research: Sustainable agrifood systems

Nepal Seed and Fertilizer Project (NSAF)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 28, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

The Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project facilitates sustainable increases in Nepal’s national crop productivity, income and household-level food and nutrition security, across 20 districts, including five earthquake-affected districts.

Nepal’s agriculture is mostly small-scale and subsistence-oriented, characterized by a mix of crop and livestock farming. The agriculture sector represents about one-third of the country’s gross domestic product and employs 75 percent of the labor force.

Over half of Nepal’s farms operate on less than half a hectare, with the majority unable to produce enough to meet their household food requirements for the whole year. Combined with an increasing urban population, it will not be possible for the country to meet future food demand without increased agricultural productivity and competitiveness of domestic production.

Major cereal crops and vegetables currently have low yields, but there are significant prospects for increases through improved seed and soil fertility management practices. A large part of this yield gap results from a lack of knowledge, inadequate access to affordable improved technologies, extension services and markets due to weak public and private sector capacity to provide support services needed by small scale farmers.

NSAF promotes the use of improved seeds and integrated soil fertility management technologies along with effective and efficient extension, including the use of digital and information and communications technologies. The project will specifically increase availability of technologies to improve productivity in cauliflower, lentils, maize, onions, rice and tomatoes. It will also build competitive seed and fertilizer systems that significantly expand seed production, marketing and distribution by enhancing the capacity of public and private sectors in seed and fertilizer value chains.

Agriculture development needs to be locally owned and led through inclusive business models involving women and disadvantaged groups and farmers institutions. There is a need to further the development of Nepal’s cereals, legumes and vegetable sector by:

Strengthening public-private coordination mechanisms
Developing market systems that are agile, resilient, and adaptive
Propelling agricultural growth through evidence-based policy change and harmonization.

Food security in Ukraine

Supplemental funds released in 2022 will be used to respond to the impact of the Ukraine war at the household level. CIMMYT and its partners will develop food security and resilient agriculture market systems, to advance the delivery of improved agriculture input management knowledge and technologies, application of best crop management practices, and development of local capacity to apply improved technologies.

The objective is to build resilience of smallholder farmers in four areas:

Protecting and sustaining crop production for strengthening local food production and consumption systems.
Supporting efficient agriculture supply chain.
Strengthening local cooperatives and micro, small- and medium-sized agribusiness enterprises.
Addressing the impact of global fertilizer shortages by exploring innovative products, novel application techniques and local market development.

Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 28, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

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: 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.

Read the final report of the SIMLESA project

Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 28, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

The Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan is working to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes in the agricultural sector through the promotion and dissemination of modern technologies/practices in the livestock, horticulture (fruits and vegetables) and cereals (wheat, maize and rice) sector. The CIMMYT-led project aims to foster emergence of a dynamic, responsive, and competitive system of science and innovation in Pakistan.

This unique project places particular emphasis on building partnerships between public research and those it serves, including farmers and the private sector. AIP operates through three activity windows: commissioned projects, a competitive grants system and human resource development. Within these activity windows AIP addresses complex agricultural systems, but is divided into four “science windows’” including cereals and cereal systems, livestock, vegetables and perennial horticulture. The key indicator of AIP’s success is the number of small farmers who adopt or benefit from productivity or value-enhancing technologies.

OBJECTIVES

The long term goals of the project are food security, environmental protection, gender sensitization and poverty reduction through the adoption of sustainable technologies, resource management practices, advance agricultural models and improved systems.

Building resilience, self-reliance and a reliable business model

Buena Milpa

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 27, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

The Buena Milpa project in Guatemala, conducted in collaboration with the country’s Agricultural Science and Technology Institute (ICTA), is aimed at implementing a sustainable intensification strategy for agriculture while reducing poverty, malnutrition and environmental damage.

The project, managed in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future program, is based in the highlands of Guatemala, a region recognized for its diversity of maize varieties, flora and fauna. Farmers grow a wide variety of crops, including beans, legumes, pumpkin, fruit trees and native plants.

Through Buena Milpa, CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification Strategy for Latin America, with its focus on biodiversity conservation, participative breeding, soil conservation, farm diversification and maize, helps to conserve maize landraces and other important plants in the region.

Guatemala, where maize is a key food staple, is known for its wide maize biodiversity. The maize fields of most highland farmers are part of farm systems which includes animal husbandry (chickens, sheep or cattle). These complex farm systems diversify diets diet and sources of family income.

A range of soil conservation methods popular with farmers help preserve biodiversity. A variety of grasses, trees and other plants are used to ensure soil and field conservation.

Most of the maize in the region is grown on steep hillsides. Farmers have very little land and use as much of it as possible for crop production. Water and soil conservation practices aim to reduce the propensity to landslides, decrease erosion through soil cover, minimize the effects of erosion and help to settle the materials and soils mobilized through erosion.

The Buena Milpa project improves native maize landraces, increases productivity, improves plant architecture, grain and seed quality, thereby mitigating losses due to the effects of climate change and decreasing maize reserves, especially during periods of seasonal hunger.

Most farmers involved in the project belong to a Mayan ethnic group that has historically been marginalized and excluded from development processes. A social inclusion strategy fosters the participation of indigenous people, women, children, the young and the elderly in order to benefit everyone involved in maize production systems.

Links with other actors foster activities to generate information that raises awareness about how people are socially excluded, to inform and sensitize local actors about social dynamics that limit inclusion.

OBJECTIVES

Natural resource conservation
Soil and water conservation strategies to reduce erosion and maintain soil water
Understand maize diversity in the highlands of Guatemala
System diversification, taking into account different types of farms in the region
Design social inclusion strategy
Set up community seed banks to be the base of biodiversity conservation and participative breeding efforts
Foster innovation and reduce food insecurity and malnutrition
Increase sustainability of maize-based systems in the highlands
Empower farmers and train strategic actors by linking research to farmers’ needs and facilitating information exchange

Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA)

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 26, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

Intensive cereal cropping systems that include rice, wheat and/or maize are widespread throughout South Asia. These systems constitute the main economic activity in many rural areas and provide staple food for millions of people. The decrease in the rate of growth of cereal production, for both grain and residue, in South Asia is therefore of great concern. Simultaneously, issues of resource degradation, declining labor availability and climate variability pose steep challenges for achieving the goals of improving food security and rural livelihoods.

The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) was established in 2009 to promote durable change at scale in South Asia’s cereal-based cropping systems.

The project’s aim is to enhance the productivity of cereal-based cropping systems, increase farm incomes and reduce the environmental footprint of production through sustainable intensification technologies and management practices.

Operating in rural “innovation hubs” in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, CSISA complements regional and national efforts and involves public, civil society and private sector partners in the development and dissemination of improved cropping systems, resource-conserving management technologies, policies and markets. CSISA supports women farmers by ensuring their access and exposure to modern and improved technological innovations, knowledge and entrepreneurial skills that can help them become informed and recognized decision makers in agriculture.

The project is led by CIMMYT with partners the International Rice Research Institute and the International Food Policy Research Institute and funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

OBJECTIVES

Promote resource-conserving practices, technologies and services that increase yield with less water, labor and input costs
Impart new knowledge on cropping management practices, from applied research
Improve access to market information and enterprise development.
Strengthen policy analysis to remove constraints to the adoption of new technologies
Build strategic partnerships and capacity to help sustain and enhance the scale of benefits of improved cereal growth

Core research to impact themes within CSISA include:

Coping with climate extremes in rice-wheat cropping systems
Accelerating the emergence of mechanized solutions for sustainable intensification
Strengthening the foundations of agro-advisory and precision management through knowledge organization and data integration at scale
Increasing the capacity of partners to conduct participatory science and field reconnaissance to target and prioritize development interventions

During the study, researchers used a sub-surface drip fertigation system, combined with conservation agriculture approaches, on wheat fields. (Photo: Naveen Gupta/CIMMYT)

Innovative irrigation promises “more crop per drop” for India’s water-stressed cereals

Written by on March 21, 2019. Posted in News.

A pioneering study demonstrates how rice and wheat can be grown using 40 percent less water, through an innovative combination of existing irrigation and cropping techniques. (Photo: Naveen Gupta/CIMMYT)

On World Water day, researchers show how India’s farmers can beat water shortages and grow rice and wheat with 40 percent less water

India’s northwest region is the most important production area for two staple cereals: rice and wheat. But a growing population and demand for food, inefficient flood-based irrigation, and climate change are putting enormous stress on the region’s groundwater supplies. Science has now confronted this challenge: a “breakthrough” study demonstrates how rice and wheat can be grown using 40 percent less water, through an innovative combination of existing irrigation and cropping techniques. The study’s authors, from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA), Punjab Agricultural University and Thapar University, claim farmers can grow similar or better yields than conventional growing methods, and still make a profit.

The researchers tested a range of existing solutions to determine the optimal mix of approaches that will help farmers save water and money. They found that rice and wheat grown using a “sub-surface drip fertigation system” combined with conservation agriculture approaches used at least 40 percent less water and needed 20 percent less Nitrogen-based fertilizer, for the same amount of yields under flood irrigation, and still be cost-effective for farmers. Sub-surface drip fertigation systems involve belowground pipes that deliver precise doses of water and fertilizer directly to the plant’s root zone, avoiding evaporation from the soil. The proposed system can work for both rice and wheat crops without the need to adjust pipes between rotations, saving money and labor. But a transition to more efficient approaches will require new policies and incentives, say the authors.

Read the full story:

Innovative irrigation system could future-proof India’s major cereals. Thomsom Reuters Foundation News, 20 March 2019.

Read the study:

Sidhu HS, Jat ML, Singh Y, Sidhu RK, Gupta N, Singh P, Singh P, Jat HS, Gerard B. 2019. Sub-surface drip fertigation with conservation agriculture in a rice-wheat system: A breakthrough for addressing water and nitrogen use efficiency. Agricultural Water Management. 216:1 (273-283). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2019.02.019

The study received funding from the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Government of Punjab. The authors acknowledge the contributions of the field staff at BISA and CIMMYT based at Ludhiana, Punjab state.

Pieter Rutsaert

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on March 20, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized.

Pieter Rutsaert is a markets and value chain specialist with CIMMYT, based in Kenya. His work focuses on the demand side of formal seed systems development in Eastern Africa with special focus on the role of agro-dealers, farmer drivers for varietal turnover and collecting market intelligence data for breeding priorities.

He obtained his MSc in Tropical Natural Resources Management from KULeuven and a PhD from Ghent University in Belgium. Before joining CIMMYT, he worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at IRRI in the Philippines and as research director for Haystack International, a market research consultancy firm in Belgium.

Tabitha Kamau checks the maize at her family’s farm in Machakos County, Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)

Exploring young Africans’ role and engagement in the rural economy

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on March 15, 2019. Posted in Features.

How do young rural Africans engage in the rural economy? How important is farming relative to non-farm activities for the income of young rural Africans? What social, spatial and policy factors explain different patterns of engagement? These questions are at the heart of an interdisciplinary research project, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), that seeks to provide stronger evidence for policy and for the growing number of programs in Africa that want to “invest in youth.”

One component of the Challenges and Opportunities for Rural Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa project, led by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), draws on data from the World Bank’s Living Standard Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) to develop a more detailed picture of young people’s economic activities. These surveys, covering eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa, were conducted at regular intervals and in most cases followed the same households and individuals through time. While the LSMS-ISA are not specialized youth surveys and therefore may not cover all facets of youth livelihoods and wellbeing in detail, they provide valuable knowledge about the evolving patterns of social and economic characteristics of rural African youth and their households.

“LSMS-ISA data are open access, aiming to help national governments and academics analyze the linkages between poverty and agricultural productivity in developing countries,” said Sydney Gourlay, Survey Specialist in the Development Data Group of the World Bank. She explained that LSMS-ISA datasets cover rural and urban livelihoods — including asset ownership, education, farm and non-farm incomes — and contain detailed information on farming practices and productivity. “LSMS-ISA data have untapped potential for valuable youth analyses that could lead to evidence-based youth policy reform,” Gourlay said.

To stimulate greater use of LSMS-ISA data for research on these issues, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), IDS, and the LSMS team of the World Bank organized a workshop for young African social scientists, hosted by CIMMYT in Nairobi from February 4 to February 8, 2019.

Early-career social scientists from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe explored the potential of LSMS-ISA data, identified research issues, and developed strategies to create new analyses. The workshop was also a chance to uncover potential areas for increased data collection on youth, as part of the LSMS team’s IFAD-funded initiative “Improving Data on Women and Youth.”

What does that data point represent?

The workshop stressed the importance of getting to know the data before analyzing them. As explained by World Bank senior economist Talip Kilic in The Crowd and the Cloud, “Every data point has a human story.” It is important to decipher what the data points represent and the limits within which they can be interpreted. For instance, the definition of youth differs by country, so comparative studies across countries must harmonize data from different sources.

“Because LSMS-ISA survey locations are georeferenced, it is possible to integrate spatial information from multiple sources and gain new insights about patterns of interest, as well as the drivers associated with such patterns,” said Jordan Chamberlin, spatial economics expert at CIMMYT. “For example, in all countries we’ve examined, the degree of non-farm economic engagement is strongly associated with distance from urban centers.”

Chamberlin noted that georeferencing also has limitations. For instance, to ensure privacy, LSMS-ISA coordinates for households are randomly offset by as much as 5 km. Nonetheless, diverse geospatial data from the datasets — distance to the nearest tarmac road or population density, among other information — may be integrated via the location coordinates.

*A young farmer holding a baby participates in a varietal assessment exercise on a maize trial plot in Machakos County, Kenya. (Photo: Joshua Masinde/CIMMYT)*

One key variable to assess farm productivity is harvested area. The LSMS team’s research has revealed high, systematic discrepancies between farmers’ self-assessments of area, GPS measurements, and compass and rope, which is considered the most accurate method. Methodological validation data from Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania show that on average farmers overestimate the area of plots smaller than 200 m² by more than 370 percent and underestimate the size of plots larger than 2 hectares by 13 percent, relative to compass and rope measurements. Such errors can skew yield analyses and the accuracy of assessments of national agricultural research programs’ impact.

Several workshop participants expressed interest in using the LSMS dataset for studies on migration, given that it contains information about this variable. In the case of internal migrants — that is, persons who have moved to another area in the same country — LSMS enumerators will find and interview them and these migrants will continue to be included in future rounds of the panel survey. In Malawi, for example, about 93 percent of individuals were tracked between the 2010/11 and the 2013 Integrated Household Surveys. Plot characteristics — such as type of soil, input use, and crop production — include information on the person who manages the plot, allowing for identification and analysis of male and female managed plots.

Following the training, the participants have better articulated their research ideas on youth. Prospective youth studies from the group include how land productivity affects youth opportunities and whether migration induces greater involvement of women in agriculture or raises the cost of rural labor. Better studies will generate more accurate knowledge to help design more effective youth policies.

Anzuma Begam (left) and her husband, Hossain Ali, working together in their maize field.

Sustainable intensification practices build resilience in Bangladesh’s charlands

Written by on March 13, 2019. Posted in Features.

The charlands, island-like tracts of land arising from riverbeds as a result of erosion and accretion, are home to millions of Bangladesh’s most vulnerable people. The lives of these people, much like the land itself, are exposed to nature’s forces such as erosion and floods.

In Eachlirchar, an area of charland in Lakkhitari Union, Gangachara, Rangpur district, where the soil struggles to yield even rice, the fate of the marginalized char community is arbitrarily determined by the course of nature. However, mother of three Anzuma Begam is living proof of the resilience and socioeconomic development catalyzed by adopting conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification technologies.

Promoted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) through its Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project, sustainable intensification technologies have been heralded as a major breakthrough in the fight against charland aridity since 2014. By reducing drudgery, irrigation and costs, conservation agriculture enables the soil of the charlands to produce rice and maize yields consecutively.

Given its eventual success, it is surprising that the first phase of CIMMYT’s work in Eachlirchar did not run according to plan, as the tobacco-producing community did not welcome new technologies. Begam’s husband, Hossain Ali, even rejected her initial proposal to participate in the SRFSI project’s introductory training on zero tillage, weed management and new seeds. However, in spite of her husband’s disapproval and defying patriarchal constraints, Begam stepped forward to accept the new agricultural technology.

Anzuma Begam’s husband takes pride in his wife's achievements. — *Anzuma Begam’s husband takes pride in his wife’s achievements.*

After engaging with the project, Begam decided apply conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification practices on her small plot of land. She began to produce mechanically transplanted rice and strip-till maize. Her first harvest in 2015 deepened her understanding of the benefits of comparatively low utilization of irrigation, pesticides and labor.

Begam has since yielded a bumper maize crop using strip-till technology and her socioeconomic progress is an inspiration to her charland community. Even the floods of June 2017 failed take the smiles off her family’s faces and, in 2018, she and her family moved from a shack into a well-built tin-shaded house.

The profits from Begam’s higher yielding and more reliable maize and rice harvests have ensured access to proper education and food for her children, and her husband now helps cultivate their land using conservation agriculture technologies. “Anzuma did the right thing by not listening to my wrong decision back then in 2014,” he explains. “SRFSI showed her the right way to attain self-reliance through conservation agriculture technologies. I am proud of my wife.”

The Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

CIMMYT staff welcome Minister Müller and his team at the entrance of CIMMYT’s global headquarters in Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Is a world without hunger possible, asks Germany’s minister Gerd Müller during his visit to CIMMYT

Written by Marta Millere on March 13, 2019. Posted in News.

On March 4, 2019, staff from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) welcomed Gerd Müller, Germany’s Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), for a short visit to CIMMYT’s global headquarters in Mexico. Before exploring the campus and sitting down to hear about CIMMYT’s latest innovations in maize and wheat research, Minister Müller challenged the scientists gathered there by asking: “Is a world with no hunger actually possible?”

“It is possible, but it will require a lot of research and development activities to get there,” replied CIMMYT’s director general, Martin Kropff.

With $3.5 billion generated in benefits annually, CIMMYT is well positioned for Minister Müller’s challenge. CIMMYT works throughout the developing world to improve livelihoods and foster more productive, sustainable maize and wheat farming. Its portfolio squarely targets critical challenges, including food insecurity and malnutrition, climate change and environmental degradation. In addition, over 50 percent of maize and wheat grown in the developing world is based on CIMMYT varieties.

The director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program, Hans Braun (left), shows one of the 28,000 unique maize seed varieties housed at CIMMYT’s genebank, the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Germany has generously supported CIMMYT’s work for decades in a quest to answer this very question, which aligns with the German government’s agenda to improving food and nutrition security, the environment and livelihoods.

“CIMMYT is working to find ways to allow developing countries to grow maize and wheat on less land so that a larger percentage of it can be freed for nutritious and higher value cash crops. This requires better seeds that are adapted to biotic and abiotic stressors, smarter agronomy and machinery, which CIMMYT develops with partners,” Kropff explained.

CIMMYT works between smallholders and small companies to create an incentive on one side to grow varieties and on the other side, to increase demand for quality grain that will ultimately become the tortillas and bread on customers’ dinner tables. These sustainable sourcing and breeding efforts depend on the breathtaking diversity of maize and wheat housed at CIMMYT’s genebank, the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center, which is supported by German funding along with solar panels that generate clean energy for the genebank.

Through funding for the CGIAR Research Program on WHEAT and the CIM Integrated Experts Program, Germany’s GIZ and BMZ have also supported CIMMYT research into gender and innovation processes in Africa, Central and South Asia, enhancing gender awareness in both projects and rural communities and mainstreaming gender-sensitive approaches in agricultural research. As a result, CIMMYT researchers and partners have increased gender equality in wheat-based cropping systems in Ethiopia, reduced the burden of women’s wheat cleaning work in Afghanistan, and hosted a series of training courses promoting the integration of gender awareness and analysis in research for development.

The German delegation watches the work of a lab technician counting wheat root chromosomes. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

In addition, the CIM Integrated Experts program has allowed CIMMYT to increase its efforts to scale up agricultural innovations and link research to specific development needs. With support from GIZ and in collaboration with the PPPLab, in 2018 CIMMYT researchers developed a trial version of the Scaling Scan, a tool which helps researchers to design and manage scaling at all project phases: at the beginning, during and after implementation.

CIMMYT is committed to improving livelihoods and helping farmers stay competitive through increasing labor productivity and reducing costs. CIMMYT’s mechanization team works to identify, develop, test and improve technologies that reduce drudgery and enable smallholders in Mexico, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to adopt sustainable intensification practices, which require greater farm power and precision. In Ethiopia, CIMMYT has an ongoing collaboration with the GIZ/BMZ green innovation center — established as part of the ONE WORLD – No Hunger initiative — and is working with GIZ in Namibia to provide knowledge, expertise and capacity building on conservation agriculture. This includes the organization of training courses to mechanics and service providers on everything from the use to the repair of machinery and small-scale mechanization services.

“We’re on a mission to improve livelihoods through transforming smallholder agriculture, much of which depends on empowering women, scaling, market development and pushing for policies that would create the right incentives. Partnerships with local and international stakeholders such as Germany are at the core of CIMMYT’s operations and allow for us to have global impact,” said Kropff.

More photos of the visit are available here.

“Could we turn it on?” asks Germany’s federal minister of economic cooperation and development, Gerd Müller, during a small-scale machinery demonstration to show off the latest achievements of MasAgro, an innovative sustainable intensification project that works with more than 500,000 maize and wheat farmers in Mexico. (Photo: Alfonso Cortés/CIMMYT)

Philomena Muthoni Mwangi stands at the entrance of her agrodealer shop, Farm Care, in the village of Ngarariga. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)

Solving the “last mile” challenge of maize seeds

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on March 13, 2019. Posted in Features.

Agrodealers play a pivotal role in delivering the gains of the green revolution to millions of smallholders in Africa. Reaching even the most remote corners of the continent, they give farmers access to agricultural inputs and services.

So far, seed systems research has mainly focused on the factors influencing farmers’ adoption of or seed companies’ investment in new varieties. However, little is known about independent agrodealers, who play an important role in the “last mile” of seed systems, distributing improved maize seeds and fertilizers as well as giving agronomic advice. There is a gap of knowledge about who they are, their needs and constraints, and the ways in which they secure and develop their businesses.

Understanding how to better support agrodealers is important for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), to ensure that new varieties reach the largest possible number of farmers. Under the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project, CIMMYT has launched a new research effort to better understand agrodealers in Kenya, with a specific focus on maize seed marketing.

Researchers are now testing the tools and expect to begin field work in March 2019, during the next maize planting season. “We want to collect detailed quantitative and qualitative data about the way agrodealers outsource and choose their maize varieties, and how they market these seeds to farmers,” explained CIMMYT associate scientist Pieter Rutsaert, who leads the study. This research will help government agencies, NGOs and funders to design better interventions related to agrodealers, for greater and more sustainable impact.

*CIMMYT researchers Jason Donovan (left) and Pieter Rutsaert (right) discuss the research study questionnaire with consultant enumerator Victor Kitoto. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)*

The million-shilling question

The way questions are selected and phrased, and data collected, is critical. “Figuring out how to ask the right question to the right person is a hard business, especially when we ask agrodealers to evaluate their own performance,” recognized Rutsaert. For example, it could be challenging to estimate the importance of maize seed sales if owners are hesitant to provide details about their businesses to outsiders. Anticipating the challenges of collecting reliable and comparable data, Rutsaert’s team will use visual tools, like illustrated cards, to facilitate conversations with interviewees. They will also use innovative exercises, like the shop investment game, where owners are asked how they would invest one million Kenyan shillings (about US$10,000).

Standing behind the counter of her shop, selling bags of feeding supplements for dairy cattle and small pesticide bottles on dusty shelves, Philomena Muthoni Mwangi explained she had run out of maize seeds for sale. This small agrodealer in the village of Ngarariga, in central Kenya, will restock her maize seeds from a big agrovet shop nearby at the onset of the rainy season.

This is quite common, as agrodealers do not take risks when it comes to selling new varieties. Not knowing the future demand, leftover seed stock after the planting season would severely reduce Mwangi’s potential profit, as margins per bag are low. To address this issue, CIMMYT researchers will conduct an intercept farmer survey in the coming weeks, to better understand what farmers look for when buying maize seeds.

Agrodealers are not a homogeneous group. Ranging from large one-stop shops to small shacks, their business models, seed marketing strategy and type of clients may differ a lot. This study will provide useful insights to design targeted seed scaling strategies that consider all kinds of agrodealers, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach.

The Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

*The 70-year-old owner of a farm input shop in Kikuyu town, Kiambu County, answers the questions of CIMMYT researchers. (Photo: Jerome Bossuet/CIMMYT)*

In Odisha and Bihar, CSISA has leveraged the social capital of women's self-help groups formed by the government and other civil society partners and which offer entry points for training and social mobilization, as well as access to credit. (Photo: CSISA)

Support groups open women’s access to farm technologies in northeast India

Written by on March 12, 2019. Posted in Features.

Self-help groups in Bihar, India, are putting thousands of rural women in touch with agricultural innovations, including mechanization and sustainable intensification, that save time, money, and critical resources such as soil and water, benefiting households and the environment.

The Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society, locally known as Jeevika, has partnered with the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), to train women’s self-help groups and other stakeholders in practices such as zero tillage, early sowing of wheat, direct-seeded rice and community nurseries.

Through their efforts to date, more than 35,000 households are planting wheat earlier than was customary, with the advantage that the crop fully fills its grain before the hot weather of late spring. In addition, some 18,000 households are using zero tillage, in which they sow wheat directly into unplowed fields and residues, a practice that improves soil quality and saves water, among other benefits. As many as 5,000 households have tested non-flooded, direct-seeded rice cultivation during 2018-19, which also saves water and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

An autonomous body under the Bihar Department of Rural Development, Jeevika is also helping women to obtain specialized equipment for zero tillage and for the mechanized transplanting of rice seedlings into paddies, which reduces women’s hard labor of hand transplanting.

“Mechanization is helping us manage our costs and judiciously use our time in farming,” says Rekha Devi, a woman farmer member of Jeevika Gulab self-help group of Beniwal Village, Jamui District. “We have learned many new techniques through our self-help group.”

With more than 100 million inhabitants and over 1,000 persons per square kilometer, Bihar is India’s most densely-populated state. Nearly 90 percent of its people live in rural areas and agriculture is the main occupation. Women in Bihar play key roles in agriculture, weeding, harvesting, threshing, and milling crops, in addition to their household chores and bearing and caring for children, but they often lack access to training, vital information, or strategic technology.

Like all farmers in South Asia, they also face risks from rising temperatures, variable rainfall, resource degradation, and financial constraints.

Jeevika has formed more than 700,000 self-help groups in Bihar, mobilizing nearly 8.4 million poor households, 25,000 village organizations, and 318 cluster-level federations in all 38 districts of Bihar.

The organization also fosters access for women to “custom-hiring” businesses, which own the specialized implement for practices such as zero tillage and will sow or perform other mechanized services for farmers at a cost. “Custom hiring centers help farmers save time in sowing, harvesting and threshing,” said Anil Kumar, Program Manager, Jeevika.

The staff training, knowledge and tools shared by CSISA have been immensely helpful in strengthening the capacity of women farmers, according to D. Balamurugan, CEO of Jeevika. “We aim to further strengthen our partnership with CSISA and accelerate our work with women farmers, improving their productivity while saving their time and costs,” Balamurugan said.

CSISA is implemented jointly by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). It is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Mainassara Zaman-Allah conducts a demonstration of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) at the Chiredzi research station in Zimbabwe.

Digital imaging tools make maize breeding much more efficient

Written by Shiela Chikulo on March 11, 2019. Posted in News.

To keep up with growing maize demand, breeders aim at optimizing annual yield gain under various stress conditions, like drought or low fertility soils. To that end, they identify the genetic merit of each individual plant, so they can select the best ones for breeding.

To improve that process, researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are looking at cost-effective ways to assess a larger number of maize plants and to collect more accurate data related to key plant characteristics. Plant phenotyping looks at the interaction between the genetic make-up of a plant with the environment, which produces certain characteristics or traits. In maize, for example, this may manifest in different leaf angles or ear heights.

Recent innovations in digital imagery and sensors save money and time in the collection of data related to phenotyping. These technologies, known as high-throughput phenotyping platforms, replace lengthy paper-based visual observations of crop trials.

Authors of a recent review study on high-throughput phenotyping tools observe that obtaining accurate and inexpensive estimates of genetic value of individuals is central to breeding. Mainassara Zaman-Allah, an abiotic stress phenotyping specialist at CIMMYT in Zimbabwe and one of the co-authors, emphasizes the importance of improving existing tools and developing new ones. “Plant breeding is a continuously evolving field where new tools and methods are used to develop new varieties more precisely and rapidly, sometimes at reduced financial resources than before,” he said. “All this happens to improve efficiency in breeding, in order to address the need for faster genetic gain and reduction of the cost of breeding.”

“Under the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project, we are working on implementing the use of drone-based sensing, among other breeding innovations, to reduce time and cost of phenotyping, so that the development of new varieties costs less,’’ said Zaman-Allah. “The use of drones cuts time and cost of data collection by 25 to 75 percent compared to conventional methods, because it enables to collect data on several traits simultaneously — for example canopy senescence and plant count,” he explained.

Another great innovation developed under this CIMMYT project is what Zaman-Allah calls the ear analyzer. This low-cost digital imaging app allows to collect maize ear and kernel trait data 90 percent faster. This implies higher productivity and rigor, as more time is dedicated to data analysis rather than time spent on data collection. Using digital image processing, the ear analyzer gives simultaneous data of more than eight traits, including ear size and number, kernel number, size and weight.

*Measuring maize attributes such as ear size, kernel number and kernel weight is becoming faster and simpler through digital imaging technologies.*

Some national agricultural research systems and NGOs have adopted this digital imagery tool to better assess maize yields in farmers’ fields. For instance, CIMMYT and GOAL have used this tool to assess the extent of fall armyworm impact on maize crops yield in eastern Zimbabwe.

Scientists are exploring the use of different sensors for phenotyping, such as Red, Green and Blue (RGB) digital imaging or Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) devices. Infrared thermal and spectral cameras could lead to further progress towards faster maize breeding.

Such sensors can help collect numerous proxy data relating to important plant physiological traits or the plant environment, like plant height and architecture, soil moisture and root characteristics. This data can be used to assess the maize crop yield potential and stress tolerance.

Such breeding innovations are also making maize research more responsive to climate change and emerging pests and diseases.

Breaking Ground: Rahma Adam unleashes the agricultural productivity of Africa’s women and youth

Written by Jérôme Bossuet on March 11, 2019. Posted in Features.

Despite great innovations in African agriculture in recent years, much of the continent still struggles to feed itself. With the population growing at an unprecedented rate, avoiding fatal food insecurity lies in the ability to maximize agricultural capacity.

Sociologist Rahma Adam believes there is one vital resource that remains untapped. One which, when unleashed, will not only increase food security but also boost livelihoods: the human capital of Africa’s women and youth.

“Smallholder production and livelihoods are stifled by the unequal access woman and youth have to farming information and resources, compared to men,” said Adam. “Limited access to land and technical services inhibits their agricultural productivity and holds back the food security of all.”

As a gender and development specialist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Adam adds a social inclusion lens to Africa’s development dialogue. Her research asks questions as to why women and youth are overrepresented among the poor and how to improve their access to agricultural training and markets.

The interaction between biology and anthropology has fascinated Adam since she was an undergraduate student at Macalester College. However, it was not until researching women and men in the local food markets of her native Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — as part of an exercise for her master’s degree in Public Policy at Harvard University — that she realized how social equity could improve the livelihoods of all African farmers.

“Working alongside farming women, I saw first-hand the disproportionate number of challenges they face to overcome poverty, gather finance for inputs, produce enough food to sustain a family and improve their livelihoods. However, I also saw their potential,” Adam explained.

Inspired to tackle these complex issues, she got her doctoral degree in rural sociology, with a focus on agriculture, gender and international development, from Pennsylvania State University. Following an early career with nonprofits and the World Bank, she joined CIMMYT as a gender and development specialist in 2015.

Since then, Adam has led research on how best to lift the agricultural productivity of women and youth to its full potential. Working with the Sustainable Intensification for Maize-Legumes Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project, she analyzed the role of gender and social inclusion in maize and legume value chains in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Tanzania. She also identified intervention points to achieve gender and age equity across various nodes from field to plate, for example among producers, agrodealers, traders, processors and breeders.

“Promoting women and youth participation in agricultural value chains improves food security and livelihoods,” she explained. “Allowing these groups to have a voice and encouraging their leadership in farmer groups promotes their participation in agriculture.”

Partnerships for social inclusion

In eastern and southern Africa’s maize and legume farming systems, research shows that in most cases men have the final decision over maize crop production. Women have increased decision-making power regarding certain legumes, such as cowpeas and groundnuts, as they are mostly only for household consumption.

Adam’s work with SIMLESA found that promoting women’s participation in the production of legumes as cash crops is an opportunity to empower them, increase their household income and their food security.

Connecting women and youth to value chains through Agricultural Innovation Platforms improves their access to markets, credit, farming information and capacity development, she said. These platforms bring together farmers with extension workers, researchers, agrodealers, and NGO practitioners, so they can work together to improve maize and legume conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification.

“It is important policy and development decision makers see that research demonstrates entry points to encourage women and youth to take an active role in value chains and improve productivity,” Adam said.

“You don’t want your research to sit on a shelf. This is why science policy dialogues — like the SIMLESA local, national and regional policy forums taking place this year — are important to ensure that research is introduced into the political landscape.”

An inclusive approach to research

Research must be designed and implemented in a way that women and men, including youth, can participate in and benefit from, Adam explained. They need to be considered in the research process, so they can increase their control of productive assets, participate in decision making, and decrease their labor burdens.

Adam has recently joined CIMMYT’s Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project to unpack gender issues in the formal maize seed sector. She will examine the relationship between gender and adoption of drought-tolerant and other improved varieties of maize. Adam will also analyze and categorize the differences in maize trait preferences between male and female farmers, and she will develop materials to integrate gender considerations in formal maize seed sector development.

“This information will be used by breeders to develop new maize varieties which are valuable to farmers and therefore have an increased chance of adoption,” the sociologist explained. “It will also help stakeholders get an idea of the rate men and women adopt improved varieties, and how they contribute to the evolution and performance of the seed sector in eastern and southern Africa.”

Providing training and consultation to her peers on gender and social inclusion is another important component of Adam’s work at CIMMYT. In June she will deliver a webinar on gender in research for CGIAR centers. At the end of the year she will participate in a regional seed sector workshop with other CGIAR experts, seed companies and NGOs, to ensure that partners use gender and social inclusion research.

Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the SIMLESA project was led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in collaboration with the Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB), CGIAR centers and national agricultural research institutes in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. Other regional and international partners include the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at the University of Queensland, Australia, and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA).

STMA is implemented by CIMMYT and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United States of Agency for International Development (USAID).

SIMLESA lead farmer Agnes Sendeza harvests maize cobs from a stook on her farm in Tembwe, Salima district, Malawi. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

How gender equity and social inclusion are improving the lives of rural families in Africa

Written by Carolyn Cowan on March 7, 2019. Posted in Videos.

Women have the potential to be drivers of agricultural transformation in Africa, holding the key to improving their families’ livelihoods and food security. However, constraints such as lack of access to initial capital, machinery, reliable markets, and knowledge and training are difficult to overcome, leading to restricted participation by women and young people in agricultural systems in Africa.

A new video from the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project highlights the importance of gender equity and social inclusion to achieving project impacts and outcomes, helping to drive transformative change towards securing a food-secure future for Africa. Case studies and interviews with women and men farmers — including young people — detail how SIMLESA’s approach has re-shaped their maize-based farming lives.

The video is aligned with the theme for International Women’s Day 2019, “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change,” which places the spotlight on innovative ways in which we can advance gender equality and the empowerment of women.

“This video is intended to educate the agricultural community and wider public on the importance of applying sustainable intensification agricultural practices and technologies in order to bridge the gender gap in agricultural productivity and achieve agricultural transformation for smallholder farmers in Africa,” said Rahma Adam, Gender and Development Specialist with CIMMYT in Kenya. “We hope stakeholders will be able to see the benefits of these practices and technologies, and work towards finding ways to implement them into their agricultural practices or programs.”

Launched in 2010, SIMLESA is led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). It is implemented by national agricultural research systems, agribusinesses and farmers in partner countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Putting equal opportunities at the center

Following a participatory research for development approach, the SIMLESA team works alongside farmers and partner organizations to achieve increased food production while minimizing pressure on the environment by using smallholder farmers’ resources more efficiently and empowering women, men and young people to make decisions.

The SIMLESA project achieves impact by integrating gender sensitivity into all project activities and developing a deep understanding of social contexts and factors that constrain access to, and adoption of, improved technologies. Initiatives are able to reach all individuals in the project’s target communities, leaving no one out.

“The benefits of fostering equal opportunities for women, men and young people through SIMLESA’s work are enormous,” said Adam. Equal opportunities mean better access to information, markets, and improved varieties of seeds; participation in field trials, demonstrations and training; and the provision of leadership opportunities in local innovation platforms.

Central to the success of the SIMLESA project is the concept of Agricultural Innovation Platforms. “Being members of these platforms, farmers can access credits, which they can use to purchase farm inputs,” explained Adam. “They are able to take part in collective marketing and get a better price for their crops. The Agricultural Innovation Platforms also facilitate training on better agribusiness management practices and the sharing of ideas about other productive investment opportunities to better farmers’ lives. All these benefits were hard to come by when the women and youth farmers were farming on their own without being associated to the SIMLESA project or part of the platforms.”

The words of Rukaya Hasani Mtambo, a farmer from Tanzania, are a testimony to the power of this idea. “As a woman, I am leader of our group and head of my household. I always encourage my fellow women, convincing them we are capable. We should not underestimate what we can do.”

To watch the full video, click here.

To watch other videos about the SIMLESA project, click here.