The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change estimates that temperatures in Africa are set to rise significantly in coming years, with devastating results for farmers. Some regions could experience two droughts every five years, and see drastic reductions in maize yields over the next three decades.
Research demonstrates that climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is good method of mitigating the effects of climate change, for both farmers and the planet. Associated practices, which increase soil moisture levels and soil biodiversity have been shown to decrease soil erosion by up to 64%. They also have the potential to increase maize yields by 136% and incomes in dry environments by more than twice as much.
However, adoption rates remain low in some of the countries which stand to benefit the most, such as Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where the adoption of complete conservation agriculture systems is currently at 2.5%.
A new series of infographics describes some of the farming constraints will have to be addressed in order to scale climate-smart agricultural practices successfully in the region, taking into account both benefits and challenges for farmers.
According to the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, one of the key constraints to improving food and nutritional security in Africa is the poor post-harvest management that leads to between 14 percent and 36 percent loss of maize grain, thereby aggravating hunger.
Geoffrey Ochiengâ, a smallholder farmer from northern Uganda. He plants the UH5051 variety on his land. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)
Zambiaâs vice-president has recently called to reduce maize dominance and increase crop and diet diversification in his country. The reality is that maize is and will remain a very important food crop for many eastern and southern African countries. Diet preferences and population growth mean that it is imperative to find solutions to increase maize production in these countries, but experts forecast 10 to 30% reduction in maize yields by 2030 in a business-as-usual scenario, with projected temperature increases of up to 2.7 degrees by 2050 and important drought risks.
Knowing the importance of maize for the food security of countries like Zambia, it is crucial to help maize farmers get better and more stable yields under erratic and challenging climate conditions.
To address this, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners have been developing hundreds of new maize varieties with good drought tolerance across sub-Saharan Africa. Stakeholders in the public research and African seed sectors have collaborated through the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project and the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) initiative to develop drought-tolerant seed that also incorporates other qualities, such as nutritional value and disease resistance.
A groundbreaking impact study six years ago demonstrated that drought-tolerant maize significantly reduced poverty and food insecurity, particularly in drought years.
A new study from CIMMYT and the Center for Development Research (ZEF) in the main maize growing areas of Zambia confirms that adopting drought-tolerant maize can increase yields by 38% and reduce the risks of crop failure by 36%.
Over three quarters of the rainfed farmers in the study experienced drought during the survey. These farming families of 6 or 7 people were cultivating 4 hectares of farmland on average, half planted with maize.
A balancing act between potential gains and climate risks
Drought-tolerant maize has a transformational effect. With maize farming becoming less risky, farmers are willing to invest more in fertilizer and other inputs and plant more maize.
However, taking the decision of adopting new farm technologies in a climate risky environment could be a daunting task. Farmers may potentially gain a lot but, at the same time, they must consider downside risks.
As Gertrude Banda, a lead farmer in eastern Zambia, put it, hybrid seeds have a cost and when you do not know whether rains will be enough âthis is a gamble.â In addition to climate uncertainty, farmers worry about many other woes, like putting money aside for urgent healthcare, school fees, or cooking nutritious meals for the family.
Information is power
An additional hurdle to adoption is that farmers may not know all the options available to cope with climate risks. While 77% of Zambia households interviewed said they experienced drought in 2015, only 44% knew about drought-tolerant maize.
This inequal access to knowledge and better seeds, observed also in Uganda, slows adoption of drought-tolerant maize. There, 14% of farmers have adopted drought-tolerant maize varieties. If all farmers were aware of this technology, 8% more farmers would have adopted it.
Because farmers are used to paying for cheap open-pollinated varieties, they are only willing to pay half of the hybrid market price, even though new hybrids are performing very well. Awareness campaigns on the benefits of drought-tolerant maize could boost adoption among farmers.
According to the same study, the potential for scaling drought-tolerant maize could raise up to 47% if drought-tolerant varieties were made available at affordable prices at all agrodealers. Several approaches could be tested to increase access, such as input credit or subsidy schemes.
These impact studies were made possible through the support provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), funders of the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) initiative.
Approaching the homestead of Joseph Maravire and his wife, Reason, on a warm late August afternoon in Bvukururu, Zaka district, Zimbabwe, heaps of dry straw in their farmyard are prominent. ââThis is for mulching for the forthcoming cropping season,ââ explains Reason. Maize stalk residues from last harvest are also stored to feed their livestock and to mix into the manure or for bedding the herd of cattle. These practices have become the norm for the Maravire family as they prepare for the next maize planting season in Zaka, one of the hottest areas of southern Zimbabwe.
âWe never knew of mulching until we interacted with CIMMYT scientists in 2009. Now I cannot imagine working in my field without applying mulch,â says Reason. As one of five families selected in their village to participate in the scaling out of climate-smart agricultural technologies since 2009, the Maravire family demonstrates the evident transformative power of climate-smart agriculture.
Joseph and Reason by their heap of dry straw which is collected in preparation for mulching in the forthcoming 2019-20 season. In this drought-prone region, the Maravire learned the benefits of mulching to protect crops from recurrent dry spells. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
Climate-smart agriculture involves farming practices that improve farm productivity and profitability, help farmers adapt to the negative effects of climate change and mitigate climate change effects, e.g. by soil carbon sequestration or reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Climate-smart practices, such as the locally practiced conservation agriculture, aim at conserving soil moisture, retaining crop residues for soil fertility, disturbing the soil as minimally as possible and diversifying through rotation or intercropping.
As CIMMYT research shows, these practices can boost production and make farmers more food secure.  This is good news for Zimbabwean farmers such as the Maravires. During an episode of El Niño in the 2015-16 and 2018-19 cropping seasons, large parts of southern Africa experienced prolonged dry spells, erratic rainfall and high temperatures initially with floods towards the end of the cropping season. A recent humanitarian appeal indicated that at least 2.9 million people in Zimbabwe were severely food insecure due to poor or no harvests that year.
Under the âOut-scaling climate-smart technologies to smallholder farmers in Malawi, Zambia & Zimbabweââ project — funded by the German development agency GIZ and the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), and implemented under the leadership of the Zambian Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI) with technical oversight by CIMMYT and other collaborating partners from Malawi and Zimbabwe — Â farmers from 19 rural communities in the three target countries received training and guidance on climate-smart agriculture practices and technologies, such as mulching, rotation and the use of direct seeders and ripper tines to practice no tillage.
Mastering climate-smart techniques, season by season
On their 0.4-hectare plot dedicated to the project activities, Joseph and Reason practiced four different planting techniques: direct seeding (sowing directly into crop residue), ripline seeding (sowing in lines created by animal draft-powered rippers), basin planting (sowing manually into planting basins created by hand hoes), and the traditional ox drawn plowing and seeding. They then planted one traditional and three drought-tolerant maize varieties.
âIt soon became clear to us that using a direct seeder or ripper tine, combined with mulching, was the best option, as these sections of the field retained more moisture and produced more maize than the conventional system,â explained Joseph Maravire. Beginning in 2013, the family also started rotating maize and cowpeas and observed a significant increase in their yields. They decided to apply climate-smart agriculture practices on the rest of their 2.5-hectare farm.
âWe learned that cowpeas leave nitrogen in the soil and by the time of harvesting, the leaves from the cowpeas also fall to the ground as residue and add to the mulch for the soil. The shade of cowpea also reduces weed pressure and manual weeding,â said Maravire.
Yields and food security
With these practices, the family has harvested remarkably, even during the dry seasons. In 2015-16, the worst El Niño on record, they harvested 2 tons of maize, despite the severe drought, while other households barely got anything from their fields. In good years, like the last cropping season, the family harvests 3.5 to 4 tons of maize from their entire field, three times more than their annual family food needs of approximately 1.3 tons. The additional cowpea yields of both grain and leaves provide protein-rich complementary food, which improves the familyâs nutrition. To share some of these benefits with their community, the Maravire family donates up to 10% of their produce to poor elderly households in their village.
Overcoming challenges and building resilience
However, the new farming practices did not come without challenges.
âIn the early days of the project, the ripper tine was not simple to use because we could not get the right depth to put manure and the maize seeds,â said Joseph Maravire.
They found a solution by making rip lines around October or November, applying manure at the onset of the rains, ripping again and placing the seed to mix with the manure.
Fall armyworm was another devastating challenge for their plot, as was the case around Zimbabwe. Like other farmers in Zimbabwe, the Maravires had access to pesticides, but the caterpillar showed some resistance to one type of pesticide. Maravire expressed interest in learning biological control options to reduce the pestâs spread.
Scaling climate smart technologies beyond the Maravire homestead
After several years of consistently good harvests with climate-smart agriculture options, the Maravire family has become a model within their community. Working closely with their agricultural extension officer, they formed a CSA farmer support group of 20 families. Joseph Maravire provides services for direct seeding and ripping to the CSA group and ensures that all of their land is prepared using no-tillage planting techniques. The couple regularly demonstrates climate-smart practices to peers during field days, where an average of 300 villagers attend. They also share their knowledge about green manure cover crops â crops such as lablab, jackbean, sunhemp, and velvet bean which, retained on the soil surface, serve as organic fertilizer â a practice they learned from project activities.
For Reason and Joseph Maravire, the rewards for adopting climate-smart agriculture benefit the family beyond food security. The income earned from maize grain sales and cowpea marketing has helped them acquire assets and rebuild one of their homes that was destroyed by Cyclone Idai in March 2019.
Joseph is confident that his family will always produce well on the replenished soil and the technologies they have learned through the project will continue to define their farming practices.
The house of Maravire homestead was damaged by Cyclone Idai in March. Joseph is nearing completion of rebuilding the house using proceeds from recent cowpea sales. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
The maize seed sector in east and southern Africa is male-dominated. However, there are women working in this sector who are breaking social barriers and helping to improve household food security, nutrition and livelihoods by providing jobs and improved seed varieties to farmers.
Researchers from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) conducted interviews with women owners of seed companies in eastern and southern Africa. They shared information on their background, their motivation to start their businesses, what sets their companies apart from the competition, the innovative approaches they use to ensure smallholder farmers adopt improved seed varieties, the unique challenges they face as women in the seed sector and the potential for growth of their companies.
Partners of the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project held their annual meeting May 7â9, 2019, in Lusaka, Zambia, to review the achievements of the past year and to discuss the priorities going forward. Launched in 2016, the STMA project aims to develop multiple stress-tolerant maize varieties for diverse agro-ecologies in sub-Saharan Africa, increase genetic gains for key traits preferred by the smallholders, and make these improved seeds available at scale in the target countries in partnership with local public and private seed sector partners.
The project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), and implemented together with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), national agricultural research systems and seed company partners in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The meeting was officially opened by the Deputy Director of the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), Monde Zulu. âMaize in Africa faces numerous challenges such as drought, heat, pests and disease. Thankfully, these challenges can be addressed through research. I would like to take this opportunity to thank CIMMYT and IITA. Your presence here is a testament of your commitment to improve the livelihoods of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa,â she said.
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners are working together in the fight against challenges such as drought, maize lethal necrosis and fall armyworm. The STMA project applies innovative technologies such as high-throughput phenotyping, doubled haploids, marker-assisted breeding and intensive germplasm screening to develop improved stress-tolerant maize varieties for smallholder farmers. The project team is also strengthening maize seed systems in sub-Saharan Africa through public-private partnerships.
The efforts are paying off: in 2018, 3.5 million smallholder farmers planted stress-tolerant maize varieties in 10 African countries.
The deputy director of the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute (ZARI), Monde Zulu (fourth from left), gives the opening address of the STMA Annual Meeting 2019. Left to right: Mick Mwala, University of Zambia; Tony Cavalieri, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; B.M. Prasanna, CIMMYT; Monde Zulu, ZARI; Mwansa Kabamba, ZARI; Cosmos Magorokosho, CIMMYT; and Abebe Menkir, IITA.
Yielding results
CIMMYT researcher and STMA project leader Cosmos Magorokosho reminded the importance of maize in the region. âMaize is grown on over 35 million hectares in sub-Saharan Africa, and more than 208 million farmers depend on it as a staple crop. However, average maize yields in sub-Saharan Africa are among the lowest in the world.â Magorokosho pointed out that the improved maize varieties developed through the project âprovide not only increased yields but also yield stability even under challenging conditions like drought, poor soil fertility, pests and diseases.â
âSTMA has proved that it is possible to combine multiple stress tolerance and still get good yields,â explained B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYTâs Global Maize Program and the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE). âOne of the important aspects of STMA are the partnerships which have only grown stronger through the years. We are the proud partners of national agricultural research systems and over 100 seed companies across sub-Saharan Africa.â
Keynote speaker Hambulo Ngoma of the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute (IAPRI) addressed the current situation of maize in Zambia, where farmers are currently reeling from recent drought. âMaize is grown by 89% of smallholder farmers in Zambia, on 54% of the countryâs cultivable land, but productivity remains low. This problem will be exacerbated by expected population growth, as the population of Zambia is projected to grow from over 17 million to 42 million by 2050,â he said.
STMA meeting participants pose for a group photo during the field visit to QualiBasic Seed. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)
Down to business
On May 8, participants visited three partner local seed companies to learn more about the opportunities and challenges of producing improved maize seed for smallholder farmers.
Afriseed CEO Stephanie Angomwile discussed her business strategy and passion for agriculture with participants. She expressed her gratitude for the support CIMMYT has provided to the company, including access to drought-tolerant maize varieties as well as capacity development opportunities for her staff.
Bhola Nath Verma, principal crop breeder at Zamseed, explained how climate change has a visible impact on the Zambian maize sector, as the main maize growing basket moved 500 km North due to increased drought. Verma deeply values the partnership with the STMA project, as he can source drought-tolerant breeding materials from CIMMYT and IITA, allowing him to develop early-maturing improved maize varieties that escape drought and bring much needed yield stability to farmers in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.
At QualiBasic Seed, STMA partners were given the opportunity to learn and ask questions about the companyâs operations, including the seed multiplication process in Zambia and the importance of high-quality, genetically pure foundation seed for seed companies.
Emmanuel Angomwile (left) and Stephanie Angomwile (center) answer visitorsâ questions at their seed company, Afriseed. (Photo: Jennifer Johnson/CIMMYT)
Young ideas
The meeting concluded with an awards ceremony for the winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards â Africa, established by MAIZE in collaboration with the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD). These awards recognize the contributions of young women and men under 35 who are implementing innovations in African maize-based agri-food systems, including research-for-development, seed systems, agribusiness, and sustainable intensification. This is the second year of the MAIZE Youth Awards, and the first time it has been held in Africa. Winners include Hildegarde Dukunde of Rwanda and Mila Lokwa Giresse of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the change agent category, Admire Shayanowako of the Republic of South Africa and Ismael Mayanja of Uganda in the research category, and Blessings Likagwa of Malawi in the farmer category.
Winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards â Africa receive their awards at the STMA meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. From left to right: Admire Shayanowako, Blessings Likagwa, Ismael Mayanja and Hildegarde Dukunde. Fifth awardee Mila Lokwa Giresse not pictured. (Photo: J.Bossuet/CIMMYT)
Winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards â Africa receive their awards at the STMA meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. From left to right: Admire Shayanowako, Blessings Likagwa, Ismael Mayanja and Hildegarde Dukunde. Fifth awardee Mila Lokwa Giresse not pictured. (Photo: J.Bossuet/CIMMYT)
LUSAKA, Zambia (CIMMYT) â The CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE) officially announced the winners of the 2019 MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards â Africa at an awards ceremony held on May 9, 2019, in Lusaka, Zambia. These awards recognize the contributions of young women and men under 35 to innovation in African maize-based agri-food systems, including research for development, seed systems, agribusiness, and sustainable intensification. The awards, an initiative of MAIZE in collaboration with Young Professionals for Agricultural Research and Development (YPARD), were offered in three categories: farmer, change agent, and researcher.
The MAIZE Youth Innovators Awards aim to identify young innovators who can serve to inspire other young people to get involved in maize-based agri-food systems. This is the second year of the award, which was launched in 2018 with a first cohort of winners from Asia. Part of the vision is to create a global network of young innovators in maize based systems from around the world.
2019 award recipients were invited to attend the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project meeting in Lusaka, May 7-9, where they had the opportunity to present their work. The project meeting and award ceremony also allowed these young innovators to network and exchange experiences with MAIZE researchers and partners. Looking forward, award recipients may also get the opportunity to collaborate with MAIZE and its partner scientists in Africa on implementing or furthering their innovations.
Dukunde is a graduate in Human Nutrition and serves as a Sales Associate for Agrifood Business Consulting Ltd. She has been at the forefront of preventing aflatoxin contamination in Rwanda by helping smallholder farmers to access low-cost post-harvest equipment, namely DryCardâą and Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags. The DryCardâą is an inexpensive device developed by University of California Davis researchers for determining if dried food is dry enough to prevent mold growth and aflatoxin contamination during storage and reducing post-harvest losses.
Mila Lokwa Giresse (Democratic Republic of the Congo) â Category: Change Agent
Giresse is the CEO of Mobile Agribiz. This company develops the Mobile Agribiz App, an innovative tool to enhance the pest and disease diagnostics of fall armyworm in maize. It uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to easily detect the pest across maize crops at any stage of the production cycle. The app aims to assist farmers, extension workers, and agribusinesses in democratic republic of Congo with early detection and accurate diagnosis. Through SMS and smart alert notifications, the Mobile Agribiz App provides farmers with constant reminders and real-time information on how to detect, manage, and address fall armyworm on maize.
Blessings Likagwa (Malawi) â Category: Farmer
Likagwa lives in Mtunthama, Malawi, where he works on his familyâs farm. From a young age he has had an interest in farming and for the past eight years he has been involved in growing a variety of crops, especially maize and cassava. In the future he hopes to use his bachelorâs degree in Community Development and his interest in technology to help smallholder farmers in Malawi and Eastern Africa adapt to the challenges of climate change and rapid population growth. Since 2018, in collaboration with UNICEF and Kyoto University, he has investigated how drone technology can improve agricultural performance and benefit Malawiâs smallholders.
Ismael Mayanja (Uganda) â Category: Researcher
Mayanja is a 2019 graduate of Makerere University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering. He is currently assisting research at Makerere University to ascertain and quantify post-harvest losses associated with transportation of agricultural produce in the markets of Kampala district, Uganda. His primary research interest lies in post-harvest handling and technology, motivated by the reported 40% post-harvest loss of agricultural produce by farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. He developed a bicycle-powered maize cleaning machine to increase efficiency and reduce time dedicated to cleaning maize at several primary schools in Uganda.
Admire Shayanowako (Republic of South Africa) â Category: Researcher
Shayanowako is a researcher at the African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) – University KwaZulu-Natal. His research focuses on the parasitic weed Striga, also known as witch weed, which causes severe crop losses to millions of small-scale African maize farmers. The goal of the project is to combine breeding for Striga resistance in maize with a soil fungus, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. strigae (FOS) that is highly specific in its pathogenicity to Striga and acts as a biological control agent. The breeding approach aims to develop at least partial host resistance in open pollinated maize germplasms that are adapted to the semi-arid regions. When partial host resistance is augmented with biological control agent FOS, parasitic effects of Striga decline overwhelmingly. Currently, the breeding component of the research has embarked on identification of quantitative trait locus (QTL) controlling Striga resistance in maize through genomic based approaches.
For further information, contact:
Jennifer Johnson
Communications Officer, CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE)
Telephone: +52 (55) 5804 2004 ext. 1036
Email: j.a.johnson@cgiar.org
Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in Uncategorized.
African maize farmers must deal with drought, weeds, and pests, but their problems start with degraded, nutrient-starved soils and their inability to purchase enough nitrogen fertilizer. Maize yields of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are a fraction of those in the developed world, due mainly to the regionâs poor soils and farmersâ limited access to fertilizer or improved maize seed. On average, such farmers apply only 9 kilograms of fertilizer per hectare of cropland. Of that small amount, often less than half is captured by the crop; the rest is leached deep into the soil where plants cannot recover it or otherwise lost.
The Improved Maize for African Soils Project (IMAS)Â develops maize varieties that are better at capturing the small amount of fertilizer that African farmers can afford, and that use the nitrogen they take up more efficiently to produce grain. Project participants will use cutting-edge biotechnology tools such as molecular markersâDNA âsignpostsâ for traits of interestâand transgenic approaches to develop varieties that ultimately yield 30 to 50 percent more than currently available varieties, with the same amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied or when grown on poorer soils.
The varieties developed will be made available royalty-free to seed companies that sell to the regionâs smallholder farmers, meaning that the seed will become available to farmers at the same cost as other types of improved maize seed.
In four years or less, African farmers should have access to IMAS varieties developed using conventional breeding that offer a 20 percent yield advantage over current varieties. Improved varieties developed using DNA marker techniques are expected to be introduced within seven to nine years, and those containing transgenic traits are expected to be available in approximately 10 years, pending product performance and regulatory approvals by national regulatory and scientific authorities, according to the established laws and regulatory procedures in each country.
The second phase of IMAS continues to be implemented through the Seed Production Technology for Africa (SPTA) project.
OBJECTIVES
Conventional and marker assisted breeding to develop hybrids and OPVs with improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) adapted to southern and eastern Africa
Identification and deployment of native trait alleles to enhance yield under low nitrogen conditions through association mapping and Quantitative Trait Loci mapping
Development of transgenic maize varieties adapted to southern and eastern Africa with increased yield under severe nitrogen limitation
Managing NUE varieties for sustainability in African maize cropping systems
Project stewardship, public awareness and capacity building
NUE variety registration, release and dissemination in southern and eastern Africa
Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in Uncategorized.
The Water Efficient Maize for Africa partnership was launched in March 2008 to help farmers manage the risk of drought by developing and deploying maize varieties that yield 24 to 35 percent more grain under moderate drought conditions than currently available varieties. The higher and more reliable harvests will help farmers to feed their families and increase their incomes.
The varieties are being developed using conventional breeding, marker-assisted breeding, and biotechnology, and will be marketed royalty-free to smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa through African seed companies. The current, second phase of the project (2013â2017) includes breeding for resistance to stem borersâinsect pests that seriously damage maize crops in the fieldâas well as product and production management, promotion with seed companies and farmers, and product stewardship activities.
The project focuses on Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The second phase of the project began on February 1, 2013.
OBJECTIVES
Product development. Develop and test drought tolerant and and insect-pest resistant maize varieties through conventional, molecular, and genetic engineering breeding approaches.
Regulatory affairs and compliance. Support multi-location testing and commercial release of drought tolerant and insect-pest resistant maize hybrids in the Water Efficient Maize for Africa partner countries.
Product deployment: Product and production management. Facilitate the marketing and stewardship of drought tolerant and insect-pest resistant hybrid maize seeds, and stimulate private sector investments for sustainable seed production, distribution and us
Communications and outreach. Support testing, dissemination, commercialization, adoption, and stewardship of conventional and transgenic drought tolerant and insect-pest resistant hybrids in the five target countries.
Legal and licensing support. Develop and implement appropriate licensing and intellectual property protection mechanisms for Water Efficient Maize for Africa products.
This four-year Maize Lethal Necrosis Diagnostics and Prevention of Seed Transmission project will coordinate regional efforts to strengthen response to the rapid emergence and spread of Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN).
Coordinated by CIMMYT, it will establish a community of practice among national plant protection organizations in eastern Africa for implementing harmonized MLN diagnostic protocols for detecting MLN-causing viruses and enable commercial seed companies to implement necessary standard operational procedures to produce MLN-free clean seed at various points along the maize seed value chain. It will also step-up MLN surveillance and monitoring in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, three of the major commercial maize seed exporting countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The MLN project will be implemented in close partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, national plant protection organizations and commercial seed companies in eastern Africa. It will also pool expertise from relevant public- and private-sector partners, regional organizations, and seed trade organizations operating in the region.
Partners: Â The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, national plant protection organizations and commercial seed companies in eastern Africa
The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program aims to improve maize and legume productivity by 30 percent and to reduce the expected downside yield risk by 30 percent on approximately on approximately 650,000 farm households by 2023. Launched in 2010, the focal countries of program research are Australia, Botswana, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The main thrust of the SIMLESA program is increasing farm-level food security, productivity and incomes through promotion of maize-legume intercropping systems in the context of reduced climate risk and change.
The program has also laid the foundation for developing conservation agriculture based sustainable intensification options, including integration of improved maize and legume varieties identified for their compatibility with CA-based practices; promoting technology adoption by both female and male farmers; capacity building for national agricultural research systems of partner countries; creating enhanced partnerships and collaboration with established innovation platforms for coordinated scaling-out of SIMLESA-generated options and practices.
Funding Institutions:Â Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)
Partners: National agricultural systems of Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, as well as international and local research centers, extension agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities and agribusinesses along the value chain.
The Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project aims to diminish devastating constraints in maize production across sub-Saharan Africa. The project develops improved maize varieties with resistance and tolerance to drought, low soil fertility, heat, diseases such as Maize Lethal Necrosis and pests affecting maize production areas in the region.
STMA operates in eastern (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda), southern (Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe) and West Africa (Benin, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria). These countries account for nearly 72 percent of all maize area in sub-Saharan Africa and include more than 176 million people who depend on maize-based agriculture for their food security and economic well-being. Climate change effects like drought, a lack of access to resources like fertilizer and other stresses increase the risk of crop failure that negatively affects income, food security and nutrition of millions of smallholder farmers and their families.
The project will develop 70 new stress-tolerant varieties using innovative modern breeding technologies, and promote improved stress-tolerant varieties expected to increase maize productivity up to 50 percent. The project aims to produce estimated 54,000 tons of certified seed to put into the hands of more than 5.4 million smallholder farmer households by the end of 2019.
Objectives
Use innovative breeding tools and techniques applied for increasing the rate of genetic gain in the maize breeding pipeline.
Increase commercialization of improved multiple-stress-tolerant maize varieties with gender-preferred traits by the sub-Saharan African seed sector.
Increase seed availability and farmer uptake of stress-tolerant maize varieties in target countries.
Optimize investment impact through effective project oversight, monitoring, evaluation and communication.
The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project aims to mitigate drought and other constraints to maize production in sub-Saharan Africa, increasing maize yields by at least one ton per hectare under moderate drought and with a 20 to 30 percent increase over farmersâ current yields, benefiting up to 40 million people in 13 African countries. The project brings together farmers, research institutions, extension specialists, seed producers, farmer community organizations and non-governmental organizations. It is jointly implemented by CIMMYT and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, in close collaboration with national agricultural research systems in participating nations. Millions of farmers in the region are already benefiting from the outputs of this partnership, which includes support and training for African seed producers and promoting vibrant, competitive seed markets.
Achievements:
Between 2007 and 12, participants marketed or otherwise made available 60 drought tolerant hybrids and 57 open-pollinated varieties to smallholder farmers
In addition to drought tolerance, the new varieties and hybrids also possess such desirable traits as resistance to major diseases
Engage government officials in policy dialogue to help fast-track varietal releases and fosters competitive seed markets and more
widespread access to quality seed at affordable prices
Help ensure farmersâ access to the best possible products and services, coordinate various capacity-building events and
activities for maize breeders, technicians, seed producers, extension workers, non-government organizations and farmer groups
Provide technical and advisory support to 50 African undergraduate and 28 African graduate students
Expand smallholder farmersâ use of drought and other stress tolerant maize seed to benefit 30 to 40 million people and provide added grain worth $160-200 million each year in drought-affected areas of sub-Saharan Africa
The maize seed sector in eastern and southern Africa is male-dominated. Most seed companies operating in the region are owned and run by men. Access to land and financial capital can often be a constraint for women who are keen on investing in agriculture and agribusiness. However, there are women working in this sector, breaking social barriers, making a contribution to improving household nutrition and livelihoods by providing jobs and improved seed varieties.
The Gender team within the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center’s (CIMMYT) Socioeconomics Program conducted interviews with women owners of seed companies in eastern and southern Africa. They shared information on their background, their motivation to start their businesses, what sets their companies apart from the competition, the innovative approaches they use to ensure smallholder farmers adopt improved seed varieties, the unique challenges they face as women in the seed sector and the potential for growth of their companies. The resulting stories will be published as a report in May 2019.
These women in leading roles serve as mentors and examples to both male and female employees. In honor of International Womenâs Day, held March 8, 2019, CIMMYT would like to share some of their stories to recognize these women â and many others like them â and the important work they do in seed systems in Africa.
Sylvia Horemans
Sylvia Horemans (right) and a warehouse supervisor (left) inspect seeds at Kamano Seeds. (Photo: Lucy Maina/CIMMYT)
Sylvia Horemans started Kamano Seeds in April 2004 together with her late husband Desire Horemans. The company derives its name from a stream that runs through their farm in Mwinilinga, Zambia. Kamano means a stream that never dries, aptly describing the growth the company has enjoyed over the years, enabling it to capture 15 percent of the countryâs seed market share. Sylvia became the companyâs Chief Executive Officer in 2016.
âThe initial business was only to sell commercial products but we realized there was a high demand for seed so we decided to start our own seed business,â says Sylvia. âWe work with cooperatives which identify ideal farmers to participate in seed production.â
The company takes pride in the growth they have witnessed in their contract workers. âMost farmers we started with [now] have 20 to 40 hectares. Some are businessmen and have opened agrodealer shops where they sell agricultural inputs,â Sylvia announced.
Kamano prides itself in improving the lives of women smallholders and involving women in decision-making structures. âWe empower a lot of women in agriculture through our out-grower scheme,â says Sylvia. She makes a deliberate effort to recruit women farmers, ensuring they receive payment for their seeds. âWe pay the women who did the work and not their husbands.â
Zubeda Mduruma (right) and her colleague check maize seeds at Aminata Quality Seeds. (Photo: Lucy Maina/CIMMYT)
Zubeda Mduruma, 65, is a plant breeder. She took to agriculture from a young age, as she enjoyed helping her parents in the family farm. After high school, Zubeda obtained a bachelorâs degree in Agriculture. Then she joined Tanzaniaâs national agriculture research system, working at the Ilonga Agricultural Research Institute (ARI-Ilonga) station. She then pursued her masterâs in Plant Breeding and Biometry from Cornell University in the United Stations and obtained a doctorate in Plant Breeding at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania, while working and raising her family. âI wanted to be in research, so I could breed materials which would be superior than what farmers were using, because they were getting very low yields,â says Zubeda. In the 22 years she was at Ilonga, Zubeda was able to release 15 varieties.
Aminata Quality Seeds is a family business that was registered in 2008, owned by Zubeda, her husband and their four daughters. Aminata entered the seed market as an out-grower, producing seed for local companies for two years. The company started its own seed production in 2010, and the following year it was marketing improved varieties. âI decided to start a company along the Coast and impart my knowledge on improved technologies, so farmers can get quality crops for increased incomes,â says Zubeda.
Zubeda encourages more women to venture into the seed business. âTo do any business, you have to have guts. It is not the money; it is the interest. When you have the interest, you will always look for ways on how to start your seed business.â
Grace Malindi (second from right) at her office in Lilongwe, Malawi. (Photo: Lucy Maina/CIMMYT)
Grace Malindi, 67, started Mgomâmera in Malawi in 2014 with her sister Florence Kahumbe, who had experience in running agrodealer shops. Florence was key in setting up the business, particularly through engagement with agro-dealers, while Graceâs background in extension was valuable in understanding their market. Grace has a doctoral degree in Human and Community Development with a double minor in Gender and International Development and Agriculture Extension and Advisory from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the United States. Mgomâmera is a family-owned enterprise. Graceâs three children are involved in the business, serving as directors.
Mgomâmera distinguishes itself from other seed companies because of its focus on maize varieties that have additional nutritive value. The company uses the tagline âCreating seed demand from the table to the soil.â It educates farmers not only on how to plant the seed they sell, but also on how to prepare nutritious dishes with their harvest. The company stocks ZM623, a drought-tolerant open-pollinated variety, and Chitedze 2, a quality protein maize. In the 2019 maize season it will also sell MH39, a pro-vitamin A variety. In addition, they are looking forward to beginning quality protein maize hybrid production in the near future, having started the process of acquiring materials from CIMMYT.
Grace observes that women entrepreneurs are late entrants in seed business. âYou need agility, flexibility and experience to run a seed business and with time you will improve,â says Grace, advising women who may be interested in venturing into this male-dominated business.
