research: Sustainable agrifood systems

Increased investment needed to adapt Africa’s agriculture to climate change

Written by on July 5, 2017. Posted in News.

CIMMYT Director General, Martin Kropff delivers keynote address on “Climate smart resilient systems for Africa.” Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CIMMYT) – Delegates at a conference in June called for a new focus and increase in investment to ensure eastern and southern Africa’s farming systems can withstand the impacts of climate change.

Africa is likely to be the continent most vulnerable to climate change, according to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Smallholders produce around 80 percent of all food in sub-Saharan Africa, and rely primarily on rainfall for irrigation – a source that is becoming scarcer and unpredictable under climate change. Farming is also often practiced in marginal areas like flood plains or hillsides, where increasing and more intense weather shocks cause severe damage to soil and crops.

Tanzania’s Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Charles Tizeba said during a conference on the future of the Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Based Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project, an initiative led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), that a paradigm shift in agricultural development is needed to enable smallholder farmers, especially those in rural areas, to produce enough to feed themselves and to sell.

Sustainable agricultural practices, improved seed varieties, use of fertilizers and better infrastructure are all technologies and practices that have been successfully tested by SIMLESA and have the potential to be expanded across the region, said Tizeba. He also called on governments in eastern and southern Africa to develop agricultural agendas based on farmer needs and opportunities SIMLESA identified through the project’s research efforts.

Over 100 people representing different governments, research institutions, development agencies and the private sector gathered in Tanzania to participate in the taking stock on sustainable intensification research for impact in eastern and southern Africa conference. Since 2010, SIMLESA has successfully tested locally-adapted sustainable farming systems throughout eastern and southern Africa. The project began its second phase in July 2014 and will focus on expanding climate-resilient technologies and practices throughout the region.

Delegates of the SIMLESA Sustainable Intensification Conference in Arusha, Tanzania. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

To date, a total of 268 and 378 maize and legume on-farm participatory variety selections were conducted by SIMLESA, where best performing maize and legume varieties that met farmer preferences were selected and scaled up by partner seed companies. The project has influenced over 235,000 farmers who adopted at least one sustainable intensification technology or practice.

CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff called for the adoption of “climate-smart agriculture” that will make crops more resilient to continuing extreme weather events.

“For our farmers to be productive and ensure food security, we need to build resilience to climate change…we need to invest in new agricultural innovation now,” said Kropff.

Andrew Campbell, ACIAR chief executive officer, said climate change has already had a powerful negative effect on agriculture and food security for the world’s most vulnerable, and that these effects will become even worse in the future.

“It’s critical to integrate research into development initiatives,” said Campbell. “In this regard, SIMLESA’s work, in partnership with national agricultural research systems, becomes even more critical.”

At the project level, SIMLESA will aim to scale its sustainable intensification technologies to 650,000 farm households by 2023 in eight target countries through different partnership arrangements.

Many of the speakers at last week’s event said smallholder farmers must be part of discussions on climate change and food security as they are often among those most touched by the impacts of climate change, and they play an integral role in global agriculture systems.

To achieve the best results, SIMLESA will channel its experiences and lessons learned since its inception in 2010 and scale out its work through shared analysis, common research questions and learning through the monitoring, evaluation and learning portfolio, communications and knowledge sharing and a lean project management structure.

SIMLESA’s positive assessment of conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification in the region suggests that policies that strengthen national and local institutions, build infrastructure for sustainable farming, improve financial investment in agriculture and increase access for innovative private investors, play a key role in alleviating poverty and food insecurity in the region.

The Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Based Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project was launched in 2010. Funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), SIMLESA aims to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farming communities in Africa through productive and sustainable maize–legume systems and risk management strategies that conserve natural resources. It is managed by CIMMYT and implemented by partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Farmer in Malawi defines true project success

Written by on June 15, 2017. Posted in Blogs.

Esnath Shaibu (left) on his farm in Malawi discussing resource allocation on his plots. Photo: C. Thierfelder/CIMMYT

LIWONDE, Malawi (CIMMYT) — Esnath Shaibu, a smallholder farmer from Matandika, southern Malawi was a host farmer with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) for seven years who helped the organization conduct research trials on sustainable agriculture intensification with support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Shaibu’s farm in Matandika, like most other farms in this area, is small and restricted to less than one hectare (ha) per household. Matandika is highly affected by the effects of climate change and a growing population is putting more pressure on dwindling land resources. Farmers have experienced more droughts in recent years which has affected food and nutritional security. Investment into soil conservation and maintaining soil fertility has therefore become critical.

A good proportion of Shaibu’s livelihood is generated from the land of his .3 ha research plot, which evaluates conservation agriculture (CA) systems in the environments and circumstances of Matandika.

The fields in Matandika are on hillsides and need to be seeded with as little disturbance as possible to avoid soil erosion and run-off. Farmers have also understood the value of crop residues and integrate legumes as intercrops in their fields to intensify their farming systems and increase diversification. Optimal plant spacing, early planting and precision application of fertilizers have been other good agriculture practices that farmers perfected in this area.

During the trials, Shaibu practiced a direct seeded CA method, intercropping maize and pigeonpea, and compared the results with conventional tillage practices just planting maize. Yields from Shaibu’s plots were increasingly stable under the CA system, as they proved to be more resilient against in-season dry-spells, drought and unevenly disturbed rainfalls which often fell at great intensity.

Shaibu graduated from the CA program in 2014, but continued to implement the same principles and practices on his own without CIMMYT’s interference or support.

When questioned about his rationale during a field visit in 2017, Shaibu said “we saw something good in it,” and his healthy looking crop spoke for itself.

Shibu’s case demonstrates that technology adoption is only successful if we as development practitioners work ourselves out of a job. He is a true adopter who has continued investing his own resources to produce a good maize crop on a significant proportion of his land by applying CA principles at highest standards. Shaibu has also converted other fields he owns to CA and continues to be an influential advocate in the community for the benefits of CA.

Sustainable agriculture for healthy forests

Written by on June 5, 2017. Posted in News.

Farmers are beginning to transform agriculture in Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula through techniques that allow them to grow more on less land, reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Photo: J. Van Loon/CIMMYT — Farmers are beginning to transform agriculture in Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula through techniques that allow them to grow more on less land, reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Above, slash and burn agriculture (right) compared to a non-burn strategy in a milpa system. Photo: J. Van Loon/CIMMYT

TEXCOCO, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Farmers in Mexico’s ecologically-fragile Yucatán Peninsula are beginning to adopt innovative practices to manage traditional mixed-cropping systems called “milpas” that can slow or even stop deforestation and soil degradation.

Agriculture is the second largest emitter of global greenhouse gas emissions and largest driver of deforestation, making the sector one of the top contributors to climate change and biodiversity loss.

Fifteen percent of global emissions is due mostly to agricultural expansion into tropical forests. Rising populations and changes in dietary preferences for more energy intense foods, like beef and soy bean, are expected to boost agricultural emissions a further 15 percent by 2030.

Agricultural expansion and resulting deforestation of tropical areas also threatens more than half of all the world’s plant and animal species, contributing significantly to what many scientists say is Earth’s sixth mass extinction.

“Sustainable agriculture can bring large benefits to tropical areas by optimizing land use while improving farm management and techniques for farmers,” said Jelle Van Loon, a mechanization expert at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) who is working with farming communities in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula – an area compromising much of the largest remaining tropical rainforest in the Americas after the Amazon.

Nearly 80 percent of vegetation has been deforested or degraded in the peninsula, with more than 80,000 hectares being cut down annually.

“Agriculture in the Yucatán Peninsula is extremely diverse – there’s everything from industrial farms that operate around forest areas to small community farmers practicing the traditional milpa system in the interior,” said Van Loon.

Milpa farming – a traditional mixed-cropping system in which maize, beans and squash are grown – contributes to about 16 percent of deforestation in the region, and is typically practiced by subsistence farmers through slash and burn agriculture.

“Milpa systems vary across communities in the region,” said Van Loon. “Sometimes plots are burned, farmed and left within two to three years for a new plot, and others are more permanent.”

A technician learns how to operate a two-wheeled tractor. Technicians working with CIMMYT will perform field trials evaluating the efficiency of equipment like this in their work areas. Photo: J. Van Loon/CIMMYT

Van Loon is working with a team of CIMMYT scientists and other partners in the region to see how farmers can apply sustainable technologies and practices across the peninsula’s milpa systems, as well as larger-scale mechanized farms that operate in the area.

“It’s extremely important that the unique circumstances of each community are taken into account when new technologies are being promoted,” said Van Loon, citing that many programs exist to support local communities, but is often challenging to organize support in an integrated fashion that’s adjusted to local conditions.

“Milpa provides more than crops for food – the slash and burn system also provides game and timber for these communities, so there are many factors that need to be taken into account when we try and promote sustainable practices.”

Two years ago CIMMYT successfully trialed a sustainable agriculture initiative with farmers in Hopelchén, a small community in Campeche where indigenous and Mennonite farmers grow maize following traditional farming practices.

Decades of soil degradation had forced farmers to convert rainforest areas into growing fields to continue farming, but when the farmers adopted sustainable intensification methods such as minimal soil movement, surface cover of crop residues and crop rotations, they were able to achieve higher yields even after two months of drought.

The Hopelchén farmers prove the dual benefits of sustainable agriculture in forest areas – forests that would otherwise have been cut down for farmland are preserved, acting as a ‘carbon sink’ by absorbing carbon dioxide that would have been free in the atmosphere, further contributing to climate change. These practices also help farmers adapt to the effects of climate change, like drought and erratic rainfall.

“In order to get adoption right, we are really taking a system-wide approach,” said Van Loon. “We want to integrate mechanization, soil quality, planting density and other approaches like inter-planting with trees to improve biodiversity to get the most efficient system possible.” Van Loon will specifically work with communities to explore mechanization opportunities, from improved hand tools to light weight motorized equipment like two-wheel tractors.

“The goal is to optimize the benefits from the land that farmers are working, find ways to reduce pressure on opening new land and as such slow the rate of deforestation, preserve biodiversity and provide farmers with techniques for improved and more sustainable practices,” said Van Loon. “Ultimately, we’d like to see these practices adopted across the peninsula.”

CIMMYT is leading sustainable intensification efforts in the Yucatan through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) program, along with CitiBanamex, Fundación Haciendas del Mundo Maya, local partners, non-governmental organizations and the Mexican government.

Scaling up research for impact

Written by on April 27, 2017. Posted in Features.

By scaling up, development practitioners take successful interventions and expand, adapt and sustain them in different ways over time for greater development impact. Photo: CIMMYT/P. Lowe — Bringing a scaling perspective to research projects as early as possible helps keep a focus on what the project actually can and aims to achieve. Photo: CIMMYT/P. Lowe

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Agricultural innovations, like climate-resilient crops, sustainable land use practices and farm mechanization options, can go a long way toward achieving several U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

But ensuring research reaches a significant amount of farmers to have widespread impact is challenging.

Projects, programs and policies can often be like small pebbles thrown into a big pond. They are limited in scope, time bound and therefore might fail to have long lasting impact. Through well thought scaling up strategies, development practitioners expect to implement successful interventions and expand, adapt and sustain them in different ways over time for greater developmental impact.

“To have our knowledge and technologies positively impact the livelihoods of large numbers of farmers in maize and wheat based systems is what matters most,” said Bruno Gérard, director of the Sustainable Intensification Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Understanding the needs and demands of our stakeholders is crucial in the design and implementation of a research portfolio, he added.

As part of a German Development Cooperation (GIZ) effort to aid the scaling up of agricultural innovations, Lennart Woltering recently joined CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification Program. With previous experience working in development in Africa and South Asia, Woltering will play a key role in linking CIMMYT’s research to specific development needs, increasing its relevance and impact.

There is no blue-print for scaling, it depends on the institutional and socio-economic environments, which are very diverse in the various regions where CIMMYT works, said Gérard. He hopes Woltering’s experience with both development and research organizations will further contribute to link the right technical innovations with the people who need them.

Bringing a scaling perspective to research projects as early as possible helps keep a focus on what the project actually can and aims to achieve, Woltering said. Understanding what the drivers are that make widespread adoption happen is critical.

“We do this by making sure scaling processes are an integral part of innovation systems. It is important to understand how conducive environments for scaling can be facilitated and how far we can realistically go,” he added.

Woltering will work to provide a coherent approach to scaling that can be used across the program’s projects, said Gérard.

To see real impact from research, initiatives must move beyond the boundaries of a single organization, Woltering said. New forms of collaboration across different sectors and the opening of new communication channels to share lessons of success when scaling should emerge.

Woltering will develop scaling strategies to facilitate the adoption of sustainable intensification options such as conservation agriculture and water/nutrient efficient practices, and contribute to enhance CIMMYT’s partnerships with public and private sectors.

Previously, Woltering worked as a civil engineer focusing on water management with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Africa (ICRISAT), then later moved on to work for a consulting development firm in Germany. His experience will allow him to better articulate development needs with CIMMYT’s research, increasing the relevance and impact of the organization’s work.

Woltering is one of five experts working at CIMMYT as part of the GIZ sponsored CIM Integrated Experts program. The CIM program aims to strategically place managers and technical experts in public and private organizations in the developing world to pass on their professional knowledge and contribute to capacity building.

Q+A: Agricultural mechanization fuels opportunity for youth in rural Africa

Written by on April 26, 2017. Posted in News.

Farmers test out agricultural mechanization tools in Zimbabwe as part of CIMMYT's — Farmers test out agricultural mechanization tools in Zimbabwe as part of CIMMYT’s Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification project. Photo: CIMMYT/ Frédéric Baudron

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Small-scale agricultural mechanization is showing signs it has the potential to fuel rural employment for youth in sub-Saharan Africa, according to researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

Across Africa, youth are struggling with high unemployment and working poverty, the International Labor Organization records. However, increased adoption of agricultural mechanization – especially machines that are small, affordable and easy to maintain such as two-wheel tractors – is stimulating jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for African youth, said Frédéric Baudron, senior systems agronomist at CIMMYT.

“Small-scale mechanization is more equitable than other forms of mechanization as even the poorest and most vulnerable have access to it,” he said.

Youth, along with women, are typically subject to labor intensive farm activities causing them to shun agriculture. But with mechanization improving productivity while reducing drudgery, youth are seeing economic opportunity in agribusiness, on rural farms and as service providers, said Rabe Yahaya, a CIM/GIZ integrated expert specialized in mechanization for sustainable agriculture intensification.

As a result, new jobs along the value chain from mechanics to spare parts providers have been created, he added.

Relatively cheap and easy to operate two-wheel tractors can be used for many different applications. On-farm, the tractors are used to speed up crop establishment while conserving soils through reduced tillage and precision fertilizer application. They allow farmers to tap into surface water for irrigation as well as aid shelling grain to reduce the time taken to get to market. The machinery has also been used to start rural commercial hire and transport services.

Beyene Abebe from Ethiopia, is one youth gaining economic opportunity as a mechanization service provider. Photo: CIMMYT/ Frédéric Baudron

24-year-old Beyene Abebe from Ethiopia is one youth benefiting from mechanization. Through CIMMYT managed training, Abebe has developed the skills needed to become a mechanization service provider. He now provides transportation services for an average of 200 households annually and ploughing services for 40 farmers in his village using two-wheel tractors. With the income from his service, Abebe can cover his family’s expenses and he bought farmland with his savings.

National government support for training and innovation is key to bolster agricultural mechanization throughout Africa, said Baudron. By creating a conductive business environment to attract private sector actors, governments can grease the wheels to scale out success.

Both Yahaya and Baudron shared some insights on the opportunities agricultural mechanization can provide rural communities in the following interview.

Q: Why is it important that agricultural research for development targets youth in rural areas?

RY: A growing population and diet change is increasing food demand in Africa, however, the amount of arable land is decreasing. This affects rural areas, where agriculture remains the main source of income and livelihood. Agriculture in the way it is currently practiced in rural areas is no longer attractive to the new generation of youth as it is labor intensive, rudimentary, risky, unproductive and does not support a good livelihood.

In addition, only 2 percent of Africa’s youth are undertaking agricultural curriculum at the university level. Despite young Africans being more literate than their parents, they suffer from increased unemployment. Agriculture could be the solution in tackling youth unemployment in rural areas, therefore providing peace, stability and food security.

FB: Youth unemployment is growing. Agriculture is perceived as a sector that can absorb much of this unemployment, particularly when combined with entrepreneurship.

In my view, an important issue when tackling issues of sustainable development as opposed to simply ‘development,’ is the issue of equity. We must ensure that the largest amount of people benefit from our interventions. Rural youth represent a large proportion of the vulnerable households in the areas where we work, because they lack capital and other resources, similar to women-headed households.

Q: How is mechanization creating new rural opportunities for youth and women?

RY: In many societies, youth and women are unequally disadvantaged and perform the most labor intensive agricultural activities such as plowing, sowing, weeding, harvesting, shelling, water pumping, threshing and transportation with very rudimentary implements using human and animal power. Therefore, increasing the use of engine power in agriculture will free youth and women from production drudgery discrepancies and most importantly increase farm productivity and consequently improve income generation if an organized value chain exists with a strong private sector involvement.

FB: Mechanization creates rural employment. It creates work for service provider jobs and it also stimulates other businesses along the mechanization value chains. Once demand for mechanization is established, employment opportunities grow for mechanics, fuel providers, savings and loans associations, spare part dealers, etc.

Q: What lessons are there to aid youth to be successful mechanization service providers?

RY: Training in mechanical, agronomic and business skills. Again training and constant follow up is key in order not only to produce successful youth mechanization service provider, but to ensure their continued success. In addition, infrastructure, aftersales — service and spare parts dealerships and financial schemes, promote the adoption of mechanization and support the development of value chain markets are crucial to success.

And remember whatever the technology may be, the farmer has to be able to earn money from it, otherwise they will not use it!

FB: Youth also tend to be better at managing modern technologies. We found consistently, in all countries where we work, that being a successful service provider is highly correlated to be a member of the youth. However, other factors are also important such as being entrepreneurial, educated, able to contribute to the cost of the machinery, and preferably having an experience in similar businesses and particularly in mechanics

Working with CIMMYT’s Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project, researchers have sought to promote the delivery and adoption of small-scale machines to make farming practices – including planting, harvesting, water pumping, shelling and transporting – more productive and sustainable in eastern and southern Africa. Funded by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, FACASI offers support throughout the supply chain, from importers to manufacturers, service providers and extension workers to ensure mechanization reaches farmers.

CIMMYT’s mechanization team has ongoing collaboration with GIZ/BMZ green innovation center in Ethiopia and works in Namibia with GIZ to provide knowledge, expertise and capacity building on conservation agriculture.

Further information:

Rural21 features CIMMYT mechanization experts

Mechanization for smallholder farmers fact sheet

Breaking Ground: Hands on experience gives Carolina Camacho insight into farming best practices

Written by on April 26, 2017. Posted in Features.

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Tending her own crops gives Carolina Camacho insights into the challenges farmers face that she could never have learned in a classroom.

Growing up in the metropolis of Mexico City, the historical and political importance of agriculture was never lost on Camacho, who works as a principal researcher at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“As a teenager, I would debate my sister over the most pressing issue that faced our country, Mexico. For me it was always in agriculture,” Camacho said. “I strongly believe if we are to improve our country, we must improve the lives of our campesinos (smallholder farmers).”

With no knowledge of farming, but with a passion to bring about change, she took to the field, studying crop science at Chapingo University, on the outskirts of the city in the State of Mexico. Having to brave early morning starts, she learned the basics of agriculture, and a love for the genetic diversity of maize.

Mexico, considered the birthplace of maize, is home to a rich diversity of varieties that has evolved over years of domestication by farmers. Camacho was introduced to this diversity firsthand, interning at CIMMYT’s maize germplasm bank as an undergraduate.

Interested in discovering how conserving maize diversity played out in farmers’ fields she gravitated towards an on-farm conservation project in rural Mexico. Working with indigenous farmers, Camacho learned how traditional knowledge and practices relate to environmental management, agricultural production and the diversity of native maize varieties.

After earning a master’s degree in the conservation and utilization of genetic resources, Camacho felt that crop science was isolated from the daily life of farmers. Thus, in a move to study the relationship between humans and plants, she embarked on a multidisciplinary doctoral in the sociology of rural development at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

While conducting her research, Camacho lived with indigenous farmers in Mexico’s Lacandon rainforest in the state of Chiapas. Alongside local Mayan farmers she cultivated her own milpa – a farming system used by indigenous farmers in Latin America, which typically involves intercropping maize, beans and squash. Her hands-on fieldwork allowed her to study cultivation practices outside the scope of purely agronomic activities, but also as political, social and cultural actions.

“Farming alongside the Tzeltal people, I saw how my own cultivation practices were interwoven with everyday life,” said Camacho. “Farming was influenced by religious ceremonies, health and family affairs as well as political struggles for land. It had to cope, adapt and overcome these challenges.”

Today, these lessons learned guide Camacho as she investigates how agricultural innovations, including drought-tolerant crops, fertilizer and land management approaches can be farmer inclusive and tailored to local contexts as part of CIMMYT’s sustainable intensification strategy for Latin America.

Sustainable intensification aims to enhance the productivity of labor, land and capital. They offer the potential to simultaneously address a number of pressing development objectives, including unlocking the agricultural potential to adapt production systems to climate change, sustainably manage land, soil, nutrient and water resources, improved food and nutrition security, and ultimately reduce rural poverty.

CIMMYT principal researcher Carolina Camacho studies how innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages. — CIMMYT principal researcher Carolina Camacho studies how agricultural innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages. Photo: CIMMYT/ Courtesy of Carolina Camacho

Smallholder farmers, who manage small plots of land and handle limited amounts of productive resources, produce 80 percent of the world’s food. The United Nations calls on these farmers to adopt agricultural innovations in order to sustainably increase food production and help achieve the “Zero Hunger” U.N. Sustainable Development Goal. However, these farmers seldom benefit from new techniques to shore up efforts to meet the goal.

“An agricultural scientist can tell a farmer when and how to plant for optimal results, but they do not farm in a bubble, their practice is affected by the ups and downs of daily life – not only by climate and agronomy but also by social and cultural complexities,” Camacho said.

“One of the biggest challenge is to recognize the heterogeneity of farmers and leave behind the idea of one size solution to their diverse problems and needs,” said Camacho. By understanding a farmer’s lifestyle, including access to resources and information, levels of decision making in the community and the role of agriculture in their livelihood strategy, researchers can best identify complementary farming practices and techniques that not only boost productivity but also improve livelihoods.

“It’s important to think about agricultural innovations as social processes for change in which technologies, like improved seeds or agronomic practices, are only one element,” said Camacho. “It is key that we recognize that changes will not only occur in the farmer’s field but also in the behavior of other actors in the value chain, such as input suppliers, traders, government officials and even researchers.”

Camacho studies how innovations are promoted and adopted in different regions to aid their smooth delivery to farmers and community members from different genders, ethnicities and ages.

When working with indigenous communities, she ensures cultural values of the milpa system are taken into account, thus promoting the agricultural tools and techniques that do not detract from the importance of the traditions associated with the milpa practice.

“The milpa system is a clear example of how agriculture in general and maize in particular contribute to the construction of the cultural identities of indigenous people. We should be aware of the consequences that innovations will have not only for environmental sustainability but also for the sustainability of the Mayan Culture,” she said.

“Let’s not forget, we can’t separate culture from agriculture,” Camacho finished.

Camacho studies the process in which researchers promote agricultural innovations and how farmers adopt them through the Sustainable Modernization of Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project, supported by Mexico’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA). Together with other researchers, Camacho has documented how MasAgro is promoting innovations in different regions of Mexico by responding to specific regional challenges and opportunities. Currently she is supporting scaling efforts for these innovations by ensuring that they will be sustainable and inclusive.

In the same line of inclusiveness, Camacho is working with two projects in the milpa system. The first one is the Buena Milpa project funded by U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future program and in collaboration with the Guatemala Agricultural Science and Technology Institute. The second one is the Milpa de Yucatan project sponsored by a private Mexican foundation in Yucatan Peninsula. Both projects promote sustainable intensification innovations in the milpa systems.

CIMMYT doctoral student wins award for outstanding thesis

Written by on April 11, 2017. Posted in News.

CIMMYT post-doctoral student and ETH Zürich graduate Stephanie Cheesman has won the 2017 Hans Vontobel-Preis. Photo: S. Cheesman — CIMMYT doctoral student and ETH Zürich graduate Stephanie Cheesman has won the 2017 Hans Vontobel-Preis. Photo: S. Cheesman

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – CIMMYT doctoral student and ETH Zürich graduate Stephanie Cheesman has won the 2017 Hans Vontobel-Preis.

This ETH prize awards 5,000 Swiss Francs ($4,988) annually to the student with the most outstanding thesis in Agricultural Science. The prize is financed by a private fund set up in 1994 by the late banking doyen Hans Vontobel.

Cheesman conducted her thesis project “Finding the truth in wishful thinking: an on-farm study on maize-based conservation agriculture systems in Southern Africa” while working with CIMMYT in Zimbabwe on a post financed by the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC).

The thesis investigated the effects of conservation agriculture (CA) on maize yields and soil carbon stocks, as well as other plant nutrient stocks in the soil. It is based on data collected on 125 on-farm research sites CIMMYT had established between 2004 and 2009 in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The results showed that yields could quickly increase with CA, whereas soil carbon stocks showed – after up to only seven years of CA practice – limited response under the prevailing conditions of Zimbabwe. Farmers also generally adapt CA systems to their conditions rather than adopt the system, due to the fact that there are many more factors besides improved yields – such as preferences in crops grown, availability of inputs and access to other sources of income – that influence why a farmer adopts a technique.

Cheesman discusses with farmer what data he should be recording from his demonstration field. Photo: Pietro Bomio

The award panel consisted of Maja Baumann, granddaughter of Vontobel, Bruno Studer, professor and chair of the molecular plant breeding group at ETH Zürich and Sarah Springman, professor and rector of ETH Zürich.

Baumann cited Cheesman’s valuable hard data about conservation agriculture – a topic that has been strongly debated in recent years – and contribution to sustainable agriculture as main reasons for her selection. Further the jury appreciated that the thesis investigated both biophysical and socio-economic aspects, allowing for a better understanding of conservation agriculture’s impact.

Cheesman completed her thesis under the supervision of Emmanuel Frossard, professor at ETH Zürich, CIMMYT Senior Cropping Systems Agronomist Christian Thierfelder and Neal Eash, professor at the University of Tennessee. Professor Johan Six from ETH Zürich evaluated the work as external examiner.

“Stephanie Cheesman’s collaborative project between CIMMYT and the Swiss institutions funded by SDC highlights the strong interest of all organizations to extend sustainable agriculture intensification, with the aim of increasing food and nutrition security and eradicate poverty amongst smallholder farmers in southern Africa,” said Thierfelder.

Cheesman’s thesis is available online through ETH-Zürich’s library here.

Obstacles to gender-smart fertilizer use hurt livelihoods, scientists say

Written by on March 21, 2017. Posted in News.

Farmers head for home after harvesting maize in Chipata district, Zambia. CIMMYT/Peter Lowe — Farmers head home after harvesting maize in Chipata district, Zambia. CIMMYT/Peter Lowe

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Compiling gender-inclusive data could help scientists understand how to help smallholder farmers improve nitrogen fertilizer application practices, according to a new research paper.

Smallholder maize and wheat farmers need to make use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer alongside other good agronomic practices to produce healthy and productive crops, but nitrogen can be misapplied.

Fertilizer overuse can be harmful to plants and soil, contaminate drinking water and kill off fish species. Additionally, nitrogen fertilizer produces nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, which contributes to climate change.

“Gender and environmentally-blind fertilizer policies have been the norm in many regions, leading to negative effects in both high and low nitrogen fertilizer use scenarios that impact most strongly on women and children”, said Clare Stirling, a senior scientist with the Sustainable Intensification Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“Our study shows that moving towards a more balanced and efficient use of nitrogen fertilizer will significantly improve gender and social equity outcomes,” Stirling said, adding that such outcomes can only be brought about by significant socio-economic and cultural changes influencing gender and social norms.

“Agriculture needs to function within a ‘safe operating space’ for nitrogen,” she said. “We need to make sure that nitrogen use efficiency is neither too high nor too low. If it’s too high, soils are at risk of being mined and become degraded, if it’s too low, large amounts of reactive nitrogen are released to the environment.”

In developing countries, women make up about 43 percent of the agricultural labor force, but in comparison to men, they have access to only a fraction of the land, credit, inputs – such as improved seeds and fertilizers, agricultural training and information, according to the Farming First coalition

The lack of resource access puts women heads of household at a disadvantage. Even if they are primary decision makers, in general they are hampered by weaker socio-economic status, lower availability of male labor, lower access to markets, agricultural technologies, machinery, credit, collateral and advice, including on how to mitigate and adapt to climate change. As a result of unequal access, women use less fertilizer. They may also forgo food to ensure that children and other family members eat nutritious food, putting their own health at risk.

“Even with training, women may find it more difficult to apply practical knowledge than men due to socio-economic constraints,” said Simon Attwood, an agroecology scientist with Bioversity International, who collaborated on the new study, titled “Gender and inorganic nitrogen: what are the implications of moving towards a more balanced use of nitrogen fertilizer in the tropics?”

“There’s a growing consensus that gender gaps in access to inputs are in part behind differences in productivity and on-farm practices,” he said.

Women farmers who use too little nitrogen fertilizer are trapped in a negative cycle of lower crop yields and income, leading to a greater risk of household food and nutrition insecurity, the scientists said. On the other hand, where too much nitrogen fertilizer is used woman and children are likely to be the most vulnerable to suffering ill-health consequences.

Despite their significant role in agricultural production, particularly in the developing world, women are neglected in most development initiatives, suggesting that the returns on targeting women farmers in relation to promoting best practice fertilizer use, may be very high with respect to increasing production and incomes, according to the authors.

Due to their central role regarding child health, nutrition and education, women should be key beneficiaries of development efforts, the scientists argue.

“These factors make the case that the social returns on agricultural investments are higher when targeted to women,” Attwood said.

The scientists took several case studies from India and sub-Saharan Africa, confirming their theory that imbalanced nitrogen fertilizer use has a greater impact on women and children.

The first case study revealed clear connections between negative health outcomes for poor rural women and their infants and the timing of nitrogen fertilizer applications in India. The study showed that morbidity of the babies of poor rural women appears to be negatively affected through their mother’s work in rice paddy fields, where they absorb fertilizer-derived toxins.

The second case study suggests that applying nitrogen fertilizer to cash crops rather than staple food crops such as maize may contribute towards less food availability and poorer nutrition outcomes for families in some sub-Saharan African countries.

The third case study in Lake Victoria connects the dots between insufficient fertilizer use, soil degradation leading to soil erosion and runoff into the lake and health problems for both men and women. The presence of high levels of nitrogen in the lake due to poor land management is changing its ecology, affecting the lives of artisanal fisher communities and leading to higher rates of HIV/AIDS.

“As long as the majority of policy-makers and planners remain frozen into a conceptual lock-in oblivious to the gendered implications of technically balanced and socially balanced fertilizer use, women smallholder farmers will not reach their potential,” said Cathy Farnworth, a gender specialist working with the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and lead author on the research paper.

“We need gender awareness in research studies and rural advisory services to develop appropriate strategies to reach and empower women in different households to help them act independently.”

The project was funded by CCAFS, Bioversity, CIMMYT, and the CGIAR Research Programs on wheat and maize.

Bangladesh urges $500 million in funds to intensify surface water irrigation

Written by on March 20, 2017. Posted in News.

TwitterWWD3 — Designed by Bose Zhou/CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Most current food security projections show that staple crop production must double by 2050 to keep up with global need, which will continue to expand due to population growth and changing dietary demands.

In South Asia, where population pressures pose a significant food security challenge, yields of major cereal crops have not changed dramatically since the Green Revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. This has prompted regional governments and development practitioners to focus instead on efforts to expand double cropping – the practice of growing at least two crops per year on the same piece of land – in order to boost productivity on an annual basis.

This approach is in line with sustainable intensification techniques, which aim to boost production, rather than encroach on natural ecosystems and harm the environment by expanding farmland into limited natural areas.

Scientists with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are researching how best to increase double cropping in Bangladesh, which, as South Asia’s most densely populated country, poses unique food security challenges.

In the northwest of the country, farmers already rotate at least two crops in the same field each year using groundwater irrigation to overcome drought risks during the dry winter season.

“Most development initiatives favor the use of groundwater resources for irrigation, although in Bangladesh, ground water extraction can result in high energy costs and in some areas can present a health risk due to natural arsenic contamination of groundwater,” said Timothy Krupnik, systems agronomist at CIMMYT.

“In support of government programs recommending the conjunctive use of surface water as an irrigation alternative, we investigated the available land in Bangladesh that could be reliably cropped to wheat, maize, or rice in double cropping patterns,” Krupnik said, adding that the effort resulted in a new online geospatial tool that can be used by water resource planners and policymakers to target the use of surface water in support of sustainable intensification. It helps identify surface water irrigation resources and land area most suited for double cropping and sustainable intensification.

“Using satellite data for irrigation technology targeting in Bangladesh enabled us to identify areas that are under low input and output crop production in a region with abundant surface water,” said Urs Schulthess, CIMMYT’s remote sensing scientist involved in developing the geospatial tool. “This is an example of sustainable intensification that does not deplete water resources.”

Instead of extracting water from underground aquifers, surface water irrigation involves deploying water through low-lift irrigation pumps and canal distribution networks managed by water sellers who direct water to farmers’ fields. Although Bangladesh is likely to remain largely reliant on groundwater irrigation, use of available surface water presents a low-energy and low-carbon emissions alternative in select areas of the country, Krupnik said.

The research conducted by scientists funded by the CIMMYT-led Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project, provides initial evidence to support a government of Bangladesh policy aimed at stimulating a $500 million investment in development aid from donors to help farmers transition from rice-fallow or rainfed systems to surface water irrigation and double cropping. The funds form part of an overall request for investment of over $7 billion to support agricultural development in southern Bangladesh.

After mapping rivers and freshwater canals in southern Bangladesh with the new tool, the scientists conservatively estimate that at least 20,800 of fallow and 103,000 hectares of rainfed cropland could be intensified through surface water irrigation to substantially increase cereal crop production through double cropping. These figures account for land set into non-crop reserves to limit risks of nitrate or phosphorous contamination of rivers and canals.

Groundwater irrigation techniques have been difficult to implement in the south of the country due to high energy pumping costs for groundwater, and additional challenges posed by saline shallow water tables. Currently, about 1.7 million farming households in Bangladesh simply leave cropland fallow and unproductive after the monsoon season, according to the World Bank.

By integrating the use of groundwater with lower-cost surface water irrigation, farmers could benefit from increased cropping intensity.

To evaluate potential land productivity resulting from conversion from fallow or rainfed crops to surface water irrigated maize, wheat, and rice, CIMMYT scientists measured yields produced by farmers on their own farms and in farmer-managed demonstrations implemented by the CSISA project.

The three crops are among the most important cereals grown in Bangladesh for food security and income.

Based on analysis, CIMMYT’s scientists estimate that if 25 to 75 percent of fallow or low-intensity land is converted to irrigated maize, production could increase from 10 to 14 percent or from 29 to 42 percent, respectively. Conversion to wheat could increase production from 9 percent to 10 percent or from 26 percent to 31 percent. On the other hand, rice is projected to increase only about 3 percent under such conditions.

Overall, increasing maize and wheat production through double cropping could generate revenues from $36 to $108 million each year for farmers, Krupnik said.

New Publications: Wheat stem rust resistance identified in Kazakhstan and Russia

Written by on March 9, 2017. Posted in Publications.

Examining Ug99 stem rust symptoms on wheat. Photo: Petr Kosina/CIMMYT

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Stem rusts have proven to be a challenge to wheat farmers in Kazakhstan and Russia, particularly with higher rainfall in recent years.

Western Siberia in Russia and northern Kazakhstan grow more than 15 million hectares (ha) of wheat, and is expected to have an important impact on global food security as part of the “Eurasian wheat belt” – the only region in the world with a significant amount of uncultivated arable land that is at the same time experiencing rising agricultural productivity.

Wheat stem rust disease is highly mobile and has the capacity to turn a healthy looking crop, only weeks away from harvest, into nothing more than a tangle of black stems and shriveled grains at harvest. Stem rust was not considered a threat until 2015, when a local epidemic occurred in Russia and neighboring areas of Kazakhstan, affecting more than 1 million ha. It occurred again in 2016 though the spread, severity and losses were less.

In response, scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with partners characterized a set of 146 spring wheat varieties and breeding lines identified as stem rust resistant in Kenya and the Kazakhstan–Siberia region for the presence of major genes. Over nine genes with resistance were identified, and adult plant resistance to stem rust was observed in 26 genotypes.

Learn more about the study “Genetic diversity of spring wheat from Kazakhstan and Russia for resistance to stem rust Ug99” and check out other new publications from CIMMYT staff, below.

Bio-energy, water-use efficiency and economics of maize-wheat-mungbean system under precision-conservation agriculture in semi-arid agro-ecosystem. 2017. Parihar, C.M.; Jat, S.L.; Singh, A.K.; Majumdar, K.; Jat, M.L.; Saharawat, Y.S.; Pradhan, S.; Kuri, B.R. Energy 119 : 245-256.
From stakeholders’ narratives to modelling plausible future agricultural systems. Integrated assessment of scenarios for Camargue, Southern France. 2017. Delmotte, S.; Couderc, V.; Mouret, J.C.; Lopez-Ridaura, S.; Barbier, J.M.; Hossard, L. European Journal of Agronomy 82 : 292-307.
Is production intensification likely to make farm households food-adequate? A simple food availability analysis across smallholder farming systems from East and West Africa. 2017. Ritzema, R.S.; Frelat, R.; Douxchamps, S.; Silvestri, S.; Rufino, M.C.; Herrero, M.; Giller, K.E.; Lopez-Ridaura, S.; Teufel, N.; Paul, B. ; Wijk, M.T. van. Food Security 9 (1) : 115–131.
Planting date and yield benefits from conservation agriculture practices across Southern Africa. 2017. Nyagumbo, I.; Mkuhlani, S.; Mupangwa, W.; Rodriguez, D. Agricultural Systems 150 : 21-33.
Sustainable crop intensification through surface water irrigation in Bangladesh? A geospatial assessment of landscape-scale production potential. 2017. Krupnik, T.J.; Schulthess, U.; Zia Ahmed; McDonald, A. Land Use Policy 60 : 206-222.
Adult plant resistance to Puccinia triticina in a geographically diverse collection of Aegilops tauschii. 2016. Kalia, B.; Wilson, D.L.; Bowden, R.L.; Singh, R.P.; Gill, B. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. Online First.
Detection of wheat stem rust races TTHSK and PTKTK in the Ug99 race group in Kenya in 2014. 2016. Fetch, T.G.; Zegeye, T.; Park, R.F.; Hodson, D.P.; Wanyera, R. Plant Disease 100 (7) : 1495.
Disease impact on wheat yield potential and prospects of genetic control. 2016. Singh, R.P.; Singh, P.K.; Rutkoski, J.; Hodson, D.P.; Xinyao He; Jorgensen, L.N.; Hovmoller, M.S.; Huerta-Espino, J. Annual Review of Phytopathology 54 : 303-322.
Genetic diversity of spring wheat from Kazakhstan and Russia for resistance to stem rust Ug99. 2016. Shamanin, V.; Salina, E.; Wanyera, R.; Zelenskiy, Y.; Olivera, P.; Morgounov, A.I. Euphytica 212 (2) 287-296.
Genome-wide association study in wheat identifies resistance to the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera Filipjevi. 2016. Pariyar, S.R.; Dababat, A.A.; Sannemann, W.; Erginbas-Orakci, G.; Elashry, A.; Siddique, S.; Morgounov, A.I.; Leon, J.; Grundler, F. Phytopathology 106 (10) : 1128-1138.

Gender and development specialist Rahma Adam: Aiding African women to build household food security

Written by on March 8, 2017. Posted in Blogs.

Women account for over 50 percent of farmers in many parts of Africa. Photo: CIMMYT/Peter Lowe

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In a special interview to mark International Women’s Day, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) gender and development specialist, Rahma Adam, detailed how her research aims to improve the agricultural productivity of women in southern and eastern Africa.

With women making up over 50 percent of farmers in many parts of Africa, it is essential to understand how gender roles, relations and responsibilities encourage and hinder their agricultural productivity, said Adam.

Understanding gender relations improves the work of researchers and development specialists to target programs in the correct areas and with right people in order to get the most impact, she said.

Adam works with the Intensification of Maize and Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project to investigate gender relations to best promote sustainable intensification agricultural practices that will improve household food security.

Conservation agriculture systems involve crop rotations and inter-cropping with maize and legumes to increase yields. In the photograph, conservation agriculture practitioner Lughano Mwangonde with the gender development specialist Rahma Adam in Balaka district, Malawi. Photo: CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira. — Conservation agriculture systems involve crop rotations and inter-cropping with maize and legumes to increase yields. Pictured here are conservation agriculture practitioner Lughano Mwangonde (L) and gender and development specialist Rahma Adam in Balaka district, Malawi. Photo: CIMMYT/Johnson Siamachira.

Sustainable intensification agriculture practices are aimed at enhancing the productivity of labor, land and capital without damaging the environment. In practice, sustainable intensification involves such conservation agriculture practices as minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of inter-cropping and crop rotation to simultaneously maintain and boost yields, increase profits and protect the environment. It contributes to improved soil function and quality, which can improve resilience to climate variability.

Through SIMLESA, supported by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Adam shares her findings with a network of stakeholders, such as governments and non-governmental organizations, aiding the delivery of agricultural technologies, taking into account gender norms to hold a greater chance of adoption.

We spoke to about her work in a short interview listen here or read below:

Q: Please explain a bit about your work. What is SIMLESA, where does it operate and what are its key objectives?

A: SIMLESA stands for, Sustainable Intensification of Maize and Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa, we are now in the second phase of the project. We focus on several things, providing the needed knowledge in terms of technology, improved varieties of seeds for maize and legumes and how to use them in the practice of sustainable intensification practices. The idea is to improve crop yields from current levels, that’s the basic idea of SIMLESA.

The project operates in mainly five countries, Tanzania, Kenya, and Ethiopia for Eastern Africa and Malawi and Mozambique for southern Africa. But we have three spill over countries where SIMLESA also have some activities, they are Rwanda, Botswana and Uganda.

We want to make sure farmers know the practices of sustainable intensification, they are able to use them, able to adapt them for the benefit of improving food security of the household and increase their livelihoods.

Q: Why is gender analysis important in meeting SIMLESA’s objectives?

A: Women in sub-Saharan Africa play a lion’s share of farming, the literature shows on average they farm as much as men, they make up 60 percent of farmers or more in some countries. Because they are the majority, there is no way we could put them on the back-burner, and not address or try to understand what are their constraints for agricultural production and agricultural marketing and all the other things that go with an agricultural household being successful in terms of their livelihoods.

It is very important to think about women, not alone, but also their relationships with men, we also have to think about who are their husbands. In sub-Saharan Africa most households are patriarchal, so they are male dominated, meaning a husband has much more say than the wife in terms of decision making in regards to what to grow, how much money should be spent that they have collected from agriculture, among other things.

It is important to not only think about how to improve the lives of women but also to understand the norms that go on. The institutional norms within a community, within a household and how they can play some sort of role that can either make a women successful or make a woman unsuccessful in terms of bringing up her household, in terms of the betterment of nutrition and schooling, etc.

It is a very complex issue. That’s why we cannot ignore gender itself as it sits in the rural households of Africa, because it is the nucleus of it. Once we understand how the relationship works between husband and wife or man and woman working within a society then we will be able to say how we can really propel sustainable intensification in these communities.

Q: Although rural women in southern and eastern Africa play crucial role in farming and food production why are they less likely to own land or livestock, adopt new technologies, or access credit?

A: Most of the problem of women’s lack of ownership of assets, such as land, among others stems from the institutional social norms of the communities in which they reside. Usually for patriarchal societies in sub-Saharan Africa, women are married into their husband’s home, and thus nearly all assets including land, livestock, improved or new technologies and money belong to their husbands and in some occasions, wives have very little say, with regards to those assets.

Because the major assets of the households are under the hands of the husband, it is hard for the wife to be able to access credit facilities, without involving the husband. As most of the credit and financial facilities, require a collateral, before they provide one a loan.

Stronger African seed sector to benefit smallholder farmers and economy

Written by on February 23, 2017. Posted in Features.

Good road networks to facilitate smallholders to access agricultural and seed markets is critical for higher food production both for consumption and investment. Source: CIMMYT — Good road networks to facilitate smallholders to access agricultural and seed markets is critical for higher food production both for consumption and investment. Above, the distance that it takes for most smallholder farmers in Mozambique to access different supply chain services. Source: CIMMYT

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – Africa’s agriculture sector is driven by smallholder farmers who also account for 70 percent of people directly reliant on agriculture for their livelihoods. Despite its large-scale impact across the continent, smallholder farming largely remains a low technology, subsistence activity.

Constructively engaging smallholders as investors as well as producers can help attract better investment into the sector, engaging farmers to produce bigger crops for sale rather than only for consumption at the household level. To achieve this goal, bigger financial investments are required to raise the standard of engagement and consequently that of Africa’s agricultural sector, according to Paswel Marenya, a social scientist who works with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT),

Three recent studies conducted by CIMMYT scientists and their collaborators in eastern and southern Africa assessed potential interventions to address current inefficiencies in seed supply chains. They also explored how low purchasing power has hobbled smallholders trying to gain access to maize and legume seed markets. Even though these markets have recently expanded as more private companies invest in maize and legume businesses, smallholders have not benefited despite their significant role in the sector.

A key component of improving agricultural practices is to bolster seed systems to give smallholders better access to high-yielding, stress tolerant seeds. For example, in Tanzania, a weak seed supply chain led to smallholders recycling hybrid maize seeds up to three years in a row in some cases. The main source of legume seeds was often from seed saved from previous harvest.

Elsewhere, in Mozambique, smallholders surveyed were accessing only three improved varieties in 2014 despite the release of over 30 improved maize and legume varieties that year. In a country where 95 percent of the population is dependent on maize and legumes, which particularly for rural families provide the most important source of proteins, deep changes are needed to facilitate access to improved seeds.

The studies determined that ineffective seed distribution contributed significantly to limiting smallholder access to improved varieties. Additionally, low seed production from the few approved seed companies in the country has worsened the situation due to soaring costs, putting improved seed beyond the reach of millions of smallholders.

As a result, approximately 70 percent of Mozambican farmers use local maize varieties with poor resistance to pests and diseases and low productivity potential.

To address these issues, the studies unanimously recommend investments in rural roads to connect isolated communities with agricultural and seed markets and to make it more cost effective for seed distributors to reach far flung communities. Secondly, investments in storage facilities in Mozambique and a more effective national seed system are needed to facilitate adequate foundation seed for seed companies. In addition to favorable policies that attract more private seed and fertilizer companies, a stronger public agricultural extension system is required.

On a broader scale, government policymakers must take advantage of the burgeoning seed sector and mushrooming interest from private sector players.

“Regulatory agencies in the seed sector should take up a bigger role to facilitate and encourage competition that will widen seed access and bring down seed costs,” Marenya said. “This is the most sustainable solution that ensures the private sector is involved, farmers drive seed demand, and profit prospects are good.”

Rising food demand and projected growth of African food markets present a real opportunity for African farmers, Marenya added. In 2011, for example, sub-Saharan Africa imported $43 billion worth of such basic agricultural commodities as wheat, rice, maize, vegetable oil and sugar. Additionally, research estimates from Germany’s Deutsche Bank show that urban food markets will quadruple and that food and beverage markets are projected to grow to about $1 trillion by 2030 leading to bigger economic benefits overall.

While staple crop markets in the eastern and southern Africa region are relatively vibrant, many farmers gain access to these markets through informal links. Structured value chains, which include dependable and transparent information systems, quality storage facilities and supportive financial or credit services would enhance farmers’ role in the markets.

“Real change will occur when efforts be made to enable farmers and traders to profitably invest in superior pre- and post-harvest quality management as well as engage in contract-based supply chains to exploit opportunities brought about by increasing urbanization and trade,” Marenya said.

New Publications: Study shows benefits and trade-offs of conservation agriculture in southern Africa

Written by on February 23, 2017. Posted in Publications.

Farmers inspect a demonstration plot during a conservation agriculture field day near Songani in Zomba district, Malawi. Photo: P. Lowe/CIMMYT

Smallholder farmers throughout southern Africa continue to be constrained by high rainfall variability and lack of access to agricultural inputs, resulting in poor harvests and challenges from food shortages to malnutrition.

Conservation agriculture (CA) practices such as minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and the use of crop rotation have been promoted as a useful set of tools that could improve farmer resilience to these challenges. However, matching CA practices to agro-ecological and socioeconomic conditions remain contentious.

In a recent study conducted by scientists at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) with other partners, empirical data and results from a cropping system model were combined to quantify benefits and trade-offs, in terms of sowing opportunity, yield, and yield variability, from adopting CA practices in southern Africa.

Simulated results in the study showed that some practices like direct seeding and farming in a basin planting system prepared late and at the onset of the rains improved timeliness of operations, and enabled earlier planting across all locations compared to conventional systems. Mechanized CA systems also offered farmers potential flexibility on when to plant.

However, timely planting of CA systems did not translate into higher yields when carried out during periods of high rainfall variability. Yield benefits of early plantings in CA were only apparent in Zimbabwe.

The authors conclude that draught power mechanized CA systems offer farmers the capacity to plant closer to optimum dates, and that model-generated optimum planting dates could be used to provide farmers with site-specific planting date recommendations.

Learn more about the study “Planting date and yield benefits from conservation agriculture practices across Southern Africa” here and more new publications from CIMMYT staff below.

Breeding value of primary synthetic wheat genotypes for grain yield. 2016. Jafarzadeh, J.; Bonnett, D.G.; Jannink, J.L.; Akdemir, D.; Dreisigacker, S.; Sorrells, M.E. PLoS One 11 (9): e0162860.
Control of Helminthosporium leaf blight of spring wheat using seed treatments and single foliar spray in Indo-Gangetic Plains of Nepal. 2016. Sharma-Poudyal, D.; Sharma, R.C.; Duveiller, E. Crop Protection 88: 161-166.
Development and validation of KASP assays for genes underpinning key economic traits in bread wheat. 2016. Rasheed, A.; Weie Wen; Fengmei Gao; Shengnan Zhai; Hui Jin; Jindong Liu; Qi Guo; Yingjun Zhang; Dreisigacker, S; Xianchun Xia; He Zhonghu. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 129: 1843-1860.
Dwarfing genes Rht-B1b and Rht-D1b are associated with both type I FHB susceptibility and low anther extrusion in two bread wheat populations. 2016. Xinyao He; Singh, P.K.; Dreisigacker, S.; Sukhwinder-Singh; Lillemo, M.; Duveiller, E. PLoS One 11 (9): e0162499.
Genome-wide association study in wheat identifies resistance to the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera Filipjevi. 2016. Pariyar, S.R.; Dababat, A.A.; Sannemann, W.; Erginbas-Orakci, G.; Elashry, A.; Siddique, S.; Morgounov, A.I.; Leon, J.; Grundler, F. Phytopathology 106 (10): 1128-1138.
Genomic regions associated with root traits under drought stress in tropical maize (Zea mays L.). 2016. Zaidi, P.H.; Seetharam, K.; Krishna, G.; Krishnamurthy, S.L.; Gajanan Saykhedkar; Babu, R.; Zerka, M.; Vinayan, M.T.; Vivek, B. PLoS One 11 (10): e0164340.
Pm55, a developmental-stage and tissue-specific powdery mildew resistance gene introgressed from Dasypyrum villosum into common wheat. 2016. Ruiqi Zhang; Bingxiao Sun; Chen, J.; Aizhong Cao; Liping Xing; Yigao Feng; Caixia Lan; Peidu Chen. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 129: 1975-1984.
Stem rust resistance in a geographically diverse collection of spring wheat lines collected from across Africa. 2016. Prins, R.; Dreisigacker, S.; Pretorius, Z.A.; Schalkwyk, H. van.; Wessels, E.; Smit, C.; Bender, C.; Singh, D.; Boyd, L.A. Frontiers in Plant Science 7 (973): 1-15.
Wheat quality improvement at CIMMYT and the use of genomic selection on it. 2016. Guzman, C.; Peña-Bautista, R.J.; Singh, R.P.; Autrique, E.; Dreisigacker, S.; Crossa, J.; Rutkoski, J.; Poland, J.; Battenfield, S.D. Applied and Translational Genomics 11: 3-8.

CIMMYT scientist takes lead role in American Agronomy Society’s sustainable intensification community

Written by on February 13, 2017. Posted in News.

Timothy Krupnik, systems agronomist at CIMMYT (right) has assumed leadership of the recently formed Sustainable Intensification community, part of the American Society for Agronomy’s (ASA) Environmental Quality section. Above, Krupnik partners on project with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) on farming system diversity studies and potential for sustainable intensification in Bangladesh. Photo: A. Kurishi /CIMMYT

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – Timothy Krupnik, systems agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), has assumed leadership of the recently formed Sustainable Intensification community of the American Society for Agronomy’s (ASA) Environmental Quality section.

Krupnik founded the community in 2016 with the previous leader, Cameron Pittelkow, assistant professor at the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Vara Prasad, professor at the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University and director of the university’s Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab, joined Krupnik in 2016 as vice leader of the community.

ASA is a scientific society dedicated to promoting the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global agronomy. The society’s goals include understanding how agriculture affects the environment and how agricultural management can be improved to promote air, soil and water quality through its environmental quality section. The ASA currently has over 8,000 members.

“The sustainable intensification community provides a forum for advancing interdisciplinary science to improve the productivity of the world’s crop and livestock systems through studies that utilize agronomic, economic, environmental and social sustainability criteria to develop actionable recommendations,” says Krupnik.

Sustainable intensification (SI) is a key agricultural policy priority in both developing and developed nations. SI farming puts methods into place that increase food production from existing farmland while minimizing pressure on the environment. Farmers using these approaches in turn minimize agricultural land expansion, and consequently biodiversity loss, while maximizing the use and flow of ecosystem services to and from farmlands.

CIMMYT staff taking measurements of water infiltration rate. Photo: T. Krupnik/CIMMYT

The SI community is one of six communities of scientists under the society’s Environmental Quality section. The community brings together members from across the ASA to examine the challenges, limitations and opportunities for SI in agronomic production systems across the globe.

“The work we do tackles the trade-offs between increased farming systems productivity and the risk of environmental pollution, or undesirable social outcomes,” according to Krupnik. “The community is a platform for advancing these issues within the ASA, while also advocating for solutions to some of agriculture’s most pressing sustainability problems.”

The ASA’s first SI session was held in November 2016 at the ASA’s annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. Symposia speakers included David Cleary, director of agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, Achim Dobermann, director and Chief Executive at Rothamsted Research, Bruno Gerard, director of the Sustainable Intensification program at CIMMYT, Sieg Snapp, professor of soils and cropping systems ecology at Michigan State University and Pablo Tittonell, director of the natural resources and environment program at the National Agricultural Technology Institute in Argentina and former chair professor of the Farming Systems Ecology group at Wageningen University.

Another SI symposium and interactive breakout discussion section on how to assess synergies and tradeoffs between indicators for SI will be held at an upcoming ASA meeting in Tampa, Florida.

More information about the ASA’s SI community can be found here.

Surface water irrigation has the potential to boost cereal productivity in Bangladesh

Written by on January 16, 2017. Posted in News.

CIMMYT’s interventions on cropping intensification in Southern Bangladesh look beyond surface water irrigation to ensure long-term environmental sustainability. Photo: T. Krupnik/CIMMYT

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CIMMYT) – For the first time, researchers have mapped rivers and freshwater canals in southern Bangladesh using geospatial tools as part of a new initiative to help farmers in monsoon and rainfed systems transition to sustainable farming methods. Essential to this transition is the use of surface water for irrigation, which is less costly and more environmentally friendly than extracting groundwater.

A new study by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) indicates that by switching to surface water irrigation, farmers can greatly increase crop production, even in the face of soil and water salinity constraints. It identified over 121,000 hectares (ha) of currently fallow and rainfed cropland that could be placed under irrigation. Dry season wheat and maize production would also increase significantly, thereby greatly benefiting national cereal productivity.

Access to irrigation is needed to ensure crops will grow during southern Bangladesh’s dry season, a challenge for farmers who have traditionally relied on rainfed cultivation. Extracting groundwater for irrigation is energy-intensive, but southern Bangladesh has a dense network of rivers and natural canals that can be used for surface water irrigation.

In order to maximize productivity without expanding to new land, farmers in southern Bangladesh will need to rotate at least two crops per year. By using crop rotation, an SI practice that can boost yields, increase profits, protect the environment, and improve soil function and quality, farmers can grow different crops on the same plot, minimizing crop expansion into forests.

Surface water irrigation can increase cereal productivity and intensify cropping systems, even in the face of soil and water salinity constraints. Photo: T. Krupnik/CIMMYT

As South Asia’s population continues to rise and more people move out of poverty, changing dietary preferences are increasing the demand for wheat and maize, while maintaining the demand for rice. However, the average increase in the yield potential of staple crops since the 1960s has been negligible, while farm area per capita has shrunk more than 60 percent to just a tenth of a hectare per person, according to 2014 World Bank Indicators.

The Government of Bangladesh recently adopted land- and water-use policies to support agricultural development in southern Bangladesh by calling for donors to invest over $7 billion. Of these funds, $500 million will be allocated for surface water irrigation to help farmers transition from monsoon rice-fallow or rainfed systems to intensified double-cropping systems.

Future interventions on cropping intensification in southern Bangladesh must look beyond surface water irrigation to assess where conjunctive use of groundwater might be needed and to ensure long-term environmental sustainability. While research results support the targeted use of surface water irrigation alongside improved water governance measures, more viable crop diversification options must be explored and the environmental impact of large-scale irrigation development needs to be assessed.

Building on this study, the CIMMYT-led Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia will work with national agricultural research systems, government and private sector partners to develop policy and market interventions that continue to build sustainable intensification strategies for both irrigated and rainfed systems across southern Bangladesh.

To read the full study, click here.