal of revitalizing millet cultivation through partnerships.

A group photo of the participants in the ‘Bottlenecks to Expansion of Pearl and Finger Millets in Africa’ workshop in Senegal. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2023 the International Year of Millets to raise awareness of and direct policy attention to millets’ nutritional and health benefits and their suitability for cultivation under adverse and changing climatic conditions.

Long overlooked but brimming with potential, millets offer a sustainable solution for both farmers and consumers in terms of profitability, adaptability, and sustainability in farming, as well as healthier dietary options for consumers.

Lessons learned from India

India, a key player in millet production, provided valuable insights into millet cultivation and consumption, providing a potential model for Africa to emulate in its millet-related strategies.

To understand the growth of millets in India, the Indian Ambassador to Senegal, Naba Kumar Pal, highlighted the strategies used by the Indian government to raise awareness about millets as a nutritious cereal that contributes to food security and provides a nutritious dietary option aimed at eliminating hunger and improving nutrition in his opening remarks.

“The first step the government did was to rebrand millets from ‘coarse grains’ to ‘nutri-cereals’, a move that has significantly increased domestic consumption and market interest of millets in India,” said the ambassador.

Indian Ambassador to Senegal, Naba Kumar Pal, highlights the Indian government’s efforts to promote millets as a nutritional powerhouse. (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)

In Africa, millets are under appreciated and not utilized as crops. They are often labeled as a ‘poor man’s crop,’ ‘neglected crop,’ or ‘orphan crop’. The negative connotations have, among other areas, influenced consumers’ perceptions. By changing the vocabulary from demeaning to empowering, millets’ image can be transformed from an overlooked option to a crop of choice in Africa.

The workshop also delved into policy advocacy and commercialization efforts in India, and how these strategies could be replicated in African contexts. Tara Satyavati and Dayakar Rao, representing Indian institutions, shared insights on millet production, nutritional evaluation, and the development of value-added products. The importance of policy intervention, such as increasing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for millets and including them in public meal programs in India, was discussed. These measures not only provided financial incentives to farmers but also increased accessibility and consumption among the general population.

The two asserted that “millets offer a sustainable solution for both farmers and consumers in terms of profitability, adaptability, and sustainability in farming, as well as healthier dietary options for consumers.”

Millets are adaptable to diverse climates, have low water requirements, and provide nutritional benefits. African countries, which face similar issues in terms of climate change and food security, can use millets as a crop to promote environmental sustainability and economic viability.

National and international collaborations

A panel discussion shed light on national and international initiatives that highlighted collaborative efforts in crop improvement and millet innovations. On the national level, Hamidou Diallo from the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Equipment, and Food Sovereignty of Senegal (MAERSA) outlined a multi-pronged approach for Senegal. These approaches included increasing millet production, providing high-quality seeds, equipping local producers with essential tools and equipment, providing fertilizers to farmers, and expanding the overall cultivated areas of millet. These efforts represent a focused approach to leveraging agricultural innovation in millets to improve livelihoods and income for small-scale farmers.

“Aligning with the needs of the local community ensures the initiatives are impactful and resonate with the agricultural landscape and community needs,” he emphasized.

Insights into the international initiatives included discussions on innovative initiatives in the Dryland Crop Program (DCP), presented by Dryland Crops Program Director and Wheat Program Director Kevin Pixley, included the establishment of the African Dryland Crops Improvement Network, gene editing, a legumes mining project and the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) project, that will include millets as a prioritized crop.

“We need to find innovative ways to reach more farmers with options to improve their livelihood and popularize millets across different market segments,” said Pixley.

From left to right: Damaris Odeny (ICRISAT India), Geoff Morris (Colorado State University), Douglas Gayeton (co-founder of The Lexicon), Hamidou Diallo (MAERSA, Senegal), Kevin Pixley (director of the Dryland Crops Program), and Makiko Taguchi (FAO), engage in a panel discussion on the importance of national and international initiatives in promoting crop improvement and millet innovations, highlighting the collaborative spirit driving agricultural progress.

Other topics covered included insights from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) innovation lab on sorghum and millets, emphasizing the importance of African-led projects and addressing the knowledge gap between African and U.S. researchers.

The pioneering role of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), particularly in agri-business incubation, was noted, along with the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement, managed by USAID and Cornell University efforts in fostering regional collaborations.

Makiko Taguchi of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) emphasized the importance of global engagement in promoting millets as a sustainable and nutritious food source for global food security and agricultural development and highlighted the various initiatives and projects born of the International Year of Millets. Douglas Gayeton, co-founder of The Lexicon emphasized the role of effective messaging in changing people’s perceptions of millets. He underscored the importance of shifting away from terms like ‘neglected’ and ‘orphaned’ crops to more positive empowering language that resonates with consumers and policy makers.

CIMMYT’s role in dryland crop innovation

Recognizing the ever-evolving needs of society at large, CIMMYT began an initiative to advance research and broaden its impact by implementing the Dryland Crops Program. This approach is based on CIMMYT’s 2030 strategy, which will shape agriculture’s future as a driver of climate resilience, sustainable, and inclusive agricultural development, and food and nutrition security, all while meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Africa 2063 by promoting food security, improving nutrition, and mitigating the effects of climate change.

The meeting underscored the immense potential of millets in Africa to contribute to a resilient and nutritious future, reinforcing the need for continued collaboration, innovation, and investment in this vital crop. With the right mix of policy support, technological innovation and market development, millets could be the key to Africa’s resilient and sustainable agricultural future. The workshop concluded with a call to action for stakeholders to collaborate and implement innovative practices to enhance the growth of the millet sector in Africa.

CGIAR Initiative: Accelerated Breeding

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on March 3, 2023. Posted in Uncategorized.

Resource-poor farmers in low-income and middle-income countries will hugely benefit from improved crop varieties that perform better in terms of nutritional quality, income generation, water and nutrient use, stability of yields under climate change, and the needs of both women and men as farmers and as consumers.

However, many smallholder farmers still grow old varieties, in part because they derive inadequate benefits from recent breeding efforts. To trigger timely adoption, new varieties must be widely available and affordable to farmers, and offer a step-change in performance through higher rates of genetic gain. A faster pace of varietal turnover is critical – to enable farmers to adapt and advance rapidly as climatic and market conditions change.

Breeding programs also need a greater focus on developing farmer- and consumer- preferred varieties adapted to distinct production environments, markets and end uses. This can be facilitated by smarter design of breeding programs; stronger partnerships between CGIAR, National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and strengthened organizational capacity.

This Initiative aims to develop better-performing, farmer-preferred crop varieties and to decrease the average age of varieties in farmers’ fields, providing real-time adaptation to climate change, evolving markets and production systems.

The objective will be achieved through:

Re-focusing breeding teams and objectives on farmers’ needs, in particular the needs of women, through achievable product profiles and breeding pipelines targeting prioritized regions and market segments.
Reorganizing breeding teams to drive efficiency gains through the coordinated engagement of specialists and processes using a common organizational framework, stage gates, key performance indicators and handover criteria.
Transforming towards inclusive, impactful CGIAR-NARES-SME breeding networks with empowered partners, along with customized capacity building, standardized key performance indicators, and by dividing labor and resources across partners according to comparative advantage and aligned with national priorities.
Discovering optimum traits and deployments through agile, demand-driven and effective trait discovery and deployment pipelines, and development of elite donor lines with novel and highly valuable traits.
Accelerating population improvement and variety identification through optimizing breeding pipelines (trailing, parent selection, cycle time, use of Breeding Resources tools and services, etc.), with the goal of assuring all programs deliver market-demanded varieties that deliver greater rates of genetic gain per dollar invested.

Engagement

This Initiative will work with breeding programs serving countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia, along with Asia and Latin America. Priority countries for the Initiative include Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe in Africa, and Bangladesh and India in South Asia.

Outcomes

Proposed 3-year outcomes include:

At least 75% of breeding pipelines are oriented towards specific market segments, enabling greater focus on farmers’ needs, drivers of adoption, distinct impact areas and the strategic allocation of resources.
At least 70% of breeding pipelines use a revised organizational framework that provides operational clarity and effectiveness for specialized teams pursuing breeding outputs.
At least 80% of the breeding networks have implemented documented steps toward stronger partnership models where NARES and SMEs have increased breeding capacity, and make greater scientific, operational and decision-making contributions to the breeding process.
At least 50% of breeding pipelines are supported by a dedicated trait discovery and deployment program that delivers high-impact traits in the form of elite parental lines.
At least 70% of breeding pipelines have increased the rate of genetic gain in the form of farmer-preferred varieties, with at least 50% providing significantly improved varieties delivered to seed system recipients.

CGIAR Initiative: Excellence in Agronomy

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on October 11, 2022. Posted in Uncategorized.

Smallholdings represent over 80% of the world’s farms, mostly located in the Global South, and supply 50% of global food. Enhanced agronomy management has a great potential to increase productivity, sustainability, efficiency and competitiveness of these smallholdings, which is characterized by low and variable yields and profitability, smallholder farming challenges include water scarcity, climate change, low resource use efficiencies and declining soil health. These result in negative impacts on food and nutrition security, equitable livelihoods and ecosystem health. 

Smallholder farmers seasonally make critical agronomic decisions regarding crop choice, planting dates and pest, disease, weed, soil fertility and water management, often based on suboptimal practices and information. Traditional agronomic research enhances our understanding of basic processes, but with limited connection to stakeholder demand and often based on outdated approaches. The development, deployment and uptake of interventions is hampered by social, economic and institutional constraints, further confounded by adherence to conventional supply-driven innovation strategies.

Objective

This Initiative aims to deliver an increase in productivity and quality per unit of input (agronomic gain) for millions of smallholder farming households in prioritized farming systems by 2030, with an emphasis on women and young farmers, showing a measurable impact on food and nutrition security, income, resource use, soil health, climate resilience and climate change mitigation. 

Activities

This objective will be achieved through:

Facilitating the delivery of agronomy-at-scale solutions, including development and technical/user-experience validation and the co-creation and deployment of gender- and youth-responsive solutions to smallholder farmers via scaling partners.
Enabling the creation of value from big data and advanced analytics through the assembly and governance of data and tools; application of existing analytics and solutions for specific use cases; supply of information on climate impacts, inclusivity and sustainability of agronomic solutions; and national agricultural research system capacity strengthening.
Driving the next generation of agronomy-at-scale innovations by addressing key knowledge gaps and facilitating innovation in agronomy research through engagement with partners.
Nurturing internal efficiencies for an agile and demand-driven agronomy research and development community through internal organization and external partnerships for prioritization, demand mapping and foresight.

A maize farmer in southern Ethiopia. (Photo: S. Samuel/CCAFS)

A less risky business

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on April 14, 2020. Posted in News.

A maize farmer in southern Ethiopia. (Photo: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/2hp5uoS">S. Samuel/CCAFS</a>) — A maize farmer in southern Ethiopia. (Photo: S. Samuel/CCAFS)

Because of unpredictable climate conditions, agricultural production in Ethiopia faces uncertainties during both the growing and harvesting seasons. The risk and uncertainty are bigger for smallholder farmers, as they can’t protect themselves from climate-related asset losses. Access to insurance schemes, climate information and other tools could help to minimize climate risks for smallholder farmers.

A new collaborative project launched in Ethiopia aims to reduce agricultural investment risk. The Capacitating African Stakeholders with Climate Advisories and Insurance Development (CASCAID-II) project builds on learnings from the CASCAID-I project in West Africa. It will target Ethiopia, Ghana and Senegal, focusing not only on smallholder farmers but on the food value chain as a whole. In a context of increasing integration of farmers into urban markets, the project will improve agricultural productivity, food security and profitability of agricultural enterprises.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) will partner with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the University of Florida, with the support of the CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

Kindie Tesfaye, CIMMYT, presents an overview of climate services in Ethiopia. (Photo: Simret Yasabu /CIMMYT)

Physical and digital tools across the value chain

In October 2019, thirty partners gathered for the CASCAID-II project launch and meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They agreed on the project goals, a set of priority research questions and a schedule of activities for the next two years.

Partners also reviewed the tools that could be used to deliver climate advisories and agricultural insurance products, ensuring that all the actors in the value chain are engaged from the start. Team members aim to embed services in existing physical and digital (“phygital”) data infrastructures and to collect user feedback, so performance can be improved. Users will be segmented according to advanced socioeconomic and agro-ecological factors, so they can be targeted more efficiently with appropriate services and climate-smart agriculture options. The project will draw on real-time and multi-scale yield forecasting for better preparedness and decision-making.

Project partners agreed to start with the CCAFS Regional Agricultural Forecasting Tool (CRAFT) for sub-national yield forecasting in Ethiopia and to develop climate advisories and insurance services in line with the needs of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Participants of the launch of the digital agro-climate advisory platform gather for a group photo. (Photo: Semu Yemane/EIAR)

Precise data from scientists to farmers

In a related development, Ethiopia recently launched a digital agro-climate advisory platform, which offers great potential to improve farmers’ management of climate-induced risks, facilitate technology adoption and improve livelihoods.

Speaking at the platform’s launch ceremony, Eyasu Abraha, advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, thanked development partners for supporting the establishment of the platform in the timely move towards digitalization and use of precise data.

The platform incorporates location-specific climate information, as well as soil- and crop-specific best-bet agronomic management recommendations for farmers, development agents and extension officers. It automates crop-climate modeling and uses technologies such as text messaging, interactive voice response (IVRS) and smartphone apps for dissemination.

A farm worker applies fertilizer in a field of Staha maize for seed production at Suba Agro's Mbezi farm in Tanzania. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Study calls for better understanding of fertilizer prices faced by African smallholder farmers

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on January 15, 2020. Posted in News. 1 Comment on Study calls for better understanding of fertilizer prices faced by African smallholder farmers

Crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa are generally low. This is in large part because of low fertilizer use. A recent study of six countries in sub-Saharan Africa showed that just 35% of farmers applied fertilizer. Some possible reasons for this could be that farmers may be unaware of the efficacy of fertilizer use; or have degraded soils that do not respond to fertilizer; they may not have the cash to purchase it; or because unpredictable rainfall makes such investments risky. It may also be because local fertilizer prices make their use insufficiently profitable for many farmers.

To better understand the potential fertilizer demand in a particular location, it is important to know how crops respond to fertilizer under local conditions, but it is critical to understand crop responses in terms of economic returns. This requires information about local market prices of fertilizers and other inputs, as well as the prices that a farmer could receive from selling the crop.

While national-level fertilizer prices may be available, it is necessary to consider the extent to which prices vary within countries, reflecting transportation costs and other factors. In the absence of such data, analysis of household-level behaviors requires assumptions about the prices smallholder farmers face — assumptions which may not be valid. For example, evaluations of the returns to production technologies settings have often assumed spatially invariant input and output prices or, in other words, that all farmers in a country face the same set of prices. This is at odds with what we know about economic remoteness and the highly variable market access conditions under which African smallholders operate.

An obstacle to using empirical data on sub-national disparities in fertilizer prices is the scarcity of such data. A new study focused on the spatial discrepancies in fertilizer prices. The study compiled local market urea price in eighteen countries in sub-Saharan Africa for the period between 2010-2018 and used spatial interpolation models — using points with known values to approximate values at other unknown points — to predict local prices at locations for which no empirical data was available. It was conducted by scientists at University of California, Davis, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The authors note that this is the first major attempt to systematically describe the spatial variability of fertilizer prices within the target countries and test the ability to estimate the price at unsampled locations.

Predicted relative urea price (local price divided by the observed median national price) for areas with crop land in eight East African countries.

“Our study uncovers considerable spatial variation in fertilizer prices within African countries and gives a much more accurate representation of the economic realities faced by African smallholders than the picture suggested by using national average prices,” said Camila Bonilla Cedrez, PhD Candidate at University of California, Davis. “We show that in many countries, this variation can be predicted for unsampled locations by fitting models of prices as a function of longitude, latitude, and additional predictor variables that capture aspects of market access, demand, and environmental conditions.”

Urea prices were generally found to be more expensive in remote areas or away from large urban centers, ports of entry or blending facilities. There were some exceptions, though. In Benin, Ghana and Nigeria, prices went down when moving away from the coast, with the possible explanation being market prices in areas with higher demand are lower. In other locations, imports of fertilizer from neighboring countries with lower prices may be affecting prices in another country or region, much like political influence. Politically, well-connected villages can receive more input subsidies compared to the less connected ones.

“The performance of our price estimation methods and the simplicity of our approach suggest that large scale price mapping for rural areas is a cost-effective way to provide more useful price information for guiding policy, targeting interventions, and for enabling more realistic applied microeconomic research. For example, local price estimates could be incorporated into household-survey-based analysis of fertilizer adoption,” explained Jordan Chamberlin, CIMMYT spatial economist. “In addition, such predictive ‘price maps’ can be incorporated into targeting and planning frameworks for agricultural investments. For example, to target technology promotion efforts to the areas where those technologies are most likely to be profitable.”

Predicted relative urea price (local price divided by the observed median national price) for areas with crop land in nine West African countries.

“The evidence we have compiled in this paper suggests that, while investments in more comprehensive and spatially representative price data collection would be very useful, we may utilize spatial price prediction models to extend the value of existing data to better reflect local price variation through interpolation,” explained Robert J. Hijmans, professor at University of California, Davis. “Even if imperfect, such estimates almost certainly better reflect farmers’ economic realities than assumptions of spatially constant prices within a given country. We propose that spatial price estimation methods such as the ones we employ here serve for better approximating heterogeneous economic market landscapes.”

This study has illustrated new ways for incorporating spatial variation in prices into efforts to understand the profitability of agricultural technologies across rural areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors suggest that an important avenue for future empirical work would be to evaluate the extent to which the subnational price variation documented is a useful explanatory factor for observed variation in smallholder fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa, after controlling for local agronomic responses and output prices. One way to do that may be to integrate input and output price predictions into spatial crop models, and then evaluate the degree to which modeled fertilizer use profitability predicts observed fertilizer use rates across different locations.

Read the full study:
Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa

Women at a maize mill in Ethiopia. (Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)

How collaboration can help grow and transform agriculture in Africa

Written by on May 16, 2018. Posted in Blogs.

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 Union’s heads of state signed the Malabo Declaration. It offered a blueprint for Africa’s agricultural sectors, to be achieved by 2025.

For example, the declaration called for at least 10% of any nation’s public expenditure to be allocated to agriculture and rural development. It also set out plans for increasing countries’ food security by intensifying agriculture in a way that didn’t 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 there’s 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 declaration’s goals by 2025.

There’s no doubt that investment in agriculture can empower economic transformation in the region. But money alone can’t solve Africa’s agricultural problems. International collaboration is key. And it can yield real results, as a project we’re 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 Tanzania’s departments of agriculture are also involved.

The collaborative effort has meant that it’s 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 – among others – farmers, agribusinesses, traders and policy makers. The result has been improved productivity. We’ve 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 don’t only work directly with farmers. It’s 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 master’s 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 UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 – 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 continent’s capacity in science, extension, policy, institutions, governance and leadership.

These must be priorities to harness Africa’s agricultural potential and spur economic growth.

This article orinally appeared on The Conversation. For the full article, click here.

Lack of rain can jeopardize maize seed production

Written by on March 19, 2015. Posted in News.

This photo was taken at the Tool Baye Seed Cooperative processing unit in Kaolack, Senegal.

Daniella Van Leggelo Padilla took this picture to show the quality of the certified maize seeds that were being sold at a subsidized price thanks to the World Bank West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP/PPAAO).

Due to a late — and poor — rainfall in 2014, farmers lost their crops, putting them in a precarious position for the fall harvest.

The WAAPP program was able to shore up this loss by providing Senegalese farmers with short cycle, drought-resistant seeds to help them salvage the season’s crops.

Learn More: Seeding hope for smallholder farmers in Senegal

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