Skip to main content

research: Dryland Crops

Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Dryland Cereals in Africa (AVISA)

Written by mcallejas on . Posted in Uncategorized.

The Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Dryland Cereals in Africa (AVISA) project increased demand-driven, gender equitable and timely access to quality seeds and inputs for small-scale producers by strengthening links between seed producers, farmers and grain aggregators, particularly women and young farmers. Partners included national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA), the Center for Behavior Change Communication (CBCC) and the Tanzania Seed Traders Association (TASTA).

The project, which involved 188 NARES scientists from nine countries in East and Southern Africa (ESA) and West and Central Africa (WCA), tested different impact pathways to improve the scalability of dryland crop innovations. They identified 58 regional market segments for crops such as sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, groundnut, chickpea and pigeonpea, of which 28 were prioritized for breeding pipelines. Target product profiles were consolidated and priority traits were addressed through a crop health/pathology network. Breeding programs were implemented through shared pipelines, regional trials were conducted and 2,461 farmers participated in tricots.

Efforts included the formation of a cowpea WCA working group, the identification of 26 common bean market segments in East Africa, and the implementation of awareness and demand generation activities using a variety of promotional methods. Data-driven decisions were prioritized, resulting in the creation of breeding informatics teams, quality assurance/control pipelines, and digitization templates.

The project also established governance structures and steering committees for the two target regions in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as operational committees and elected representatives to ensure the functioning and sustainability of the CGIAR-NARES dryland crops network.

In addition, the project targets the Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 2 – Zero Hunger; SDG 13 – Climate Action; SGD 17 – Partnerships for the Goals.

Reports

AVISA 2023 Annual Report

Dryland Crops

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Dryland Crops, formerly known as the Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Systems in Africa (AVISA) project, aims to improve the livelihoods of small-scale producers and consumers of sorghum, millet, groundnut, cowpea and bean. Project partners focus on improving the breeding and seed systems of these crops in their key geographies in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda. Other crops receiving growing attention in the project include finger millet, pigeon pea and chickpea.

Although significant adoption of improved seed of dryland cereals and legume crops in Africa has been reported, its overall use remains low. There is a growing interest in these crops, particularly because of their resilience to climate-change; however, the seed sector is constrained by lack of product information, dearth of knowledge of the size and scale of the business opportunity, and inadequate access to early generation seed.

Dryland Crops will address these constraints by contributing to the establishment of robust systems that:

  • Enable networks to work synergistically across countries with common challenges and opportunities.
  • Support national agricultural research systems to access research, professional development and infrastructure-building opportunities.
  • Increase the quantity and quality of data substantiating varietal superiority and the demand for seed and grain of improved varieties.
  • Boost the availability of early generation seed and strengthen links between the research system and private- and public-sector actors.

The aspiration is to codevelop, validate by co-implementation, and continuously improve with partners research-to-farm-to-consumer models that achieve positive impacts on farmers’ livelihoods and consumers’ wellbeing.

The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT and IITA will lead initiatives for common bean and cowpea, respectively. For sorghum, pearl millet and groundnut breeding, CIMMYT will design programs that support crop improvement networks, including CGIAR and national agricultural research systems, and incorporate best approaches, principles, and tools, particularly those availed through the Excellence in Breeding (EiB) platform.

The project is committed to gender equity as a guiding principle, considering the critical role women play in choosing legume and cereal varieties and seed sources. Women seed entrepreneurs and women-led seed companies will garner special attention for capacity development. Partnerships with actors through the value chain, platforms and demonstrations will ensure women have equal access to improved technologies.

The previous phase of the AVISA project was led by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).