Pillar: Inc

Roots of resilience: my journey as a Conservation Agriculture champion

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on May 9, 2024. Posted in Features.

I am Grace Malaicha, a proud native of the Zidyana Extension Planning Areas in Central Malawi, where my journey with Conservation Agriculture (CA) began. In 2005, I observed neighboring farmers practicing CA techniques on their land. Intrigued and inspired, I decided to embark on this path myself, joining the CA program initiated by CIMMYT and Total LandCare in 2006. I started practicing it on my demonstration plot and observed that yields were getting higher from the second year onwards.

My dedication to CA has changed not only myself but also influenced other members of my farming community. As a mother trial host farmer under the CGIAR Initiative: Diversification for resilient agribusiness ecosystems in East and Southern Africa today, I have been implementing different treatments, which include maize doubled-up legume system and improved drought-tolerant maize varieties planted under CA on flat land and comparing it to the traditional ridge tillage system that involves substantial soil movement.

But what does CA mean to me? It is more than just a set of principles that I apply like minimum soil disturbance, mulching, and crop rotation. CA reduces drudgery, secures yields, and maintains productivity in times of climate change. CA has changed my approach to farming, transforming my once conventional maize monocrop into a diverse maize-legume system. By intercropping with two crops, I have spread the risk of unanticipated crop failure, while incorporating groundnut, cowpeas, and pigeon pea into the mix, which are more drought tolerant. I increased the land area under CA and tried it on many other crops including different legumes as rotation or intercrops, birds-eye chili, vegetables, and cassava.

Over the years, I have witnessed firsthand the harsh realities of a changing climate in central Malawi, from intense heat to prolonged droughts and erratic rainfall patterns. This year, 2024, has even been worse due to the prolonged dry spells between January and February, and the erratic rainfall during this time. Despite these challenges, our CA plots have continued to thrive, showcasing the resilience and adaptability of climate-smart farming practices.

Grace trains farmers on Conservation Agriculture. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)

Recognizing the power of knowledge sharing and from the encouragement by CIMMYT and Total LandCare, I started to train fellow farmers, both locally and across borders. At first, I worked with women groups around my homestead and trained about 100 female farmers on the principles of CA. I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to train other farmers in other districts of Malawi. Since 2008, I have also trained farmers in eastern Zambia and from Mozambique where all farmers speak my language Chichewa. Farmers believe other farmers more and are now realizing the benefits of implementing CA in their own fields.

I enrolled to be a local trainer in CA within my community in 2016. My passion for teaching and catalyzing change has led to the adoption of CA by numerous farmers. I embrace my commitment to ongoing learning through carefully implementing these CA trials and playing an active role during awareness meetings.

My life had changed so much. I was speaking on the radio and television. In 2012, the Minister of Agriculture visited my plot, and I was asked to speak in front of a Parliamentary Committee about my experiences as a smallholder woman farmer in Malawi. I spoke about what women can do in agriculture and what changes I made on my land. From representing my country at high level meetings, each step has shaped me into a resilient and empowered woman.

However, my journey has not been without obstacles, including hardships in my personal relationship. In 2012, I made the decision to join my husband in South Africa where I took up menial jobs to earn a living, abandoning my plot back home. But my true passion lay in farming, and I decided to make the bold decision to come back home, leaving my husband and continue with farming. Through perseverance and determination, I have overcome these challenges, and I am now much stronger.

Grace Malaicha stands in her field. (Photo: Christian Thierfelder/CIMMYT)

Today, I stand with pride in front of my CA plot, not only sustaining my family but also sending all my children to school. I now converted all my land to conservation agriculture, 3ha are under maize and 2ha under groundnuts. Beyond farming, I have investments in housing, claiming rentals in the nearby town of Salima to sustain my financial income and expand in farming.

I will continue on this path as I learned so much over the years and believe that CA may be the only climate-smart agriculture response in reach of smallholder farmers that everybody can apply, and I will continue to support others as a champion of CA.

Women farmers enhance agricultural production in conflict-torn Sudan

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on April 30, 2024. Posted in Blogs.

Women farmers show their harvested vegetables, Kassala, East Sudan. (Photo: CIMMYT)

The ongoing conflict in Sudan continues to contribute to a food crisis threatening the lives of over 18 million people. Farmers, especially smallholders and vulnerable women, are facing extraordinary challenges in obtaining needed agricultural inputs, and access to markets is diminishing.

In Kassala State, East Sudan, which hosts hundreds of thousands of people displaced by ongoing armed conflict including Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees, the USAID-funded Sustainable Agrifood Systems Approach for Sudan (SASAS) is working with women farmers to prepare and safeguard the upcoming growing season. This work is critical to help meet the unprecedented demand for vegetables in the region and achieve sustainable development goals.

“At SASAS, we are working to empower women farmers, especially those who lost their traditional livelihood resources, and help them to acquire skills and techniques to increase their agricultural production to help improve food security,” said Abdelrahman Kheir, SASAS chief of party in Sudan.

Women farmers participate in a training on vegetable growing, Kassala, East Sudan. (Photo: CIMMYT)

SASAS works with the El-Haram Agricultural Cooperative, a women-led farmers group, based in Kassala, to help increase vegetable production. SASAS trains El-Haram Agricultural Cooperative members on modern agricultural techniques, irrigation techniques, pest control, and organic fertilizers to increase crop yields.

“SASAS trained us on new ploughing and land preparation techniques, which we never used before and then provided us with improved seeds of okra, tomato, chili, and mallow, and encouraged us to use legumes as organic fertilizers,” said Imtithal Atta, a farmer from the Alsawagi neighborhood in Kassala. “In the past, I used to buy vegetable seeds from the local market, but they grow poorly. The improved seeds given by SASAS are germinating extremely well. My income has doubled; I almost made $250 from my first harvest of vegetables.”

The ongoing conflict has interrupted traditional livelihood activities in many regions. In some areas, farmers missed the harvest, leading to a dramatic reduction in agricultural production and debilitating price increases for cereals and vegetables. SASAS is helping to restore agricultural production in key growing regions by ensuring farmers have timely access to necessary production inputs, including fertilizer and climate-adapted seeds.

SASAS staff examine the germination of vegetables in women-led farms, Kassala, East Sudan. (Photo: CIMMYT)

“For years, I have worked tirelessly on my family’s farm, season after season, without earning a good income, and I was not sure what was wrong. Luckily, this cultivation season, SASAS trained us on new ploughing techniques to better prepare the land for cultivation, using organic fertilizers to enrich the soil and offering us improved vegetable seeds,” said Fatima Ahmed, a woman farmer and a mother of three children from the El-Haram Agricultural Cooperative.

“Thanks to SASAS, both the quality and the quantity of my agricultural products have greatly improved. I am so happy that I got some good money from my vegetables. I feel empowered and now I can have a strong voice within my community. I am more confident and gained the courage to participate in important decision-making processes within my family and express my opinions without fear,” said Ahmed.

A critical part of SASAS are efforts to diversify food production in Kassala, where malnutrition among children under 5 years old, and breastfeeding, lactating, and pregnant women, are prevalent.

Women farmers process their onions, Kassala, East Sudan. (Photo: CIMMYT)

“I used to go to the main market in town to get my daily needs from vegetables, but now I buy what I need from women farmers closer to my home. They are selling me fresh vegetables at a good price. The taste of the vegetables is quite fresh and healthy, this is something I have been missing for a long time,” said Hanan, a resident of Alswagi.

“The vegetables produced by members of the El-Haram Agricultural Cooperative has led to an increased supply in the local market. I buy vegetables from women farmers and sell them here in the neighborhood market. This has cut my transportation cost as I used to buy vegetables from markets a long distance away,” said Osman, vegetables trader, also in Alswagi.

Flowers, learning, and a gender-based approach

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on April 23, 2024. Posted in Blogs.

Gender and social inclusion are fundamental themes for the Latin American regional initiative AgriLac Resiliente, which is why numerous regions bordering Guatemala and Honduras have been selected to implement priority actions with a gender approach.

In order to integrate a guideline that clears up why gender and social inclusiveness are relevant matters and incorporate it in all InnovaHubs activities in Guatemala and Honduras, social inclusion and gender experts from AgriLac have implemented a participatory process in the South Pacific and Chiapas Hubs to gather information and document research results to facilitate the Hub model for replication, developed by CIMMYT in Mexico and other countries.

In this way, Alejandrina Garcia in Oaxaca, Alejandro Ramirez in Chiapas, and Angela Meentzan, head of the AgriLac Gender and Social Inclusion Team, conducted individual and group interviews to learn how the different actors involved in the hubs perceived their own participation: farmers, workers, managers, and staff of the hubs, as well as partners who participated in this participatory process.

There are numerous and successful cases of rural women’s participation in the centers of Oaxaca and Chiapas that have been collected in this process. “It is expected that these case studies will become part of an annex to the guideline, just to illustrate why the participation of rural women is essential in their own vision,” said Meentzen, who highlights the case of Juanita, a Tzeltal woman from La Providencia in Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico.

“About five years ago, I started working alongside CIMMYT. Before we knew them, we were only planting maize and beans, but then we couldn’t produce any more. The plants stopped growing, and we had a lot of problems with pests, so we used to burn all the stubble. When the engineers came, they invited us to join them. At first, we weren’t that interested, but we let them teach us. They taught us how to grow other crops like sunflowers, peanuts, vegetables, and fruit trees like lemon and soursop,” said Juanita.

“Now we don’t burn all the stubble and we have crops all year round. We also grow other types of plants and use a lot of organic products that they taught us how to prepare. Our production has increased, and we sell more and more at the market. My daughter and I take care of the sale of the crops: beans, corn, vegetables, squash, corn, and flowers; the latter have given us such good results that we have earned some extra money,” said Juanita.

“The benefits we got from our land allowed us to give our children a future. Some of them have graduated from college and have jobs; others are about to graduate, but they have all learned to work the land. It feels a little harder, but I have been able to take care of both: my family and the land. I don’t know how I did it, but I did it,” said Juanita proudly, noting that the scientific knowledge gained from the research platform and Hub modules has had a real and positive impact on her and her family.

Photo: Juanita, a Tzeltal woman from La Providencia in Ocosingo, Chiapas, stands in her field. (Garcia, Ramirez and Meentzen/CIMMYT)

Agricultural research adds billions of dollars to economy

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on April 12, 2024. Posted in Publications.

As the world searches for effective solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change while navigating the cost-of-living crisis, delivering food security goals alongside robust economic value is more imperative than ever in agricultural research.

CGIAR plays a vital role in this mission, aiming to transform food, land, and water systems in collaboration with its 15 Research Centers, such as CIMMYT. Now, a new study published in World Development comprehensively analyzes CGIAR’s fiscal impact on global agricultural over nearly 60 years.

The economic impact of CGIAR-related crop technologies on agricultural productivity in developing countries, 1961–2020 suggests that adoption of these technologies equates to US $47 billion annually in economic benefits, with an overall economic benefit of US $1,334 billion for the years covered by the study.

Additionally, investment in productivity gains for staple crops in developing countries has aided entire populations by securing lower food prices and generating large local growth multipliers, thus achieving a greater impact on poverty reduction when compared to productivity growth in other sectors.

CIMMYT contributes 40% of total CGIAR varietal impact

At least 221 million hectares in at least 92 countries were occupied by CGIAR crop technologies in 2020. Between 2016 and 2020, CIMMYT maize varieties accounted for 24.5 million hectares (11%) of this figure, while CIMMYT wheat varieties made up almost 74 million hectares (33%).

An example of how these CIMMYT varieties impact farmers can be seen in sub-Saharan Africa, where using improved maize seed led to an overall average increase of 38.9% in yields to 1,104 kilograms per hectare (kg/ha), equal to an increase of 429 kg/ha. With increased yields come increased profits and employment security for farmers and their families.

The frequency with which technologies are upgraded also signifies the impact of agricultural research and development (R&D) on crop productivity and the economy. On the 221 million ha planting area, many farmers utilize second or third generation technologies. For example, average varietal generation in maize is estimated to be 1.1, meaning that 10% of farmers use a second-generation variety, and most wheat farmers were also using second or third generation modern varieties. This highlights that ongoing crop research continued to impact productivity, even when the size of the adoption area remained constant.

Expanding the impact

As CGIAR’s reach and capacity have grown, economic benefits are now apparent in an increased number of global regions compared to when its work began. Initially, most economic benefits came from wheat and rice farming in Asia; however, 30% of CGIAR crop technologies now occupy sub-Saharan Africa, generating a significant share of its impact. This region remains heavily reliant upon CGIAR-related varieties, so continued investment is encouraged to maintain and build on the positive outcomes achieved to date.

“Considering the urgent need to attain nutrition security, CIMMYT always seeks ways to assure global food systems,” said Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT. “This thorough analysis is a strong validation of CIMMYT’s work and its significance not just for farmers and their immediate families, but for communities and generations into the future. Our collaborative partnerships with CGIAR Research Centers and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) are integral in delivering successful projects that enable smallholder farmers to maximize the potential of their land.”

While similar studies have been undertaken in the past, this work takes a unique approach by drawing on a wider range of evidence built on country- and crop-specific data, such as the adoption of crop improvement technologies and productivity impacts per hectare, thereby providing a more granular assessment of CGIAR’s economic inputs.

Read the full study: The economic impact of CGIAR-related crop technologies on agricultural productivity in developing countries, 1961–2020.

A community leader in Baliakandi inspires women empowerment in agriculture: Promila Rani Mondol

Written by Nur-A-Mahajabin Khan on April 3, 2024. Posted in Features.

Thirty-three-year-old Promila Rani Mondol lives in Baliakandi Upazila in Bangladesh with her husband, four daughters, and mother-in-law. The family’s main source of livelihood is agriculture. Promila has become a successful machinery solution provider (MSP), under the USAID-funded Feed the Future Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia–Mechanization Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA). She and her husband are the main earning members of the family.

In Rajbari district, around 100 miles away from Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, agriculture is the primary livelihood for the community. Farmers engage in crop cultivation across three different seasons, focusing on crops such as rice, wheat, maize, jute, mustard, spices, and vegetables. In 2014, Promila’s family had barely two acres of cultivable land, and her husband was the sole breadwinner. Their average monthly income was US $91, which made it challenging to cover everyday expenses. To increase their family income, she began assisting her husband in crop production activities by planting seeds of jute, maize, wheat, mustard, and spice crops.

In 2014, the family became involved with the CSISA-MI project. Initially, they owned a power tiller. The project assisted them to purchase a power tiller-operated seeder attachment for land cultivation and line sowing. In 2018, Promila received training in line sowing techniques, including seed calibration using the power tiller operated seeder (PTOS) machine which was equipped with a starter kit. She began line sowing Rabi crops such as wheat, mung beans, sesame, and mustard. During the Kharif season, she engaged in line sowing jute.

After the launch of the CSISA-MEA in 2019, Promila participated in several activities including hands-on training on rice transplanter operation, one-acre mechanized rice transplantation demonstration by CSISA-MEA for her service business expansion, seedling raising training, two-day training on agricultural machinery operation maintenance and troubleshooting, and two exposure visits on rice transplanter service business models. With the assistance of CSISA-MEA, she organized several meetings to connect mat seedling (seedlings grown on a special mat or seedling tray), entrepreneurs, farmers, and MSPs, which led to the expansion of her business prospects. Additionally, CSISA-MEA linked her with the Department of Agricultural Extension, where she procured 1,750 seedling raising trays and 750 kg of seed support for mat seedling raising, significantly boosting her business growth.

In 2023, Promila bought a rice transplanter before Aman season (mid-July to mid-November-December) with a 50% government subsidy. CSISA-MEA helped her get the government subsidy and connected her with the VPKA foundation, which provided her with loan at a low-interest rate of 4%, along with a flexible repayment plan.

Promila Rani Mondol uses a rice transplanter to plant rice in the field in Rajbari, Bangladesh. (Photo: Asmaul Husna/CIMMYT)

During the Aman season, she provided rice transplantation services in 20 hectares of land benefiting approximately 150 farmers. During that season, her total earning was US $1,640. Additionally, in 2023, she earned approximately US $1,047 by line sowing aus rice and jute; and line sowing wheat, sesame, and mustard by PTOS during the Rabi season. Through her network of contacts with farmers across three blocks (shalmara, baliakandi, and nobabpur in Rajbari district), she offers machine rice transplantation services using the seedlings.

What sets her apart is not just her success as an MSP, but her commitment to breaking gender norms and inspiring other women in her community. Currently, with an annual income of US $2,276 and a profit margin of US$1,184, she has become a community leader, encouraging 15 other women to venture into farming and seedling raising services.

“With just one day of cultivation and seeding service, I can cover my daughter’s tutorial expenses for an entire month. The support from CSISA-MEA has made me more self-reliant as an MSP and increased my confidence in meeting family expenses,” says Promila.

Currently, 15 women in her community offer farming and seed planting services. Others, such as Sunita Rani, Niba Rai, Rakoli, Dipti, Mita, and Angoli, are inspired by her. While seven women can now operate the rice transplanter machine in the fields, others are showing an interest in the same. This is a significant and positive change in the community initiated by Promila.

Her impact extends beyond her own success; she has sparked a positive change in her community’s perception of women in agriculture. As the vice president of the MSP Networking Committee in Rajbari district, she continues to shoulder responsibilities, contributing not only to her family’s well-being but also to the larger narrative of women empowerment in Bangladesh.

No Stones, No Grit! A game-changing technology to process small grain introduced in Zimbabwe

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on March 12, 2024. Posted in Blogs.

Farmers thresh wheat at an irrigation scheme. (Photo: CIMMYT)

In Zimbabwe, the traditional, laborious, and time-consuming small grain processing may soon belong to the past, thanks to a game-changing technology: a multi-crop thresher. This scale-appropriate machine offers a smarter and less strenuous way to produce high-quality small-grain meals, including in drought-prone regions, without being contaminated with sand or stone particles.

“One of the main impediments to large-scale adoption of sorghum and millet in drought-prone areas is the laborious task of threshing. This has been solved by introducing multi-crop threshers, which form a central part in the business of mechanization service providers in rural Zimbabwe”, says Christian Thierfelder, principal scientist and project lead for the Mechanization and Extension Activity.

The introduction of the multi-crop thresher not only alleviates the physical strain of manual threshing but also enhances the overall quality of small-grain products. This innovation is a crucial step forward in promoting the production and consumption of small grains in Zimbabwe, contributing to food security and improved livelihoods for farmers.

This innovation was introduced by the Feed the Future Mechanization and Extension Activity, implemented by CIMMYT and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to address the challenges of traditional small grain processing and offer new market opportunities to farmers.

Small grain production and consumption has traditionally been a household favorite in Zimbabwe due to its rich nutritional content. However, the sand content and gritty texture, often associated with sorghum or millet meals, have led to a decline in consumers’ interest in it. The main culprit? The traditional method of manual threshing on the soil, a strenuous and time-consuming process that incorporates sand and gravel particles into the threshed grains (and then into flours), resulting in an unpleasant eating experience.

In Zimbabwe and across the region, small grain processing has been characterized by the arduous task of manual threshing using sticks. Women, often at the forefront of this task, repeatedly beat the heads of small grains on hard surfaces, such as granite or hard clay, to separate the grains. Despite efforts to minimize contamination by threshing them into sacks or on plastic sheets, the gritty taste persists. The subsequent winnowing, roasting, and milling do little to eliminate tiny soil and stone particles from the final product (flour) as physical separation is technically challenging.

The multi-crop thresher for smooth results

“Powered by an 8 HP diesel engine, the multi-crop thresher is a perfect machine to process sorghum, millets, maize (husked or un-husked), wheat, cowpea, sugar beans, and soybean,” says Abdul Matin, mechanization specialist and technical lead of the Mechanization and Extension Activity. “It is locally made in Zimbabwe and designed to promote mechanization as a business as it can easily be transported. It has high threshing efficiency, is fuel-efficient, easy to operate, and women friendly.”

The operator simply feeds the crop into the inlet hopper, and as it passes through the threshing drum, the machine efficiently separates the grain from the chaff, releasing clean grain through the outlet chute. “The thresher will help reduce decline of small grain production in the country and complement government efforts to expand its cultivation in Natural Regions IV and V in Zimbabwe,” Matin added. When operating the machine efficiently, one can thresh up to 0.5 tons per hour for small grains.

The multi-crop thresher, a vital component of climate-resilient agriculture

The multi-crop thresher is an efficient post-harvest machine that can process various grains. (Photo: CIMMYT)

CIMMYT organized awareness meetings, including the 2023 Seed and Mechanization Fairs, for farmers to witness the speed and quality performance of the multi-crop thresher. They could also assess the quality of pearl millet processed using the thresher and others threshing wheat in an irrigation scheme showcasing the efficiency of the process and improved grain quality.

“In our region, harvesting small grains was always laborious,” explains Paidamoyo Kaseke from Ward 4 in Chimanimani district, Manicaland province. “But thanks to the multi-crop thresher, it’s now much easier. It operates quickly and efficiently, delivering clean grains that we can promptly take to the mill. This technology has revolutionized our harvesting process, significantly reducing the time and effort required.”

“Not only do we promote new and effective technologies such as the multi-crop thresher in the project, but we also seek solutions for farmers without high incomes to be able to afford the thresher. That is why we are partnering with two Zimbabwean banks to make small-scale loans accessible to farmers at affordable rates and tenure times. This way, we can effectively scale the access to scale-appropriate mechanization solutions.” says Leon Jamann, chief of party for the Mechanization and Extension Activity.

As the 2023-2024 farming season has been dry with erratic rainfall, rainfed dependent farmers already face drought in large areas of Zimbabwe. However, the promotion of more climate-resilient small grains in 2023—declared by the United Nations the International Year of Millets—emphasizes their adaptability to climate change and their high nutritional value. The multi-crop thresher, a vital component of this initiative, ensures that farmers can efficiently process small grains despite the challenging climate conditions.

Breaking ground and redefining roles in the agri engineering sector: Anjuara Begum

Written by Nur-A-Mahajabin Khan on March 8, 2024. Posted in Features.

Anjuara Begum is 40 years old. Hailing from Jashore, Bangladesh, she works at Abdur Rahman Foundry as a grinding operator. In Bangladesh, it is rare to be a woman and work in a skilled job in engineering. Anjuara’s journey shows it is possible to break through gender stereotypes ascribed by Bangladeshi society.

Growing up in Jashore, Anjuara was married before the age of 15. About a year after giving birth to a son, her husband died leaving her to take on the sole responsibility of raising a child. She started working as a cleaner at Talukder Light Casting. Soon, she found her interest lay in sand molding and grinding which were considered to be skilled tasks traditionally carried out by the male employees. Over time, Anjuara graduated to working as an assistant in different sections of the foundry: casting, the furnace, and operating the grinding machine. For six years, she continued as an assistant with no formal training, often learning from the machine operators and supervisors around her.

Anjuara Begum operates a grinding machine at the foundry in Jashore, Bangladesh. (Photo: Asmaul Husna/CIMMYT)

In 2019, Anjuara joined the nearby Abdur Rahman Foundry, where for the first time she attended a formal skill enhancement training for women in the light engineering sector. She was able to access this opportunity through the USAID-funded Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia–Mechanization Extension Activity (CSISA–MEA) as Abdur Rahman Foundry is part of CSISA–MEA’s agriculture-based light engineering activity. The training provided her with hands-on experience in grinding, drilling, sand molding, and painting. It not only imparted the technical skills she needed for her current job, but also the confidence to excel in a field where women are traditionally under-represented.

“The training was an eye-opener,” Anjuara said. “I was so happy to get a certificate–a first for me!” She shared how her confidence at work increased and about her promotion to the position of grinding machine operator–the first woman in the Jashore region to work in this role. There were other benefits to the new position–a more formal position than her former place of work where she was only a temporary employee; paid holiday and sick leave; and festival bonuses. Currently, she earns around US$ 80 a month–the same as the men in the foundry working at a similar skill level. Before the training, her salary was around US$ 55.

Anjuara tells us that the best part about the job is the respect she gets from family and the cooperation from her co-workers. As she continued to break barriers and excel in her profession, her success began to resonate within her community. Women in the neighborhood now view her as an inspiration. She is an example of how societal norms can be challenged when provided with equal opportunities and the right kind of support. Her success has ignited a spark of hope among women who had long been relegated to the sidelines.

CSISA–MEA’s light engineering training for the female workforce as part of its gender inclusive activities has not only transformed Anjuara’s life but has also catalyzed a shift in the perception of women’s capabilities within Bangladeshi society.

Seeds of change: one woman’s mission to transform her community

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on March 5, 2024. Posted in Features.

In the heart of Itumbula village in the Songwe district of Tanzania lives Venansia Swale, a farmer, mother, and community champion, who is turning the tide against food insecurity through the power of quality seeds. Swale has taken on the role of promoting improved seed in her community after experiencing firsthand the benefits of growing sorghum on her own farm with different seed.

“As a mother of five children, my biggest challenge is food shortage, and sorghum is our staple food,” said Swale. “Normally, I would harvest 450 kg from my three-acre farm, which isn’t enough for my family’s needs and leaves little surplus for selling. However, using quality seed this season, I harvested 990 kg. I’ve seen the benefits–not only can I feed my children for a year, but I can also earn income from the surplus.”

Swale positively impacts her village’s crop yields by championing delivery of quality seed. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Swale’s efforts began to extend beyond her own farm as she championed demand creation and consolidation in her village of Itumbula. She successfully created a demand of 574 kg, becoming her community’s sole distributor of quality sorghum seed. In the 2022-2023 season, she facilitated the supply of 134 kg of quality sorghum seed and 50 kg of quality maize seed.

So far, she has reached 300 farmers in partnership with CIMMYT and the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), sparking a transformative movement. One local farmer said, “As a community, we have come together to embrace quality seed, and Venansia has been at the forefront of this movement. Her dedication has significantly impacted food security.”

Despite being pregnant during the 2022 “Kizazi cha Mabadiliko” (the generation that will bring change) campaign, Swale remained unwavering in her determination and passion. She exemplifies the success of the Social and Behaviour Change interventions implemented by the Centre for Behaviour Change and Communication (CBCC).

The “Kizazi Cha Mabadiliko” campaign was developed and launched by CBCC in the Mbozi and Momba districts of Tanzania, aiming to increase awareness of the benefits of improved seeds. It was also designed to challenge negative perceptions and enhance motivation for participating in agricultural activities. The campaign underscores the importance of using improved seeds as a foundational element for a prosperous future in agriculture. The strategic design of the campaign ensures the efficient distribution of behavior change tools and materials, further demonstrating its impact through Swale’s inspiring example.

Sprouting new opportunities

Swale stands with some of her fellow choir members during the establishment of a demo plot at Itumbula. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Despite her impressive achievements, Swale remains forward-thinking. The village extension officer notes that while farmers have adopted improved seeds, poor farming practices persist, impacting yields. Inspired and invigorated, Swale plans to revolutionize her farming practices in the upcoming season, aiming for an even more significant impact.

Besides her role as a community champion, Swale is a member of the Sifa choir in her church. Leveraging her influence, she convinced nine fellow choir members to join the intervention, where they established and managed sorghum demonstration plots in their locality. The performance of quality seed inspired the choir to enlist as seed producers, and they secured two acres of land for seed production in the 2023- 2024 season.

Venansia’s vision goes beyond her own farm; she plans to produce seeds as part of the choir group and individually, allocating an acre for seed production and two acres for grain production. Hers is a story of personal triumph, showing the impact one person can have on an entire village, and a testament to the transformative power of community-led initiatives.

“The seeds we plant today will grow into a better tomorrow for all of us,” asserts Swale.

Women farmers turn the tide on soybean production

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

Juliana Moises tends her soybean plot. (Photo: CIMMYT)

From the rich plateau landscapes of Angonia district in the Tete province of Mozambique emerges a tale of determination and hard work. Juliana Nicolau Moises, a mother of four, has been a devoted soybean farmer for more than a decade, tending to a crop whose pods carry the potential for value-added products, including milk and porridge for her children. But one wonders, what motivates smallholder farmers like Juliana to invest their efforts in soybean production.

“I have never looked back on producing soybeans,” reflects Moises. “This legume crop has allowed me to feed my family and meet my household needs, let alone the cash income from sales of the surplus crop. It has taken a lot of hard work and resilience to navigate through the complexities of soybean production.”

Entering her second season of implementing the Chinyanja Soy Use Case trials with CGIAR’s Initiative on Excellence in Agronomy, delivered in partnership with CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Moises eagerly anticipates a bumper harvest in the early planted fields. She has been avidly implementing trials on planting dates to establish the implications of early, mid, and late planting on soybean yield. Let alone the required attention to detail, she exudes a deep understanding of the significance of the trials by carrying out key agronomic practices to ensure a good harvest. This will not only nourish the health and wellbeing of her family but also symbolizes the fruits of her dedication.

Moises’s commitment extends beyond the trial she hosts as she implements her learning from the project to other fields, using innovative approaches like the double-row planting method. In soybean farming, this involves planting two rows of seeds on a wider ridge established on the traditional spacing that farmers use on maize. Traditionally, farmers in Angonia have been planting single rows of soybean on ridges spaced at 90 cm used for maize, thereby resulting in low soy plant populations and ultimately low yields. This different technique optimizes the plant population and land use efficiency, improving yields, and facilitating easier weeding.

Moises’s soybean plot in Angonia, Mozambique. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Despite the promise of enhanced production, challenges persist. Southern Africa continues to face a growing demand for soybeans, with annual productivity of 861,000 metric tons (mT) falling short of the 2-million-ton demand. In Mozambique, vibrant soybean farms blanket the landscape, yet smallholder farmers like Moises grapple with underdeveloped markets and climate-related adversities, such as droughts and floods currently worsened by the El Niño phenomenon.

“As a devoted soybean farmer, I have met my own fair share of challenges. One of our biggest challenges is the labor requirement across the production season,” shared Moises as she navigates through her fields. “We need machinery for planting, weeding, and harvesting in order to reduce the labor and drudgery associated with soybean production. In addition, markets remain a challenge.” Her unwavering commitment inspires neighboring farmers, creating a ripple effect of hope and determination in the community.

Sharing the same sentiments is Veronica Ernesto Gama, who teams up with her husband every year to tend to her soybean field. Having started in 2007, their yields have sustained the food basket of her family while meeting nutritional needs. “In the past, I used to just scatter around soybean seeds in one place, but after these trials, I have learned the significance of applying the agronomically recommended spacing and the need for quality improved seeds to ensure a bumper harvest,” said Gama.

The power of collaboration

Addressing these challenges head-on is CGIAR’s Excellence in Agronomy Chinyanja Triangle Soy Use Case, a collaborative effort aimed at strengthening the soybean industry primarily by empowering farmers with improved agronomic practices and decision support. Solidaridad, an international non-government organization (NGO) pursuing digital platforms for scaling agronomy, serves as the demand partner of the Excellence in Agronomy Chinyanja Triangle Soy Use Case, while CGIAR provides technical support. Solidaridad’s role is vital in catalyzing demand for the product or service in question. Research outputs drawn from the trials will be used to develop a mobile phone application on the Kvuno, a social enterprise borne out of Solidaridad. The platform will support farmers with onsite advisories on planting dates, site-specific fertilizer recommendations, variety selection, and crop configurations.

To date, the initiative has drawn the willingness of 70 farmers in the Angonia district of Tete province, who are implementing different suites of trials, including nutrient omission, planting date, plant configuration, and fertilizer usage. Excellence in Agronomy has come at an opportune time for smallholders’ journeys in soybean production, emphasizing the importance of optimized spacing and improved agronomic practices.

As the story unfolds in Mozambique, women like Moises and Gama are the unsung heroes driving soybean production. Their dedication, coupled with initiatives like Excellence in Agronomy, paint a picture of progress and potential. Their commitment inspires many surrounding farmers who draw inspiration on the trials in their fields. As the sun continues to rise over the dusty soils of Angonia, it showcases not just Moises’s fields, but the bright future of soybean production in the hands of resilient women farmers.

Soybean rust threatens soybean production in Malawi and Zambia

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on January 25, 2024. Posted in Blogs.

Healthy soybean fields. (Photo: Peter Setimela/CIMMYT)

Soybeans are a significant source of oil and protein, and soybean demand has been increasing over the last decade in Malawi and Zambia. Soybean contributes to human nutrition, is used in producing animal feed, and fetches a higher price per unit than maize, thus serving as a cash crop for smallholder farmers. These are among the main factors contributing to the growing adoption of soybean among smallholder producers. In addition, soybean is a vital soil-fertility improvement crop used in crop rotations because of its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. To a large extent, soybean demand outweighs supply, with the deficit covered by imports.

Soybean production in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow by over 2% per annum to meet the increasing demand. However, as production increases, significant challenges caused by diseases, pests, declining soil fertility, and other abiotic factors remain. According to official government statistics, Zambia produces about 450,000 tonnes of soybean per annum, with an estimated annual growth of 14%. According to FAOSTAT, this makes Zambia the second largest soybean producer in the southern African region. Although soybean was traditionally grown by large commercial farmers in Zambia, smallholders now account for over 60% of the total annual soybean production.

Production trends show that smallholder soybean production increased rapidly in the 2015–2016 season, a period that coincided with increased demand from local processing facilities. As smallholder production continued to increase, in 2020, total output by smallholder farmers outpaced that of large-scale farmers for the first time and has remained dominant over the last two seasons (Fig 1). However, soybean yields among smallholder farmers have remained low at around 1 MT/HA.

Figure 1. Soybean production trends by smallholders and large-scale farmers. (Photo: Hambulo Ngoma/Zambia Ministry of Agriculture, Crop Forecast Survey)

Soybean production in the region is threatened by soybean rust caused by the fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi. The rust became prevalent in Africa in 1996; it was first confirmed in Uganda on experimental plots and subsequently on farmers’ fields throughout the country. Monitoring efforts in the U.S. have saved the soybean industry millions of dollars in fungicide costs due to the availability of accurate disease forecasting based on pathogen surveillance and environmental data.

Soybean rust disease is spread rapidly and easily by wind, and most available varieties grown by farmers are susceptible. The above-normal rainfall during the 2022–2023 season was conducive to the spread of the fungus. A recent survey of over 1,000 farm households shows that 55% and 39% of farmers in Zambia and Malawi, respectively, were affected by soybean rust during the 2022–2023 season. The lack of rust-tolerant varieties makes production expensive for smallholder farmers who cannot afford to purchase fungicides to control the pathogens. It is estimated that soybean rust can cause large yield losses of up to 90%, depending on crop stage and disease severity. Symptoms due to soybean rust infection may be observed at any developmental stage of the plant, but losses are mostly associated with infection from the flowering stage to the pod-filling stage.

Soybean plants affected by soy rust. (Photo: Peter Setimela)

Mitigation measures using resistant or tolerant varieties have been challenging because the fungus mutates very rapidly, creating genetic variability. Although a variety of fungicides effective against soybean rust are available, the use of such fungicides is limited due to the high cost of the product and its application, as well as to environmental concerns. Due to this restricted use of fungicide, an early monitoring system for detecting rust threats for steering fungicide might only be relevant for large-scale producers in eastern and southern Africa. With the massive increase in the area under soybean production, soybean rust is an important disease that cannot be ignored. Host-plant resistance provides a cheaper, more environmentally friendly, and much more sustainable approach for managing soybean rust in smallholder agriculture that characterizes the agricultural landscape of eastern and southern Africa.

To advance the use of rust-tolerant varieties, the Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub, or MasAgro Africa, is presently concluding surveys to assess farmers’ demand and willingness to pay for rust-tolerant varieties in Malawi and Zambia. The results from this assessment will be valuable to seed companies and last-mile delivery partners to gain a better understanding of what farmers need and to better serve the farmers. This coming season AID-I will include rust tolerant varieties in the mega-demonstrations to create awareness about new varieties that show some tolerance to rust.

Every drop of water matters: Leading global research institutes ally to aid farmers in dry and saline ecosystems

Written by Mike Listman on January 10, 2024. Posted in Press releases.

CIMMYT and ICBA sign a memorandum of understanding. (Photo: ICBA)

Dubai/Mexico City, 10 January 2024 – An award-winning not-for-profit agricultural research center recognized for its work on sustainable agriculture in the Middle East and North Africa is joining forces with the global organization whose breeding research has contributed to half the maize and wheat varieties grown in low- and middle-income countries.

The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and CIMMYT have signed an agreement to jointly advance the ecological and sustainable intensification of cereal and legume cropping systems in semi-arid and dryland areas.

“Farmers in such settings confront enormous risks and variable conditions and often struggle to eke out a livelihood, but they still comprise a critical part of the global food system and their importance and challenges are mounting under climate change,” said Bram Govaerts, director general of CIMMYT. “ICBA brings enormously valuable expertise and partnerships to efforts that will help them.”

The specifics of the two centers’ joint work are yet to be defined but will cover soil health, salinity management approaches, crop productivity and breeding, gender-transformative capacity development, and finding markets for underutilized crops, among other vital topics.

Established in 1999 and headquartered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), ICBA conducts research and development to increase agricultural productivity, improve food security and nutrition, and enhance the livelihoods of rural farming communities in marginal areas. The center has extensive experience in developing solutions to the problems of salinity, water scarcity and drought, and maintains one of the world’s largest collections of germplasm of drought-, heat- and salt-tolerant plant species.

“We are excited about the synergies our partnership with CIMMYT will create. It will focus on a range of areas, but the priority will be given to developing breeding and cropping system innovations to improve farmers’ food security and nutrition, while enhancing water security and environmental sustainability, and creating jobs and livelihoods in different parts of the world,” said Tarifa Alzaabi, director general of ICBA.

Based in Mexico but with projects in over 80 countries and offices throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, CIMMYT operates a global seed distribution network that provides 80% of the world’s breeding lines for maize and wheat, including many that offer superior yields and resilience in dry conditions and in the presence of crop diseases and pests.

The center is also conducting breeding and seed system development for dryland crops such as sorghum, millet, groundnut, cowpea, and beans, known for their climate resilience and importance as foods and sources of income for smallholder farm households and their communities.

With global and local partners, CIMMYT is also refining and spreading a suite of resource-conserving, climate-smart innovations for highly diverse maize- and wheat-based cropping systems, including more precise and efficient use of water and fertilizer, as well as conservation agriculture, which blends reduced or zero-tillage, use of crop residues or mulches as soil covers, and more diverse intercrops and rotations.

As part of the new agreement, the centers will also explore research collaborations with universities and research institutions in the UAE to develop and test maize varieties that are suitable for the UAE’s climate and soil conditions, as well as organizing training programs and workshops for farmers, extension workers, and other stakeholders in the UAE to build their capacity in maize production and management.

About ICBA

The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) is a unique applied agricultural research center in the world with a focus on marginal areas where an estimated 1.7 billion people live. It identifies, tests, and introduces resource-efficient, climate-smart crops and technologies that are best suited to different regions affected by salinity, water scarcity, and drought. Through its work, ICBA helps to improve food security and livelihoods for some of the poorest rural communities around the world.

www.biosaline.org

About CIMMYT

CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrow’s problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries. CIMMYT is a core CGIAR Research Center, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security and improving natural resources.

staging.cimmyt.org

For more information or interviews:

CIMMYT

Sarah Fernandes

Head of Communications

s.fernandes@cgiar.org

ICBA

Abdumutalib Begmuratov

Head of Knowledge Management and Communications

a.begmuratov@biosaline.org.ae

Strengthening seed systems with Zamseed

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on January 5, 2024. Posted in Blogs.

Bram Govaerts and Amsal Tarekegne compare a maize hybrid. (Photo: Katebe Mapipo/CIMMYT)

Maize is a vital crop in Zambia and Tanzania, both for farmers’ economic livelihoods and for delivering nutrients and sustenance to a large group of people. But maize is threatened by climate change, like more severe droughts, and from pests like fall army worm (FAW), which can completely devastate farmers’ fields.

Against this backdrop of looming threats, CIMMYT, as part of the Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub, or MasAgro Africa, is partnering with the Zambia Seed Company Limited (Zamseed) to distribute seeds that are drought tolerant and resistant to the ravages of FAW. And because maize is a staple of many people’s diets, CIMMYT and Zamseed are also developing and distributing maize varieties enhanced with vitamin A.

To uphold maize variety integrity, CIMMYT and Zamseed are engaged in the capacity building of quality assurance and quality control for local stakeholders.

CIMMYT’s engagement with Zamseed involves efforts to popularize high yielding, drought-tolerant, and vitamin enhanced maize varieties in Zambia and Tanzania. Some of these efforts include demonstrations of the new varieties, field days held at different stages of maize development, and deliberate engagement of women throughout the entire seed selection, planting and harvesting effort.

“Our partnership with Zamseed started in October 2022,” said Ir Essegbemon Akpo, a CIMMYT maize seed systems specialist. “It has been a fruitful collaboration, delivering significant outputs to thousands of farmers in Zambia and Tanzania.”

To date, Zamseed has held 300 and 500 demonstrations in Tanzania and Zambia, respectively. The company has held many field days at the demonstration sites to showcase drought tolerant and vitamin A enhanced maize to hundreds of small-scale farmers.

“We have witnessed many farmers who visited the demonstration activities who are excited to see the new high yielding and drought tolerant varieties,” said Amsal Tarekegne of Zamseed.

Seeded by funds from the AID-I project, Zamseed is producing 60kg of Early Generation Seed (EGS) of parents of a FAW-tolerant hybrid maize variety. The company plans to produce 200kg of this hybrid for commercialization and launch in 2024.

To ensure that seeds delivered to farmers are of the highest quality, CIMMYT is working with Zamseed to develop quality assurance and control frameworks, involving genotyping of selected seeds at various times during the seed multiplication and distribution process.

Zamseed has been servicing the requirements of farmers in the sub-Sahara region since 1980, focusing on products that will enhance the profitability of the small-scale farmer and ensure household food security.

Delivering the best seeds to farmers in Zambia

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on January 3, 2024. Posted in News.

To bring together farmers with seed distributors and other stakeholders, the Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub, or MasAgro Africa, held a seed fair with the theme ‘Promoting Access to Drought Tolerant Seed and Appropriate Scale Technologies,’ in Zambia’s Chongwe district. The objectives of the fair were to create a platform for farmers and input suppliers to engage before the onset of the planting season. Over 1,200 farmers attended the seed fair.

Zambian government officials and CIMMYT staff tour fair stands. (Photo: Nancy Malama/CIMMYT)

“The seed fair plays a critical role in linking farmers to seed companies and exposes them to appropriate technologies. The links created with agro-dealers and other suppliers ensure farmers gain access to sufficient volumes of appropriate multiple stress tolerant maize hybrids, legume seed and agricultural inputs locally. Access to drought tolerant seed and technology in the times of climate change is timely and critical to today’s farmers. This fair will help our farmers acquire inputs at their doorsteps, promoting food security,” said Kasuba, the district agriculture officer.

AID-I is also using these fairs to provide information on agronomic practices such as conservation agriculture, climate-smart agriculture and small mechanization options to support smallholders not only to learn but also enjoy the events through participation in fun quizzes. Farmers purchase seed and other inputs when they redeem vouchers provided by participating companies who develop the questions for farmers.

A farmer who redeemed a voucher said, “I came from Nyimba, because I heard that there is a seed fair here. What I found was very interesting, and I learned a lot. I saw a lot of seeds from different companies. I have also managed to win this pesticide by answering a question, and I am very happy about this project.”

Farmer redeems a voucher for beneficial pesticides. (Photo: Christabel Chabwela/CIMMYT)

These add-ons to the seed fair ensure farmers learn about climate-smart practices and how they can mitigate climate change effects and crop damage caused by pests by using drought and pest resistant varieties. Pests such as fall armyworm (FAW) are a major threat to smallholder farmers and their crops, as these can destroy crops and lead to a significant decrease in yields and income for the farmer.

Some of the outcomes and benefits for the private sector, and farmers alike include farmers to access different seed hybrids at one location, reduced costs of transportation for farmers who often travel long distances to get inputs. Zamseed, an AID-I partner, was able to promote 600 packs of their ZMS 451-medium and ZMS 721-late maturity seeds. SeedCo, another AID-I partner was able to support farmers with 500 seed packs of their medium maturity SC 303-ultra early, SC 555-early and 657-medium maturity maize seed varieties to farmers. Seed input suppliers noted that maize seed packed in smaller bags weighing 10 kgs and of medium maturity variety seed were the most sought-after and have now influenced how they can reach much larger numbers of smallholder farmers through this observation on improved packaging and demand.

In addition to Zamseed and SeedCo, AID-I partners who participated in the seed fair include the Ministry of Agriculture, CRS, Afriseed, Synergy, Animive Enterprises, Bayer, Amiran, Syngenta, Omnia Fertilizer, and Corteva.

2024 WIT Award nominations now open from Borlaug Global Rust Initiative

Written by Julian Bañuelos-Uribe on December 22, 2023. Posted in News, Press releases.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2024 Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) awards honoring outstanding early-career scientists engaged in wheat research. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) presents the WIT awards to acknowledge excellence and leadership among scientists in the initial stages of their careers. Recipients of the 2024 awards will benefit from advanced leadership and scientific training for wheat research, supported by the BGRI and the Accelerating Genetic Gains in Maize and Wheat project led by CIMMYT.

Applications for the 2024 WIT Awards

Applications will be accepted until January 31, 2024. These awards, named after Jeanie Borlaug Laube, chair of the BGRI and daughter of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Norman E. Borlaug, have recognized the accomplishments of early-career scientists in wheat research worldwide since their establishment in 2010. To date, the BGRI has acknowledged over 70 deserving individuals.