Haiti has the lowest maize yields in Latin America and the Caribbean, and around half of the population is undernourished. Five hurricanes in the past decade and a magnitude 7.0 earthquake in 2010 have only exacerbated these issues. In 2017, CIMMYT sent 150 tons of new and improved maize seed to the Caribbean nation to jump-start its maize seed sector, improve food security and decrease malnutrition. It was the largest seed shipment to any country in CIMMYT’s history.
In this episode, CIMMYT’s Seed Systems Lead for Africa and Latin America, Arturo Silva Hinojosa, discusses why CIMMYT sent this seed and organized trainings, how they overcame major roadblocks, and what’s in store for the future.
Learn more about the project by reading “Seeds of Hope” from the CIMMYT 2017 Annual Report.
How to scale? This question frequently comes up as projects look to expand and replicate results. In order to sustain enduring impacts for projects after their lifetime, agricultural programs are turning to scaling strategies. These strategies look beyond the numbers that are reached within a project and include sustainability and transformation beyond the project context. Methods and tools exist that help anticipate realistic and responsible scaling pathways.
The Scaling team at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), led by Lennart Woltering, drives the initiative to incorporate scaling principles into existing and developing projects to maximize impact.
Maria Boa recently joined the team as Scaling Coordinator. Last year Boa and Woltering participated in regional meetings on scaling in Morocco, Tunisia and Vietnam, which highlighted the need for better dissemination of information on how to approach scaling, in addition to its benefits.
Participants of the Tunisia workshop collaborate on a group exercise.
According to Boa, one of the key messages highlighted throughout these events was that in order for scaling to take hold and be integrated into projects, ââŠthere needs to be a shift in mindset to accept that change is complex and that most projects only address a fraction of the problem.â This is essential in using scaling to effectively support long-term results.
At a workshop in Tunisia organized by ICARDA, IFAD and CIMMYT in November 2018, many participants expressed interest in scaling strategy tools, but were puzzled on how to integrate them into their specific projects. Many determined that they were stuck developing scaling strategies in an outdated framework, or one that strictly focused on using technological innovations. One participant admitted that she was skeptical of scaling perspectives because many did not lie in her field of expertise.
The November 2018 CCAFS SEA Conference on Scaling in Vietnam provided a platform for the sharing and learning of experiences in the scaling world. Some of the key messages from the event included the importance of scaling agricultural innovations taking place in complex systems of agricultural transformation, and the necessity of joint cooperation from all involved stakeholders and their openness to taking on challenges as a way to support sustainable system change.
According to Boa, scaling is a process that heavily relies on strategic collaboration for lasting impact. âProjects often donât take into account how theyâre a part of a larger chain of potential change,â she says.
Already recognized as a sustainable leader within scaling, CIMMYT is looking to strengthen scaling efforts in order to foster a more enduring impact within CIMMYT projects and beyond.
Lennart Woltering presents at the CCAFS SEA Conference in Vietnam.
Currently, the Scaling team at CIMMYT is conducting research on the âscience of scalingâ as it continues to function as a âhelp desk,â providing support integrating scaling principles in proposals and projects. Its primary role is to consider a projectâs scaling needs and guide the development of an informed strategy to leverage efforts and resources. Boa hopes that by integrating responsible scaling approaches early on, projects can better balance the trade-offs associated with change.
Success in scaling is measured by a projectâs enduring impact. However, stakeholders need more experience and capacity to see programs through to their end and be willing to monitor them beyond that lifespan. CIMMYT is developing and collecting the tools to support stakeholders with these specific capacities.
Developing a scaling strategy can also bring additional benefits: a discussion about scaling opens the door for raising awareness and fostering actions among different stakeholders towards system change and sustainable impact.
KIGALI, Rwanda (CIMMYT) â The African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) is the place to be for organizations interested in Africaâs agricultural development. Research institutions, development agencies, funders, farmersâ organizations, large agribusinesses and green start-ups came together for the latest edition of this event in Kigali, Rwanda, on September 4-8. Organized by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) since 2010, this yearâs theme was âLead. Measure. Grow.â
The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, recalled a sentence stuck in his memory since childhood: âEverything is agriculture, the rest is good luckâ. All the top leaders present at AGRF 2018 agreed that investing in smallholder agriculture is a top development priority, since the growth of the primary sector âdrives down poverty, two to four times faster than other sectorsâ and provides livelihoods for three quarters of the African population.
Transforming policy declarations into impact on the ground
Even though African governments agreed on a roadmap towards inclusive agricultural growth â the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme, or CAADP â in 2003, the agriculture sector has remained stagnant since the 1980s. A majority of African countries continue to be net food importers despite their bountiful natural resources, as highlighted in the Africa Agriculture Status Report 2018.
Some African food ventures are quite successful exporting beans, roses or avocados to Europe. However, most African farmers still live on less than one dollar a day, on small rain-fed plots of less than two hectares, having to cope with high climate variability and damages from numerous pests and diseases. They often plant low quality seeds, on acid and degraded soils, with little fertilizer. Rapid ageing of the farming population, 60 years old on average, is a particular concern at a time when many young people are underemployed.
âAfrican agriculture is at a defining momentâ was a message hammered home by several keynote speakers of AGRF 2018. So what makes this moment different?
In recent years, some countries have seen a significant rise in farm productivity. Ethiopia, for instance, exceeded the CAADP target of 6 percent annual agricultural growth in the last 25 years, halving its poverty rates over the same period.
African agriculture is facing new threats, from climate change to devastating pests like the fall armyworm, but researchers can be fast to respond, particularly if they are properly funded and listened to.
âThe challenge is to design the right partnerships or business models between research, government, civil society and the private sector, to reach impact at scaleâ, explained CIMMYTâs director general, Martin Kropff. One example would be the Fall Armyworm Research for Development (R4D) International Consortium, officially launched at AGRF 2018.
Research has to anticipate and respond to the needs of smallholder farmers in diverse ecological and socioeconomic contexts. The agenda has to become demand-driven and researchers have to look at new collaborations if they want to reach the farmers.
The director general of CIMMYT, Martin Kropff, was the keynote speaker of the AGRF 2018 round-table discussion “Quality Means Quantity â Seed Processing Technology and Production Approaches for Agricultural Benefit.” (Photo: CIMMYT)
Make agriculture resilient and attractive to youth
Leaders discussed the ways to build viable, fair and sustainable food systems that will provide good opportunities for African farmers, especially the next generation, and affordable, nutritious food for the whole population.
In their view, the roadmap for the coming years includes several key actions: investing in infrastructure, investing in youth and education, investing in value addition and food processing and removing trade barriers.
Speakers also flagged irrigation as a top priority. âAfrican farmers do not need rain; they need water,â summed up John Mellor, who coordinated the African State of Agriculture Report 2018. He explained that top-down irrigation schemes are difficult to manage and maintain, so the focus should rather be on farmer-led irrigation.
The conference highlighted how digital agriculture, big data and other innovations offer the opportunity to leapfrog agriculture growth and make farming attractive to youth. For instance, Hello Tractor, a CIMMYT partner, is an Uber-like service linking tractor owners and machinery service providers with farmers. CIMMYT research shows that appropriate rural mechanization adapted to smallholders, like two-wheel tractors, will ease labor problems and enable adoption of more sustainable practices, like direct sowing. This can make farming more attractive for young people and create opportunities for them to become service providers.
Taking knowledge to farmers
Many innovations are out there to help African farmers grow more and better food; from climate resilient new varieties and customized agronomic advice to new e- or m-business models.
Mobile finance solution Tulaa brings together farmers, agro-dealers and credit providers on a virtual marketplace. Through Tulaa, farmers can borrow money to purchase the right fertilizers or seeds at the right time. Another platform, Precision Agriculture for Development, is providing more than 120,000 Kenyan farmers with agronomic advice via SMS, so they can better identify and manage fall armyworm. Other new digital platforms are linking smallholder farmers with quality inputs, extension services, finance, food processing and market opportunities.
All these operators will need to use accurate, science-based data. That is where CIMMYTâs expertise could play a big role, for instance providing customized fertilization recommendations to individual farmers, as planned in the Taking Maize Agronomy to Scale in Africa (TAMASA) project.
B.M. Prasanna, director of CIMMYTâs Global Maize Program, concluded that âAGRF is an excellent platform to network, debate issues relevant to African agriculture, form alliances and think forward.â Providing more resources in agricultural research for development will generate a stream of new technologies and solutions that will drive agricultural growth. Something African countries urgently need with their fast-growing population (2-3 percent annually) and one additional billion people to feed by 2050.
Farmers frequently encounter trade-offs between maximizing short-term profits and ensuring sustainable, long-term production. Santiago LĂłpez-Ridaura, a senior scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), says these trade-offs are even more complicated for small-scale farmers who grow a mix of crops and raise livestock. With computer models to play out different scenarios, he and his team are helping them find optimal solutions.
âIf you have $100, one hectare of maize, a half hectare of beans and three cows, you have limited resources,â indicates LĂłpez-Ridaura. âYou have to decide how you allocate those resources.â
Should the farmer use the money to buy new equipment or vaccinate the cows? What would happen if the farmer replaced the half-acre of beans with maize? These trade-offs, LĂłpez-Ridaura explains, are one aspect of a farming systemâs complexity.
âThe other is that these farmers are trying to satisfy multiple objectives,â he adds. âThey want to generate income. They want to produce enough food to feed their family and they may be trying to maintain cultural values.â
For example, a hybrid maize variety may produce higher yields under certain growing conditions, but the farmer could decide to continue growing the native variety because it carries cultural or even religious importance. Seasonal migration for off-farm jobs, climate change and access to markets are just some of the other factors that further complicate the decision-making process. LĂłpez-Ridaura points out many models in the past have failed to capture these complexities because they have focused on one objective: productivity at the plot level.
âOur models show the bigger picture. They take a lot of time to develop, but theyâre worth it,â says LĂłpez-Ridaura.
Custom solutions to farming challenges
The models start with hundreds of in-depth household surveys from a specific region. LĂłpez-Ridaura and his team then organize the large pool of data into several categories of farming systems.
âWe make a model that says, âOK, this farm in Oaxaca, Mexico, has five hectares, 20 sheep and five people,â he explains. âWe know how much the animals need to eat, how much the people need to eat, how much the farm produces and how much production costs.â
He and his team can then adjust certain factors in the model to explore different outcomes. For example, they can see how much water the farmer could use for irrigation to maximize his/her yields without depleting the local water supply during a drought. They can see which farmers would be the most vulnerable to a commodity crop price drop or who would benefit from a new policy.
Santiago LĂłpez-Ridaura (left) asks a farmer in Guatemala about his priorities â produce food, generate income, maintain soil health and feed his livestock â and the reasons behind his agricultural practices. (Photo: Carlos Sum/Buena Milpa)
âThe political guys often want a simple solution so they may say, âWe should subsidize inputs such as seeds and fertilizers.â In Mexico, for example, you might miss 60-70% of farmers as they donât use much of these inputs,â LĂłpez-Ridaura says. âSo thatâs great for 30% of the population, but why donât we think about the other 70%? We must be able to suggest alternatives from a basket of options, considering the diversity of farming systems.â
LĂłpez-Ridaura emphasizes that the models on their own do not provide solutions. He and his research team work with farmers to learn what they identify as their main challenges and how best to support them.
âWe have networks of farmers in Guatemala and Oaxaca, and some may say, âWell, our main challenge is being self-sufficient with forage crops,â and weâll say, âOK, why donât we try a crop rotation with forage crops? Our model suggests that it might be an appropriate option.ââ
He and his team can then help the farmers access the right kind of seed and find out how best to grow it. This relationship is not a one-way street. The farmers also provide feedback on what is or is not working on the ground, which helps the researchers improve the accuracy of their models. This approach helps the researchers, farmers and policymakers understand different pathways forward and develop locally adapted, sustainable solutions.
Santiago LĂłpez-Ridaura and his team work in Africa, Latin America and South Asia. Their funding often comes from development agencies such as IFAD and USAID.
Nominations are open for the 2018 Maize-Asia Youth Innovators Awards. The first edition of these awards recognizes the contributions of young women and men below 35 years of age who are implementing innovations in Asian maize-based agri-food systems.
The awards aim to identify young innovators who can serve to inspire other young people to get involved in maize-based agri-food systems.
Winners will be given the opportunity to present their work at the 13th Asian Maize Conference in Ludhiana, India (October 8-12, 2018). They will also join a platform for young innovators from around the world to network and share their experiences.
MAIZE invites CGIAR researchers and partners to nominate young innovators for any of the following three categories:
a) Researcher: Maize research-for-development (in any discipline)
b) Farmer: Maize farming systems in Asia
c) Change agent: Maize value chains (i.e., extension agents, input and service suppliers,
transformation agents).
The US government has temporarily satisfied its hunger for information on how to adapt agriculture to climate change. On 14 September 2009, Matthew Reynolds, CIMMYT wheat physiologist, joined around 15 other agriculture experts just outside of Washington, DC, USA, to present at a conference titled: âAdapting Agriculture to Climate Change: What Will It Take?â
The conference, sponsored by the US Department of State, opened with a keynote by John Holdren, science adviser to the President of the United States, and was followed by four main panel topics: Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture; Research in the Public Sector; Research in the Private Sector; and Alternative Crops, Sustainable Management, and Integrative Strategies. The goal of the event was to explore strategies and raise awareness about adaption measures that are requiredâor will be required in the futureâto maintain sufficient global food production.
âIt is reassuring to know that the US government is taking the issue of food security in the context of climate change seriously,â said Reynolds, who presented on adapting the major cereal crops (including maize and wheat) to climate change. âThe State Department was not the only government program represented at the conference; the broad spectrum of speakers and government officials (including USDA and USAID) present shows that they are considering a comprehensive approach to the issue.â
A position paper based on the outcomes of the conference will be prepared for the US government. It will also be published in Science magazine.
