AgriSeed Director Ambonesigwe Mbwaga visits AgriSeed’s production farm in Mbozi, southern Tanzania. This field features AgriSeed H12, the first hybrid the company sold. Photo: K. Kaimenyi/CIMMYT
MBEYA, Tanzania (CIMMYT) â To achieve its objective of sustainably increasing the availability of new drought tolerant maize varieties in eastern and southern Africa, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) supports seed company partners in enhancing their capacity to produce foundation and certified seed.
AgriSeed began as a small seed company in Tanzania in 2010, producing seed using donor grants to get established, and selling seed through a government subsidy program. When the program closed in 2013, collapse of the business was a real threat. However, in 2015 AgriSeed received its first grant from the CIMMYT-led Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project to produce early generation seed of a new hybrid called WE2112, and are now on their way to sustainability.
âWhen the African Agricultural Technology Foundation announced licensing of this variety, we jumped at the opportunity,â said Ambonesigwe Mbwaga, Director of AgriSeed. âWe wanted something we could call our own, since all our other products are public and can be produced by another company.â
WE2112, marketed as AgriSeed H12, is the first hybrid sold by the company, with CIMMYT supporting the transition from open pollinated varieties to improved hybrids. Profitable sales of improved maize varieties are key to sustained and scaled production by the private sector to ensure access in the long run. Being among the few seed companies producing this particular hybrid gives AgriSeed an edge in the market.
âWith AgriSeed, we started from scratch: increasing the parents, increasing the inbred lines, single crosses, and so on,â said James Gethi, maize breeder and DTMASS technical lead for Tanzania. âMy main excitement this year is to see the product of that support coming to fruition. They now have a certified crop, from zero, and have something to sell.â
According to Mbwaga, the product is âflying off the shelves.â While only three tons of AgriSeed H12 were produced and sold in 2016, AgriSeed expects this figure to rise to over 50 tons in 2017 due to increased production capacity, and the huge demand created from the minimal sales. Also of note is the AgriSeed H12 packaging, whose smallest pack is five kilograms, much larger than the one and two kilogram bags often sold of new products to smallholder farmers. This is a strong indicator of demand and confidence in the product, since it costs more to purchase the bigger bag.
To promote sales, the company has set up over 100 demonstration plots for 2017 with DTMASS support, most of them in the southern Tanzania towns of Mbeya, Mbozi and Mlonge. Unlike the traditional highway setups, AgriSeed is concentrating demos along roads in villages, increasing access to farmers away from major roads. This aims to boost sales but also helps the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the projectâs funder, reach its Feed the Future goals to reach remote smallholder farmers.
Through technical and financial support and capacity building initiatives, DTMASS works closely with AgriSeed and other partners in eastern and southern Africa to bring affordable, improved maize seed to 2.5 million people. With funding from the USAID, DTMASS aims to meet demand and improve access to good-quality maize through production of improved drought-tolerant, stress-resilient, and high yielding maize varieties for smallholder farmers.
Women account for over 50 percent of farmers in many parts of Africa. Photo: CIMMYT/Peter Lowe
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In a special interview to mark International Womenâs Day, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) gender and development specialist, Rahma Adam, detailed how her research aims to improve the agricultural productivity of women in southern and eastern Africa.
With women making up over 50 percent of farmers in many parts of Africa, it is essential to understand how gender roles, relations and responsibilities encourage and hinder their agricultural productivity, said Adam.
Understanding gender relations improves the work of researchers and development specialists to target programs in the correct areas and with right people in order to get the most impact, she said.
Conservation agriculture systems involve crop rotations and inter-cropping with maize and legumes to increase yields. Pictured here are conservation agriculture practitioner Lughano Mwangonde (L) and  gender and development specialist Rahma Adam in Balaka district, Malawi. Photo: CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira.
Sustainable intensification agriculture practices are aimed at enhancing the productivity of labor, land and capital without damaging the environment. In practice, sustainable intensification involves such conservation agriculture practices as minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of inter-cropping and crop rotation to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase profits and protect the environment. It contributes to improved soil function and quality, which can improve resilience to climate variability.
Through SIMLESA, supported by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Adam shares her findings with a network of stakeholders, such as governments and non-governmental organizations, aiding the delivery of agricultural technologies, taking into account gender norms to hold a greater chance of adoption.
We spoke to about her work in a short interview listen here or read below:
Q: Please explain a bit about your work. What is SIMLESA, where does it operate and what are its key objectives?
A: SIMLESA stands for, Sustainable Intensification of Maize and Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa, we are now in the second phase of the project. We focus on several things, providing the needed knowledge in terms of technology, improved varieties of seeds for maize and legumes and how to use them in the practice of sustainable intensification practices. The idea is to improve crop yields from current levels, thatâs the basic idea of SIMLESA.
The project operates in mainly five countries, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia for Eastern Africa and Malawi and Mozambique for southern Africa. But we have three spill over countries where SIMLESA also have some activities, they are Rwanda, Botswana and Uganda.
We want to make sure farmers know the practices of sustainable intensification, they are able to use them, able to adapt them for the benefit of improving food security of the household and increase their livelihoods.
Q: Why is gender analysis important in meeting SIMLESAâs objectives?
A: Women in sub-Saharan Africa play a lionâs share of farming, the literature shows on average they farm as much as men, they make up 60 percent of farmers or more in some countries. Because they are the majority, there is no way we could put them on the back-burner, and not address or try to understand what are their constraints for agricultural production and agricultural marketing and all the other things that go with an agricultural household being successful in terms of their livelihoods.
It is very important to think about women, not alone, but also their relationships with men, we also have to think about who are their husbands. In sub-Saharan Africa most households are patriarchal, so they are male dominated, meaning a husband has much more say than the wife in terms of decision making in regards to what to grow, how much money should be spent that they have collected from agriculture, among other things.
It is important to not only think about how to improve the lives of women but also to understand the norms that go on. The institutional norms within a community, within a household and how they can play some sort of role that can either make a women successful or make a woman unsuccessful in terms of bringing up her household, in terms of the betterment of nutrition and schooling, etc.
It is a very complex issue. Thatâs why we cannot ignore gender itself as it sits in the rural households of Africa, because it is the nucleus of it. Once we understand how the relationship works between husband and wife or man and woman working within a society then we will be able to say how we can really propel sustainable intensification in these communities.
Q: Although rural women in southern and eastern Africa play crucial role in farming and food production why are they less likely to own land or livestock, adopt new technologies, or access credit?
A: Most of the problem of womenâs lack of ownership of assets, such as land, among others stems from the institutional social norms of the communities in which they reside. Usually for patriarchal societies in sub-Saharan Africa, women are married into their husbandâs home, and thus nearly all assets including land, livestock, improved or new technologies and money belong to their husbands and in some occasions, wives have very little say, with regards to those assets.
Because the major assets of the households are under the hands of the husband, it is hard for the wife to be able to access credit facilities, without involving the husband. As most of the credit and financial facilities, require a collateral, before they provide one a loan.
Good road networks to facilitate smallholders to access agricultural and seed markets is critical for higher food production both for consumption and investment. Above, the distance that it takes for most smallholder farmers in Mozambique to access different supply chain services. Source: CIMMYT
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) â Africaâs agriculture sector is driven by smallholder farmers who also account for 70 percent of people directly reliant on agriculture for their livelihoods. Despite its large-scale impact across the continent, smallholder farming  largely remains a low technology, subsistence activity.
Constructively engaging smallholders as investors as well as producers can help attract better investment into the sector, engaging farmers to produce bigger crops for sale rather than only for consumption at the household level. To achieve this goal, bigger financial investments are required to raise the standard of engagement and consequently that of Africaâs agricultural sector, according to Paswel Marenya, a social scientist who works with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT),
Three recent studies conducted by CIMMYT scientists and their collaborators in eastern and southern Africa assessed potential interventions to address current inefficiencies in seed supply chains. They also explored how low purchasing power has hobbled smallholders trying to gain access to maize and legume seed markets. Even though these markets have recently expanded as more private companies invest in maize and legume businesses, smallholders have not benefited despite their significant role in the sector.
A key component of improving agricultural practices is to bolster seed systems to give smallholders better access to high-yielding, stress tolerant seeds. For example, in Tanzania, a weak seed supply chain led to smallholders recycling hybrid maize seeds up to three years in a row in some cases. The main source of legume seeds was often from seed saved from previous harvest.
Elsewhere, in Mozambique, smallholders surveyed were accessing only three improved varieties in 2014 despite the release of over 30 improved maize and legume varieties that year. In a country where 95 percent of the population is dependent on maize and legumes, which particularly for rural families provide the most important source of proteins, deep changes are needed to facilitate access to improved seeds.
The studies determined that ineffective seed distribution contributed significantly to limiting smallholder access to improved varieties. Additionally, low seed production from the few approved seed companies in the country has worsened the situation due to soaring costs, putting improved seed beyond the reach of millions of smallholders.
As a result, approximately 70 percent of Mozambican farmers use local maize varieties with poor resistance to pests and diseases and low productivity potential.
To address these issues, the studies unanimously recommend investments in rural roads to connect isolated communities with agricultural and seed markets and to make it more cost effective for seed distributors to reach far flung communities. Secondly, investments in storage facilities in Mozambique and a more effective national seed system are needed to facilitate adequate foundation seed for seed companies. In addition to favorable policies that attract more private seed and fertilizer companies, a stronger public agricultural extension system is required.
On a broader scale, government policymakers must take advantage of the burgeoning seed sector and  mushrooming interest from private sector players.
âRegulatory agencies in the seed sector should take up a bigger role to facilitate and encourage competition that will widen seed access and bring down seed costs,â Marenya said. âThis is the most sustainable solution that ensures the private sector is involved, farmers drive seed demand, and profit prospects are good.â
Rising food demand and projected growth of African food markets present a real opportunity for African farmers, Marenya added. In 2011, for example, sub-Saharan Africa imported $43 billion worth of such basic agricultural commodities as wheat, rice, maize, vegetable oil and sugar. Additionally, research estimates from Germanyâs Deutsche Bank show that urban food markets will quadruple and that food and beverage markets are projected to grow to about $1 trillion by 2030 leading to bigger economic benefits overall.
While staple crop markets in the eastern and southern Africa region are relatively vibrant, many farmers gain access to these markets through informal links. Structured value chains, which include dependable and transparent information systems, quality storage facilities and supportive financial or credit services would enhance farmersâ role in the markets.
âReal change will occur when efforts be made to enable farmers and traders to profitably invest in superior pre- and post-harvest quality management as well as engage in contract-based supply chains to exploit opportunities brought about by increasing urbanization and trade,â Marenya said.
This story is one of a series of features written during CIMMYTâs 50th anniversary year to highlight significant advancements in maize and wheat research between 1966 and 2016.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (CIMMYT) — When practiced unsustainably, agriculture has led to environmental degradation and famine, which have plagued civilizations through the centuries. Innovations such as irrigation or the plow (since circa 6,000 and 3,000 BC) increased productivity, but often deteriorated long-term soil fertility through erosion and other forms of degradation.
We are now facing historically unprecedented challenges to food security. We must increase food production by 70 percent to feed nine billion people by 2050, without damaging our finite and often already degraded natural resource base. In addition, farmers face more frequent drought and water scarcity, which makes it increasingly difficult to grow crops, and extreme weather events such as the 2015-2016 El Niño, which has already caused large-scale crop failures and soaring maize prices in southern Africa.
Conservation agriculture (CA) practices based on the principles of minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotation are helping farmers combat growing environmental challenges by maintaining and boosting yields, while protecting the environment and increasing profits for smallholders globally. When CA practices are coupled with water-use efficient and drought tolerant varieties, the benefits are even greater.
Drought is increasingly common in Malawi, leaving an estimated 3 million people in need of urgent humanitarian food assistance this year alone. However, more than 400 farmers and their families in Balaka, southern Malawi, who have been practicing CA over the last 12 years will escape hunger. CIMMYT and its partner Total LandCare have helped more than 65,000 farmers adopt CA systems throughout the entire country. Above, SIMLESA lead farmer Agnes Sendeza harvests maize ears on her farm in Tembwe, Salima District, Malawi. Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT
âCA approaches can mean the difference between farmers being able to feed their families or having to starve,â says Christian Thierfelder, senior cropping systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), regarding the recent El Niño â the strongest on record â in southern Africa. To date, approximately 10 million people in southern Africa are dependent on food aid and an estimated 50 million people are projected to be affected, pushing them to the brink of starvation.
Sustainable intensification of agricultural systems and practices such as CA have become a necessity for farmers in Africa, where a combination of climate change and unsustainable agricultural practices are undermining land and water resources. This, coupled with an exploding population, makes increasing productivity while conserving the environment absolutely urgent.
Based on its experience in Latin America, which began in the early 1990s, CIMMYT started its first CA project in Africa in 2004, targeting Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This initial work focused on understanding CA systems in the context of farmers and their environmental conditions and was funded by the German government and the International Fund for Agriculture Development. Its aim was to facilitate the adoption of CA systems by smallholder farmers. This culminated in the establishment in 2009 of a large PAN-African project on Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA).
Farmers in Shamva District, Zimbabwe, are introduced to an animal traction direct seeder which allows seeding and fertilizing directly into crop residues with minimum soil disturbance. Photo: Thierfelder/CIMMYT
Today, CA research at CIMMYT in Africa is increasingly focused on adaptation to the changing climate, which is leading to more erratic rainfall, increased heat stress and seasonal dry spells, in an effort to increase the use of climate-resilient cropping systems. CIMMYTâs work on CA in the region has shown that the practice can significantly increase farmersâ resilience to climate variability and change. Combining sustainable intensification practices with improved varieties has proved to increase productivity by 30-60 percent and income by 40-100 percent under drought conditions.
Despite CAâs successes, many smallholder farmers in developing countries still lack knowledge and understanding of sustainable agricultural practices and often revert to traditional farming practices that are labor-intensive and environmentally damaging. Also, CA systems are difficult to scale out if favorable policies and markets are not in place.
Araujo Njambo (right), a smallholder maize farmer in Mozambique, was used to the traditional way of farming that his family has practiced for generations, which required clearing a plot of land and burning all plant residues remaining on the soil to get a clean seedbed. However, as demand for land increases, this fuels deforestation and depletes soil nutrients. CIMMYT has been working with farmers like Njambo since 2006 to adapt sustainable intensification practices like CA to his circumstances. In the 2013-2014 cropping season, Njambo harvested his best maize yield in the last six years thanks to CA. Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT
Mineral fertilizer, for example, is a basic agricultural input, but its adoption and use remain limited in sub-Saharan Africa. Farmers apply less than 10 kilograms per hectare on average due mainly to poor distribution networks (especially in rural areas) and high prices that are 3-5 times those in Europe. Lack of knowledge and training on how to use mineral fertilizer and other agricultural inputs renders them ineffective.
New discoveries in agriculture and breeding must be adaptable and transferable to smallholder farmers. This means improving physical distribution of technologies, training, knowledge and information sharing, credit availability and creating enabling environments for growth.
Just before passing away in September 2009, world-renowned agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug famously implored the world to âtake it to the farmerâ â a call to action we must follow if we are to sustainably feed the world by 2050. Without a basic understanding of good agricultural practices, most smallholder farmers will not be able to grow enough crops to move past subsistence farming.
Grain yield from a conservation agriculture demonstration plot in Zomba District, Malawi, is measured precisely as part of CIMMYTâs research on the combined benefits of drought tolerant maize and CA. Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT
CIMMYT maize seed system specialist James Gethi inspects a maize field in Nzega, Tanzania. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT.
Maize is not only a staple in diets across sub-Saharan Africa â it is a cash crop that supports millions of farmer households. Maize is grown on over 33 million hectares in just 13 of 48 countries in the region â accounting for 72% of all maize produced in the region. This crop, without a doubt, is king.
However, rising temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns threaten maize production across the continent. Total crop loss occurs if thereâs little or no rainfall at the flowering stage, when maize is most vulnerable. And when temperatures increase, soil moisture is quickly depleted and farmers have to resort to prolonged irrigation, a costly undertaking for smallholders.
Drought-tolerant (DT) maize varieties produce better yields both in good and bad seasons compared to most commercial varieties available in the region. Since 2006, CIMMYT has developed 200 drought-tolerant varieties and hybrids, many of which also possess desirable traits such as resistance to major diseases.
In addition to developing quality maize that is high yielding and disease resistant, the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project led by CIMMYT is working to ensure these improved varieties are affordable and attractive to farmers. Two and a half million smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia are expected to benefit from in-country partnerships and networks that boost production and distribution of DT maize seed. These countries account for 25 percent (or 252 million) of the population in sub-Saharan Africa, and 41 percent of maize production areas.
To access quality improved seed, farmers in Africa face various constraints such as high prices, low supply and limited knowledge about improved seeds. Through surveys conducted among nearly 5,000 farmer households in Kenya, Mozambique and Zambia, CIMMYT learned that when farmers buy seed, the traits they care most about are early crop maturity, yield, and tolerance/resistance to stresses such as drought and disease. In most cases, long-term use and preference for a particular seed variety influence buying habits, but now farmers are increasingly focusing on tolerance/resistance to drought, pests and diseases.
âOur key focus is on sustainable seed production and increasing demand,â said Kate Fehlenberg, DTMASS project manager. âThis means building market skills for producers and creating an environment to entice risk-averse farmers to try new drought-tolerant varieties.â
CIMMYT is working with partners to increase farmer preference for DT seed by supporting promotional and marketing activities, and improving seed production capacity. CIMMYT will also work to ensure local institutions have the technological and production capacity to independently produce and distribute seed throughout DTMASS target countries.
Scaling activities will allow DT seed to spread across various geographical areas (scaling âoutâ) and build the capacity of local institutions to independently control sustainable seed production (scaling âupâ). Both scaling up and out rely on giving stakeholders in the maize value chain compelling reasons to continue producing, distributing and consuming DT maize varieties.
Over 50 selected small- and medium-scale seed companies will be supported through training workshops on seed production and seed business management. Seed companies will also receive financial grants to support expansion activities such as purchasing special seed processing and packing equipment, restoring seed storage and other facilities, and marketing.
The next big challenge for DTMASS is to increase adoption of drought-tolerant maize, which will strengthen seed systems in Africa. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT.
This story is one of a series of features written during CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary year to highlight significant advancements in maize and wheat research between 1966 and 2016.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) â Maize and wheat biofortification can help reduce malnutrition in regions where nutritional options are unavailable, limited or unaffordable, but must be combined with education to be most effective, particularly as climate change jeopardizes food security, according to researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
Climate change could kill more than half a million adults in 2050 due to changes in diets and bodyweight from reduced crop productivity, a new report from the University of Oxford states. Projected improvement in food availability for a growing population could be cut by about a third, leading to average per-person reductions in food availability of 3.2 percent, reductions in fruit and vegetable intake of 4 percent and red meat consumption of .07 percent, according to the report.
Over the past 50 years since CIMMYT was founded in 1966, various research activities have been undertaken to boost protein quality and micronutrient levels in maize and wheat to help improve nutrition in poor communities, which the Oxford report estimates will be hardest hit by climate change. As one measure of CIMMYTâs success, scientists Evangelina Villegas and Surinder Vasal were recognized with the prestigious World Food Prize in 2000 for their work developing quality protein maize (QPM).
âWeâve got a lot of balls in the air to tackle the ongoing food security crisis and anticipate future needs as the population grows and the climate changes unpredictably,â said Natalia Palacios, head of maize quality, adding that a key component of current research is the strategic use of genetic resources held in the CIMMYT gene bank.
âCIMMYTâs contribution to boosting the nutritional value of maize and wheat is hugely significant for people who have access to these grains, but very little dietary diversity otherwise. Undernourishment is epidemic in parts of the world and itâs vital that we tackle the problem by biofortifying crops and including nutrition in sustainable intensification interventions.â
Undernourishment affects some 795 million people worldwide â meaning that more than one out of every nine people do not get enough food to lead a healthy, active lifestyle, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). By 2050, reduced fruit and vegetable intake could cause twice as many deaths as under-nutrition, according to the Oxford report, which was produced by the universityâs Future of Food Programme.
As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to one-quarter of the worldâs daily energy intake, and contributing 27 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to FAO.
âNutrition is very complex and in addition to deploying scientific methods such as biofortification to develop nutritious crops, we try and serve an educational role, helping people understand how best to prepare certain foods to gain the most value,â Palacios said.  âSometimes communities have access to nutritious food but they donât know how to prepare it without killing the nutrients.â
The value of biofortified crops is high in rural areas where people have vegetables for a few months, but must rely solely on maize for the rest of the year, she added, explaining that fortified flour and food may be more easily accessed in urban areas where there are more dietary options.
Some of the thousands of samples that make up the maize collection in the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center at CIMMYT’s global headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico. (Photo: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/CIMMYT)
PROMOTING PROTEIN QUALITY
Conventional maize varieties cannot provide an adequate balance of amino acids for people with diets dominated by the grain and with no adequate alternative source of protein. Since the breakthrough findings of Villegas and Vasal, in some areas scientists now develop QPM, which offers an inexpensive alternative for smallholder farmers.
CIMMYT scientists also develop QPM and other nutritious conventionally bred maize varieties for the Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia (NuME) project funded by the government of Canada. NuME, which also helps farmers improve agricultural techniques by encouraging the deployment of improved agronomic practices, builds on a former seven-year collaborative QPM effort with partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
In Ethiopia, where average life expectancy is 56 years of age, the food security situation is critical due in part to drought caused by a recent El Nino climate system, according to the U.N. World Food Programme. More than 8 million people out of a population of 90 million people are in need of food assistance. Almost 30 percent of the population lives below the national poverty line, 40 percent of children under the age of 5 are stunted, 9 percent are acutely malnourished and 25 percent are underweight, according to the 2014 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey. The NuMe project is helping to shore up sustainable food supplies and boost nutrition in the country, where the vast majority of people live in rural areas and are engaged in rain-fed subsistence agriculture.
INCREASING MICRONUTRIENTS
CIMMYT maize and wheat scientists tackle micronutrient deficiency, or âhidden hunger,â through the interdisciplinary, collaborative program HarvestPlus, which was launched in 2003 and is now part of the Agriculture for Nutrition and Health program managed by the CGIAR consortium of agricultural researchers.
Some 2 billion people around the world suffer from micronutrient deficiency, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Micronutrient deficiency occurs when food does not provide enough vitamins and minerals. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are most affected by hidden hunger, which is characterized by iron-deficiency anemia, vitamin A and zinc deficiency.
Work at CIMMYT to combat micronutrient deficiency is aligned with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — in particular Goal 2, which aims to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. The SDG also aims to meet internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and to address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, older people, pregnant and lactating women by 2025.
WHOLESOME WHEAT
The wheat component of the HarvestPlus program involves developing and distributing wheat varieties with high zinc levels by introducing genetic diversity from wild species and landraces into adapted wheat.
Zinc deficiency affects about one-third of the world’s population, causing lower respiratory tract infections, malaria, diarrheal disease, hypogonadism, impaired immune function, skin disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and anorexia, according to the WHO, which attributes about 800,000 deaths worldwide each year to zinc deficiency. Additionally, worldwide, approximately 165 million children under five years of age are stunted due to zinc deficiency.
A project to develop superior wheat lines combining higher yield and high zinc concentrations in collaboration with national agriculture program partners in South Asia has led to new biofortified varieties 20 to 40 percent superior in grain zinc concentration.
âWeâre playing a vital role in this area,â said CIMMYT wheat breeder Velu Govindan. âOur research has led to new varieties agronomically equal to, or superior to, other popular wheat cultivars with grain yield potential at par or — in some cases â even superior to popular wheat varieties adopted by smallholder farmers in South Asia where weâve been focused.â
Scientists are studying the potential impact of climate-change related warmer temperatures and erratic rainfall on the nutritional value of wheat. An evaluation of the effect of water and heat stress with a particular focus on grain protein content, zinc and iron concentrations revealed that protein and zinc concentrations increased in water and heat-stressed environments, while zinc and iron yield was higher in non-stressed conditions.
âThe results of our study suggest that genetic gains in yield potential of modern wheat varieties have tended to reduce grain zinc levels,â Govindan said. âIn some instances, environmental variability might influence the extent to which this effect manifests itself, a key finding as we work toward finding solutions to the potential impact of climate change on food and nutrition security.â
Additionally, a recent HarvestPlus study revealed that modern genomic tools such as genomic selection hold great potential for biofortification breeding to enhance zinc concentrations in wheat.
IMPROVING MAIZE
Scientists working with HarvestPlus have developed vitamin A-enriched âorangeâ maize. Orange maize is conventionally bred to provide higher levels of pro-vitamin A carotenoids, a natural plant pigment found in such orange foods as mangoes, carrots, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, dark leafy greens and meat, converted into vitamin A by the body.
Maize breeders, who are currently working on developing varieties with 50 percent more pro-vitamin A than the first commercialized varieties released, identified germplasm with the highest amounts of carotenoids to develop the varieties. In Zambia, Zimbawe and Malawi, 12 varieties, which are agronomically competititve and have about 8ppm provitamin A, have been released.
Provitamin A from maize is efficiently absorbed and converted into vitamin A in the body.  Stores of Vitamin A in 5 to 7 year old children improved when they ate orange maize, according to HarvestPlus research. The study also shows preliminary data demonstrating that children who ate orange maize for six months experienced an improved capacity of the eye to adjust to dim light. The findings indicate an improvement in night vision, a function dependent on adequate levels of vitamin A in the body.
Researchers are also developing maize varieties high in zinc.
Efforts on this front have been a major focus in Latin America, especially in Nicaragua, Guatemala and Colombia. Scientists expect the first wave of high zinc hybrids and varieties will be released in 2017. Further efforts are starting in such countries as Zambia, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Results from the first nutrition studies in young rural Zambian children indicate that biofortified maize can meet zinc requirements and provide an effective dietary alternative to regular maize for the vulnerable population.
HARARE — Several African nation ambassadors to Zimbabwe pledged to step up support for improved agriculture technologies during a visit to The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT) Southern Africa Regional Office (CIMMYT-SARO) in Harare, Zimbabwe, in April.
The special field day and meeting, held as part of CIMMYT 50 celebrations, gave ambassadors from 12 African countries (Algeria, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa and Zambia) the opportunity to learn about CIMMYT projects that are helping to strengthen food systems in sub-Saharan Africa and discuss future initiatives.
During the visit, the need to develop policies that promote smallholder farmersâ access to technologies that enable them to increase yields and improve crop resilience in the face of challenges such as droughts, as well as policies to address poverty, food security and economic growth surfaced as main priorities for the countries represented.
African ambassadors learned about CIMMYT-promoted agricultural technologies while visiting the CIMMYT-Southern Africa Regional Office (CIMMYT-SARO) in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT
In his welcome address, Mulugetta Mekuria, CIMMYT-SARO regional representative, pointed out, âSub-Saharan Africaâs food security faces numerous challenges, but drought is the most devastating because our farmers rely on rainfed agriculture. As you will see, CIMMYTâs work has created high-level impacts. But a host of challenges still hamper socioeconomic growth, such as reduced funding of agricultural research.â
According to Mekuria, CIMMYTâs work in sub-Saharan Africa aims to ensure farmers can access improved maize seed with drought tolerance and other relevant traits that contribute to higher, more stable yields, as well as technologies such as optimal fertilizer application. He noted that farmers in sub-Saharan African countries lag behind other regions in fertilizer application, applying, on average, less than 10 kg per hectare, which is 10 percent of the world average.
Another issue brought up was the lack of funding of agricultural research for development by most bilateral agencies on which African governments depend. The diplomats pledged to advise their governments of the need to increase support for improved agricultural technologies. They agreed that funding agricultural research work in line with the 2006 Abuja Declaration to allocate at least 1 percent of the donor countryâs gross domestic product to agricultural research is of the utmost importance. Enhancing access to markets, extension services and inputs and supporting women and youth in agriculture were also identified as fundamental policy issues that need to be urgently addressed. Strong partnerships and collaborative efforts between various African governments, CIMMYT and the private sector were also called for.
The ambassadors were briefed on CIMMYTâs achievements in the region, and how, in partnership with national agricultural research systems  and private seed companies, they have released more than 200 drought-tolerant maize varieties that perform significantly better under moderate drought conditions than varieties already on the market, while yielding the same â or better â in a normal season. More than 6 million farmers in sub-Saharan Africa grow improved drought tolerant maize varieties developed by CIMMYT and partners.
A wide range of CIMMYT-SARO technologies were also showcased, including sustainable intensification strategies based on the principles of conservation agriculture. Compared to conventional cropping practices, conservation agriculture increases yields after two to five cropping seasons due to the combined benefits of minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention and crop rotation. Conservation agriculture has been successfully promoted in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe for the past 10 years. For example, yield increases of 20-60 percent were recorded in trials in farmersâ fields in Malawi, while in Zambia and Zimbabwe, yields increased by almost 60% using animal traction innovation agriculture technologies.
Other technologies demonstrated were pro-vitamin A maize and quality protein maize. The diplomats learned that CIMMYT had released eight pro-vitamin A hybrids with 28% more vitamin A content in Zambia (4), Malawi (3) and Zimbabwe (1). On improved varieties, CIMMYT sent 823 seed shipments (1.3 million envelopes) to 835 institutions worldwide over the last four years.
âThe success of our projects goes beyond the breeding work. Through the value chain approach, our work now is to ensure that seed companies and, ultimately, maize farmers benefit from the seed that is developed with their needs in mind. Getting drought-tolerant maize and other improved seeds to the markets and farmers is a critical next step,â said James Gethi, CIMMYT seed systems specialist.
HARARE (CIMMYT) — As CIMMYT joins the world in celebrating the International Day for Biological Diversity on 22 May, it can take pride in the diverse maize varieties it develops which have improved the livelihoods and health of smallholder farmers globally.
These varieties have brought tremendous benefits to smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Over 90 percent of agricultural production in SSA is rainfed, which puts farmers at risk for drought and heat in addition to the poor soil fertility, pests and diseases they face. Drought alone damages about 40 percent of all maize crops in SSA, endangering the livelihoods and food security of millions of smallholder farmers.
Stress tolerant maize not only reduces risks for farmers in the face of unpredictable environmental and biological conditions, it also allows more stable crop production. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) breeds high-yielding, locally-adapted maize varieties with farmer-preferred traits such as drought tolerance, nitrogen use efficiency, and disease and insect pest resistance. Many of these varieties also have increased nutritional traits such as high protein quality and increased provitamin A content, which help increase childrenâs weight and height growth rates and reduce childhood blindness.
âSince working with CIMMYT, we have unlocked our production potential,” says Sylvia Horemans, marketing director of Zambia-based Kamano Seeds. Since 2012 Kamano Seeds has benefitted from CIMMYT to strengthen its work in maize breeding, seed production and marketing. Photo: CIMMYT
âIncreasing adoption of these stress tolerant maize varieties is helping African farmers cope with drought and climate change, improve yields at household level and thereby enhance the livelihoods and food security of tens of millions of farmers,â said Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT-Southern Africa maize breeder.
These drought-tolerant varieties have proven resistant despite harsh conditions brought on in southern Africa by an intense El Niño, according to Magorokosho. âSignificant impacts have been observed in plots of smallholder farmers who grow these varieties.â
In 2014, over 54,000 metric tons of certified seed of the stress tolerant maize varieties were produced and delivered by partner seed companies for planting by smallholders. By the end of that year, more than five million smallholders had planted the improved drought tolerant varieties on over two million hectares, benefiting more than 40 million people in 13 countries in SSA.
Today, there are more than 200 stress tolerant maize varieties that yield the same or more than commercial varieties under average rainfall, and more importantly, produce up to 30 percent more than commercial varieties under moderate drought conditions. Armed with these improved varieties, CIMMYT is assuming a greater role to ensure stress tolerant maize reaches nearly five and a half million smallholder households in SSA by the end of 2019.
âEven with a little rain, this seed does well,â says a smallholder farmer Philip Ngolania, in south-central Kenya, referring to a drought-tolerant maize variety he planted during the 2015 crop season. âWithout this seed, I would have nothing. Nothing, like my neighbours who did not use the variety.” Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT
âIn close collaboration with our partners, we were able to create excitement about what can be achieved with drought tolerant maize in Africa,â said Tsedeke Abate, leader of CIMMYTâs Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa project. CIMMYT is working with national agricultural research systems, international research centers, and other development programs to disseminate improved maize seed to smallholder farmers in SSA through small-and medium-sized seed companies.
âThe work we have undertaken on drought tolerant maize has created significant impacts. However, several challenges still remain,â cautioned B.M. Prasanna, Director of CIMMYTâs Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE. One of these challenges is maize lethal necrosis (MLN), which emerged in Kenya in 2011 and has since devastated maize crops across East Africa. CIMMYT is working to generate improved stress tolerant maize varieties with resistance to MLN and other major diseases.
Maize production in Africa is growing rapidly, making maize the most widely cultivated crop on the continent, and the staple food of more than 300 million people. Providing farmers with diverse, improved seed choices will thus strengthen food security, health and livelihoods in SSA.
Maize is a staple food for 900 million poor consumers globally, who often rely on small-scale farmers for the food they find in the market. For these farmers, improved seeds that can thrive in the challenging environments they live are a gateway to higher yields and a better life. With traits offering greater resilience to drought, disease and other stresses, improved varieties allow farming families to invest more in their livelihoods and childrenâs futures.
One example is Leskari Ngoidma, a farmer from northern Tanzania, who in 2015 planted the drought tolerant maize variety HB513 known locally as ngamia, the Kiswahili word for camel. âI got 15 bags of maize from my one-acre farm. In a year when the rains are really bad like they were in 2015, I usually only manage to harvest at the most five bags. This is good seed!â
Through the platform provided by the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE, CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture works with over 300 governmental, non-governmental and private sector partners â especially from local seed sectors â to give small-scale farmers access to the best agricultural technologies. In 2015, these partnerships led to at least 64Â new maize varieties being approved for release in 15 countries.
Peter Mutisya, sales and marketing director at MultiAgro Trading Main Suppliers (MAMS), described the popularity of an improved maize variety first released in 2013 in Tanzania. Yielding 8.5 to 10 tons per hectare under optimal conditions, successful on-farm demonstrations mean that in 2016 the company will produce 50 tons of MAMSH093 seed in Tanzania for the October short rains, with plans to spread to Kenya and Uganda. âWomen farmers particularly love this maize variety because of its sweet taste and the quality protein it offers,â said Mutisya.
In addition to higher and more stable yields, most of the varieties combine several special traits into one seed. Three varieties in South Africa combine drought and heat tolerance, perform well in soils with low phosphorous and low nitrogen and are resistant to the diseases gray leaf spot, maize streak virus, and turcurium leaf blight.
In western Africa, 15 maize varieties released in 2015 will help farmers resist the deadly witchweed disease, or Striga. In Latin America, four new maize varieties were released with resistance to the tar spot complex disease that has emerged as an epidemic in recent years. In sub-Saharan Africa, 10 new maize varieties with quality protein content were released in 2015.
Learn more about how improved seeds are helping maize farmers throughout Africa and globally here.
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — Locally adapted marketing initiatives by an innovative seed company are leading farmers in the area around one of Tanzaniaâs largest agricultural towns to plant Lubango, a high-performing, drought-tolerant maize variety.
Lubango, which means âblessedâ in local Sukuma language, was first produced by IFFA Seed in 2015 and is already replacing traditional seeds on farms across Tanzania as a result of the company’s hands-on, targeted marketing approach. Headquartered in the city of Arusha since 2008, IFFA now dedicates more than 140 hectares (345 acres) of Nzega farmland to Lubango production to meet the increasing demand for the seed.
Demonstration plots in 10 of Tanzania’s 12 districts have made a big impact, said Emmanuel Mponda, IFFA seed promotions manager, who believes that demonstration plots are the most effective of all the marketing tools because they allow farmers to see direct benefits in their fields.
âLubango was created with the smallholder farmer in mind,” Mponda said. “It’s drought-tolerant, affordable, high-yielding, and great tasting.”
âVisits from Mponda helped me realize that good farm practices are necessary for any kind of crop to flourish,â said farmer Michael Kumbere. âI made sure to invest in fertilizer for Lubango, and I can already see that the yield benefits would outweigh any costs I incur.â
Part of Mpondaâs work involves ensuring farmers are equipped with smart agronomic practices. For example, farmers who plant and space crops in a straight line, as opposed to haphazardly scattering seeds, create ample space for weeding, save on inputs such as fertilizer and  efficiently use sunlight and soil nutrients.
âAs seasons pass, I’m amazed at the progress farmers have made by accepting changes in their farming practices to maximize gains,â Mponda said, adding that novel promotion strategies are necessary to compete with the numerous other seed companies in the country.
âWe’re certainly leveraging modern marketing methods to raise awareness on drought-tolerant varieties, and Lubango in particular. So far, audio-visual tools are a hit,â Mponda said.
âThis was my first try planting a drought-tolerant hybrid variety, and [after] seeing all this healthy maize, I am a believer,â said Daniel Reuben (above), a farmer for more than 30 years, referring to Lubango.  With Lubango, farmers with more than two acres (.81 hectares) of land can save up to 50 percent on their seed purchase, at least $13 compared to similar brands, which can be invested in fertilizer or paid labor. Normally, Reuben uses all his harvest to feed his family, but this year he expects to be able to produce more to sell and earn extra profit. CIMMYT/Kelah KaimenyiIFFA Seed recently produced a short film detailing the life cycle of Lubango maize from planting to harvest, and sharing farming tips and tricks at every stage. The video will be screened at all farmer field days and other relevant events hosted or attended by the company. Audio announcements are broadcast at Nzegaâs local railway station, a previously untapped channel, and the company produces flyers for distribution to farmers at events and seed purchase areas. Mponda is keen on large-scale visual outputs, and has identified billboards and television adverts as his next course of action.
Through technical and financial support and capacity building initiatives, CIMMYTâs Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) project works closely with IFFA Seed Company and other private partners throughout eastern and southern Africa to bring affordable, improved maize seed to 2.5 million people. DTMASS aims to meet demand and improve access to good-quality maize through production of improved drought-tolerant, stress-resilient and high-yielding maize varieties for smallholder farmers through 2020.
Malawian smallholder farmer Dyless Kasawala of Kasungu District demonstrates her maize-legume rotation technologies. Through SIMLESA, she has managed to attain household food security in an area plagued by frequent droughts. CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira
Delegates gathered in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, for the sixth SIMLESA annual review and planning meeting to discuss the projectâs progress and achievements, share lessons learned over the past six years, and deliberate over potential improvements for implementing activities in the project’s final two years.
âThe SIMLESA project has targeted increasing farm-level food security and productivity in the context of climate risk and change,” said Bright Kumwembe, Â principal secretary of Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, speaking on behalf of the minister. “The program has become a model to many regional and sub-regional collaborative projects that address agricultural intensification. In this respect, the challenge to NARSÂ lies especially in developing technologies, information and knowledge that sustainably increase agricultural productivity and at the same time reduce down-side risks.â
As part of the meeting, participants visited three farmers in Kasungu District who are involved in on-farm trials assessing conventional farming practices, conservation agriculture with no herbicide application, conservation agriculture using herbicides and conservation agriculture including maize-legume crop rotations. Farmer Dyless Kasawala, was observed to have managed to improve soil fertility in her fields, increase her maize yield and improve food security in her household.
Farmers in the area are engaging in agro-processing activities, such as extracting oil from groundnuts, to add value to their farming enterprises.
Established in 2010 and funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), SIMLESA has as its primary objective to improve food security for 650,000 small farming households by increasing food production and incomes of vulnerable farmers with commercial viability by 2023. Ongoing SIMLESA Phase II activities will conclude in June 2018.
âThe Program Steering Committee (PSC) recognizes the hard work of all participants and especially the dedicated scientists in the national programs. SIMLESA is on track to deliver significant impacts in the next two years, âsaid Eric Craswell, committee co-chair.
Delegates discussed the favorable Mid-Term Review (MTR) conducted last year. âSIMLESA I and II is a complex program with many partner countries, agencies, science disciplines, and objectives. Despite that complexity, the MTR found the program on the whole to be well-managed by CIMMYT, and the NARS partners had a strong sense of ownership of the program. It was very evident that the whole SIMLESA team is determined to meet the objectives of the program, to contribute and to work as a team,” Craswell said.
Mulugetta Mekuria, SIMLESA project leader, highlighted the 2015 MTR recommendations, which indicate that SIMLESA should rebalance plans and activities of all program objectives and various program-wide themes; ensure that the science which underpins the development of sustainable intensification packages and policy dialogue is completed and published in extension reports and peer-reviewed literature; and refocus its monitoring and evaluation processes, communication plans and gender activities.
To achieve these changes, each country and the program as a whole should prepare, within the approved budget, a revised work plan extending to the end of SIMLESA II. The program would then be able to make an informed decision on what to prioritize and what needs to be phased out, Mekuria said.
Participants discussed key issues in phase II, related to MTR recommendations, concluding that the goals should include:
consolidating activities during the 2016-2018 period, with no new activities implemented during the remaining life of the program
documenting scientific outputs for all the research conducted and synthesize the lessons learned
streamlining logframe activities and developing a revised work plan
scaling-out available technologies in collaboration with partners; and
redesigning the project’s livestock component to align it with SIMLESA objectives.
SIMLESA program steering committee co-chair Eric Craswell told participants to refocus their work through scaling up activities. CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira
John Dixon, ACIAR principal advisor/research program manager, cropping systems and economics, said the 2015 SIMLESA review had highlighted the commitment to the program by national partners.
âThis gives us the opportunity to rebalance plans, focus on areas that can be brought together and synthesize results,” Dixon said. “Now is the time to scale-up by taking our research to farmers through extension, non-governmental organizations and farmersâ associations â moving from doing, to handing over the research.â
Traditional maize storage in Tete province in Mozambique, April 27, 2015. CIMMYT/Tsedeke Abate
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) â At least 40 million smallholder farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa are profiting from more than 200 new drought-tolerant varieties of maize produced as part of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project, according to scientists at the Center for International Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT).
The project, underway between 2007 and 2015, led to the development of varieties with traits preferred by farmers that have successfully made smallholders in 13 countries more resilient to the erratic effects of climate change on growing conditions.
âSmallholder farmers in this region plant maize varieties that are obsolete and end up getting poor harvests, but that’s changing now thanks to the gallant efforts of the DTMA team that has released and commercialized a large number of modern varieties,â said Tsedeke Abate, the CIMMYT scientist who led the project. âThanks to the new drought-tolerant varieties, many families have managed to overcome harsh growing conditions and boost yields substantially.â
âThe adoption of the improved drought tolerant seed varied from one country to another and each county had unique challenges that made it difficult for some farmers to take up the new varieties. Some farmers were not aware of the availability of the seed in their markets, for some the seed was not available or the price was high,â Abate said. âWe worked with national seed companies in these countries to increase production of certified seed so that many more farmers can buy the seed at an affordable price as well as demonstrating the benefits of the new varieties.â
Anthony Mwega, a farmer and leader in Olkalili village, in Hai district a semi-arid area in northern Tanzania about 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the capital Dar es Salaam, beat the price constraint by mobilizing 66 farmers from his village and neighboring villages Makiwaru and Ngaikati to pool resources and buy 5 metric tons of HB513 â a drought-tolerant and nitrogen-use efficient variety â at a very affordable price from Meru Agro Tours and Consultant Seed Company.
âThe overall purchasing price we bought the seed for was about 50 percent less than the market price because we bought it in bulk,â said Mwega. âI saw how good the maize performed in demonstrations organized by Meru Agro during the 2014 planting season with extremely low rains, and knew this is a variety that my people would definitely benefit from.â
Scientists project that millions more farmers will gain access to and plant the new varieties due to collaborations with more than 100 national seed companies, which continue to make a significant contribution to the improvement of seed systems in Angola, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
âCollaboration with CIMMYT through the DTMA project has been extremely instrumental in facilitating me to release my own varieties,â said Zubeda Mduruma of Aminata Seed Company in Tanga, Tanzania who has collaborated with CIMMYT both in maize breeding and production work since 1976.
âI was able to get some of the best germplasm, evaluate them through on-farm and on-station trials, and successfully released three of the best drought tolerant varieties in the market, including one quality protein DT variety that is very popular among women because of its nutritional value. With the quality of maize we get from CIMMYT, itâs very possible to release new improved varieties every year with much better yield compared to popular commercial varieties in our shops.â
The story of this success is told through a series of pictures and profiles of DTMA target countries. Each country profile illustrates the context of national maize production and the changes underway thanks to released drought-tolerant varieties.
The DTMA project will continue, first as the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Seed Scaling (DTMASS) initiative. Under the project, which is funded by USAID, CIMMYT scientists aim to facilitate the production of close to 12,000 metric tons of certified seed for use by about 2.5 million people, in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
In partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture who partnered with CIMMYT in DTMA work, the new Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa project will also carry forward the success and invaluable lessons from DTMA and CIMMYTâs Improved Maize for Africa Soils project, to develop new stress tolerant varieties to help farmers mitigate multiple stresses that occur concurrently in farmersâ fields.
While climate change is expected to decrease maize yields in most parts of Africa by a margin of 6-12%, some countries like Ethiopia and Kenya may see overall maize yields increase under climate change, according to CIMMYT climate and crop models.
âOur results suggest that the likely maize yield increase in Ethiopia and Kenya is due to anticipated temperature increases in the highland regions,â says Jill Cairns, maize physiologist at CIMMYT. Current temperatures in this area are too low to produce good yields, so an increase in temperature could positively affect maize farmersâ harvests in the future.
âNew maize varieties will be needed to capitalize on these potential yield gains in the highlands,â adds Cairns. Commercial maize varieties currently grown in the East African highlands will not tolerate future higher temperatures. Varieties that are adapted to the regionâs future climate coupled with recommended agronomic practices and correct timing for planting will be necessary to increase farmersâ yields.
Maize production overall has been declining in Kenya since 1982, due largely to drought conditions experienced across Africa and lack of varieties that can withstand this stress. CIMMYT estimates that 40% of Africaâs maize growing areas face occasional drought stress, resulting in yield losses of 10-25%. As a result of these climate shocks, Africa yields just two tons per hectare of maize, compared to the worldâs average of nearly five tons per hectare.
CIMMYT is currently developing climate and crop models to predict the impact of future climate on maize production, and has also established the worldâs largest tropical maize stress screening network under public domain. This network is being used by partners, including national agricultural organizations in SSA, to develop improved varieties that will tolerate current and future climate challenges. Currently being addressed are drought, heat, low soil fertility, insect pests and diseases such as maize lethal necrosis (MLN).
Improved maize hybrids with drought tolerance and nitrogen use efficiency are already on the market across eastern Africa and in the larger SSA region. Significant efforts have been made in recent years to develop heat tolerant and MLN resistant maize varieties in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. These improved varieties yield much more than current commercial varieties and most have stress tolerant traits that help farmers tackle multiple abiotic and biotic stresses.
CIMMYT, with the support of its partners, has developed 57 improved drought tolerant (DT) maize varieties for eastern Africaâs market, each with farmer-favored traits. Over 12 million people have benefited from DT maize varieties across Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Through public and private seed companies, nearly 17,300 tons of certified DT maize seeds have been produced.
âWith this work on climate resilient maize, we are playing an important part in making Africa a food-secure continent,â says Stephen Mugo, CIMMYTâs Regional Representative for Africa.
Cheap, light, versatile⊠and locally manufactured
Direct seeding of maize using a two-wheel tractor has been made possible over the past decade or so by manufacturing companies in China, India, and Brazil (among others) that produce commercially available seeders. Several of these seeders have been tested for the past two or three years in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia under the Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project supported by the Australian International Food Security Research Center (AIFSRC).
One of the best performing commercially available seeders (in terms of field capacity, precision in seed rate and planting depth, crop emergence, etc.) is manufactured by the Brazilian company Fitarelli. However, this seeder is expensive (above US$ 4,000), difficult to maneuver (especially in small fields), and lacks versatility (minimum row spacing is 80 cm).
In response, several initiatives have aimed at producing toolbar-based seeders to be manufactured locally and cheaply, that could be used in different configurations (to seed one, two, or more rows) and could perform other operations (such as forming planting beds). One such toolbar is the Gongli seeder, which is well suited to sow small grain crops such as wheat and rice in Asian fields, but not maize under typical field conditions in Africa. Two years ago, Jeff Esdaile, inventor of the original Gongli, and Joseph Mutua, from the Kenya Network for Dissemination of Agricultural Technologies, produced a modified version of the Gongli â the Gongli Africa + Â thanks to funding from CRP MAIZE (as reported in Informa No. 1862). In parallel, another toolbar using a different design was produced by Jelle Van Loon and his Smart Mechanization/Machinery and Equipment Innovation team at CIMMYT-Mexico.
Both the Gongli Africa + and the Mexican toolbar have their strengths and their weaknesses. Both have also been judged as too heavy by local service providers. Thus, CRP MAIZE and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture co-funded a two-week session (8-27 October) in Zimbabwe to develop a âhybrid toolbarâ having the strengths of both the Gongli Africa + and the Mexican toolbar but weighing under 100 kg. Jeff Esdaile, Joseph Mutua, and Jelle Van Loon spent the entire two weeks manufacturing three prototypes of the hybrid at the University of Zimbabwe. The two-week session also served as hands-on training for staff of three of Zimbabweâs major manufacturing companies of agricultural equipment (Zimplow LTD, Bain LTD, and Grownet LTD) as well as representatives of the informal sector.
The hybrid toolbar is expected to sell for a quarter of the price of a Fitarelli seeder, although its performance (in terms in term of field capacity, fuel consumption, precision, and crop emergence) is expected to be equivalent. Its weight suits the needs of local service providers better and it is infinitely more versatile (several configurations are possible depending on the desired row spacing, soil conditions, the amount of mulch, etc.). The hybrid toolbar will be thoroughly tested in Zimbabwe during the coming months. A prototype will be shipped to Bangladesh and another to Mexico for further testing and to share the design.
NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) â As the global community marks World Soil Day, African smallholder farmers are contending with low yields due to low-fertility soils prevalent in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. This situation has affected the food security of over 300 million people in the region who depend on maize as their staple food.
For the majority of these smallholder farmers, access to inputs like fertilizers to boost soil productivity has been restricted due to their high cost. The reality is that in Africa fertilizers cost up to six times more than in any other continent.
As a result, nearly three quarters (about 70 percent) of eastern and southern Africaâs maize is grown without fertilizers. As the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and partners work to give farmers a partial solution to this enor
mous challenge, efforts must be intensified to protect and maintain soil resources for sustainable development in Africa and the globe.
The Improved Maize for African Soils (IMAS) Project addresses the problem of low nitrogen in soils. Smallholder farmers can expect to harvest up to 25 percent more from new maize varieties developed by the IMAS project.
These varieties are nitrogen use efficient (NUE), which means they utilize more efficiently the small amount of fertilizer that farmers can afford to apply (typically less than 20 kilograms per hectare) compared to varieties currently on the market. The IMAS project is a public-private partnership involving CIMMYT, the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, South Africaâs Agricultural Research Council and DuPont Pioneer.
In two years â between 2014 and 2015 â 21 NUE hybrids were successfully released in Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. In addition, IMAS helped to increase seed production and distribution of three existing NUE varieties. According to Michael Olsen, IMAS Project Leader, these varieties are expected to reach approximately 84,000 farmers.
âGiving smallholder farmers practical solutions within their environmental conditions is a sustainable means to not only preserve soil resources but address key challenges in maize farming, which is a major livelihood for millions in Africa,â Olsen said.
Many of the released NUE hybrids carry additional traits that are important in the region, such as tolerance to drought and maize lethal necrosis, a devastating viral disease that is new in the region. Donasiana Limo, a farmer from Olkalili village in northern Tanzania, attests to the good performance of HB513, a drought-tolerant and NUE variety he planted during the main cropping season between January and March 2015.
âI did not do much to prepare my land because the rains came very late and ended early. With no fertilizer and failed rains, I did not expect to harvest the seven bags of 50 kilograms from eight kilograms of HB513 seed,â Donasiana said.
âIf I had time to prepare my land and added fertilizer, the harvest would have been so much more.â
Many more farmers from this remote village have benefited immensely from HB513, including Valeria Pantaleo.
Sustainable solutions for African farmers need to be addressed during World Soil Day deliberations. Efforts to facilitate smallholdersâ access to inputs like fertilizers are critical. In addition, to help arrest further soil deterioration emphasis must be placed on adopting correct agronomic practices and appropriate crop varieties available on the market that are well suited to different soil management systems.
Policymakers must formulate strategies for adopting universal practices that maintain soil resources and are adapted to farming environments across Africa. Kenya has already set the pace for maize breeding in Africa by including performance in low-nitrogen soils as a special prerequisite for maize variety release, a step that will help enhance healthy soils in Africa if adopted by other regulatory agencies.
![âThis was my first try planting a drought-tolerant hybrid variety, and [after] seeing all this healthy maize, I am a believer,â says Daniel Reuben (above), a farmer of over 30 years regarding Lubango. âI can already tell that I will have a good harvest from the double cobs on each plant.â Normally, Reuben uses all his harvest to feed his family, but this year he expects to be able to produce more to sell and earn extra profit. Photo: Kelah Kaimenyi/CIMMYT.](http://staging.cimmyt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/kelah_4.jpg)
