Jannatul Ferdous Asha is a Machinery Development Officer working with CIMMYTâs Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program in Bangladesh. She joined CIMMYT in 2019.
Asha completed an undergraduate degree in agricultural engineering and a masters degree in farm power and machinery at Bangladesh Agricultural University.
The Bangladeshi government is thinking of expanding the work of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia-Mechanization Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA) project in Bogra, Jessore, Faridpur and Coxâs Bazar to the rest of the country.
The joint initiative, launched in October 2019 and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future initiative, seeks to promote the mechanization of jute production across Bangladesh, among other issues.
Read more: https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2021/09/29/will-mechanization-boost-the-jute-sector
Gustavo Teixeira is an Automation and Mechanization Lead with CIMMYT’s Excellence in Breeding Platform.
As a Breeding Operations and Phenotyping module leader, he provides evaluation of breeding program operations according to continuous improvement and operational excellence methodologies and lead initiatives to improve CGIAR and National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) breeding operations capacities.
Teixeira is an expert in agriculture engineering, processes, mechanization and automatization. He has over 15 years of experience in the private sector, including as Automation Manager for R&D in Latin America at Syngenta.
In a small workshop in Ethiopiaâs Oromia region, mechanic Beyene Chufamo and his technician work on tractor repairs surrounded by engines and spare machinery parts.
Established in Meki in 2019, Beyeneâs workshop provides maintenance, repair and overhaul services for two-wheel tractors and their accessories, and it acts as a point of sale for spare parts and implements such as planters, threshers and water pumps. Beyene also works as a tractor operation instructor, providing trainings on driving, planter calibration and how to use threshers and shellers.
The city already had a well-established mechanics and spare parts industry based around four-wheel tractors and combine harvester hire services, as well as motorcycle and tricycle transportation services. But now, as market demand for two-wheel tractor hire services rises among smallholder farming communities and entrepreneurial youth race to become local service providers, business is booming.
Building a business
Beyeneâs business has benefitted from support from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the German development agency GIZ since its formation. Beyene was initially trained as a mechanic through the Innovative Financing for Sustainable Mechanization in Ethiopia (IFFSMIE) project, which promotes small-scale mechanization in the area through demand creation, innovative financing mechanisms and the development of private sector-driven business. He went on to receive additional technical and business skills development training to enable him to run his own enterprise.
His ongoing association with the project and its new leasing scheme has helped Beyene establish connections with local service providers, while also improving his own skills portfolio. Currently, he helps maintain the smooth operation of machinery and equipment at CIMMYT project sites in Amhara, Oromia and Tigray. This involves everything from training other local mechanics and troubleshooting for service providers, to facilitating the delivery of aftersales services in project areas.
In addition to this, Beyene receives orders for maintenance, repair and overhaul services for two-wheel tractors and implements. He sources replacement parts himself, though the cost of purchase is covered by his clients. In some cases â and depending on the distance travelled â CIMMYT covers the transport and accommodation costs while Beyene services equipment from service providers and sources equipment from local distributors. When individual parts are not readily available, he often purchases whole two-wheel tractors from the Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC) and breaks them down into individual parts.
The way forward for sustainable mechanization
âMechanization take-off relies heavily on skilled staff and appropriate infrastructure to perform machinery diagnostics, repair and maintenance,â said Rabe Yahaya, a CIMMYT agricultural mechanization expert based in Ethiopia.
âAgricultural machinery should be available and functional any time a famer wants to use it â and a workshop can support this. Beyeneâs work in Meki reflects the way forward for sustainable mechanization success in Ethiopia.â
Creating an agricultural machinery workshop from scratch was a challenging task, Rabe explained, but support and guidance from partners like CIMMYT and GIZ helped to make it happen. âAlso, Beyeneâs commitment and flexibility to travel to CIMMYT project sites anywhere and at any time â even on bad roads in difficult weather conditions â really helped him achieve his goal.â
Beyene is excited about how quickly the local two-wheel tractor market has grown in the past few years. He currently has 91 service providers as regular clients at CIMMYT project sites â up from just 19 in 2016.
Trends show that â with support from local microfinance schemes and the removal of domestic taxes on imported machinery â aftersales services will continue to evolve, and the number of service providers will rise alongside increased market demand for mechanization services, both at farm level and beyond.
With this in mind, Beyene aims to remain competitive by diversifying the services offered at his workshop and expanding his business beyond CIMMYT project sites. As a starting point he plans to hire more staff, altering his organizational structure so that each mechanic or technician is dedicated to working with a specific type of machinery. Longer term, he hopes to transform his workshop into one that can also service four-wheel tractors and combine harvesters, and establish a mobile dispatch service team that can reach more locations in rural Ethiopia.
For now, however, he simply remains grateful for CIMMYTâs support and investment in his business. âI am happy that I have been able to secure an income for myself, my family and my staff through this workshop, which has changed our lives in such a positive way.â
Cover photo: Workshop owner Beyene Chufamo (left) speaks to CIMMYT researcher Abrham Kassa during a visit to Meki, Ethiopia. (Photo: CIMMYT)
It is a laborious and time-consuming process: chopping plant matter by hand to feed to livestock. In Cox’s Bazar district, in eastern Bangladesh, it is common practice. A mechanized fodder chopper can do the job more quickly and efficiently â yet this simple but effective machine has not seen much use in the region.
To address this, a collaboration between the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and aid organizations in the region is creating networks between farmers, agriculture service providers and the businesses that make and distribute the machines.
The Coxâs Bazar region is host to around 900,000 Rohingya refugees who were displaced from Myanmar. The influx of refugees has put a strain on resources in the region. This collaborative effort took place near the camps, in an effort to support capacity and economic development in the host communities nearby.
Though this collaboration has only been around for a few months, it has already seen early success, and received an award from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The award recognized the organizations’ âoutstanding collaboration that contributed to increased and efficient livestock production through mechanization in the host communities impacted by the influx of Rohingya refugees.â
Mechanization and livestock collaboration
The project â funded by USAID â is a partnership between two existing efforts.
The first is Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia – Mechanization Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA), which aims to boost the country’s private agricultural machinery industry while supporting local farmers. This initiative supports the mechanization of agriculture in Bangladesh, through increased capacity of the private sector to develop, manufacture and market innovative new technologies. CSISA-MEA is implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement center (CIMMYT) in partnership with iDE and Georgia Institute of Technology.
The second is the Livestock Production for Improved Nutrition (LPIN) Activity, which works to improve nutrition and income generation among rural households in the region.
âWe made a great collaboration with LPIN,â said Jotirmoy Mazumdar, an agriculturalist working with CSISA-MEA. âWe’re very happy that our initiative helped us achieve this award. In this short time period, a new market opportunity was created.â
Nonstop chop
There are numerous benefits to using fodder choppers, according to Muhammad Nurul Amin Siddiquee, chief of party of LPIN. For one, having access to the choppers can save farmers around $7 (600 Bangladeshi taka) in labor costs per day, and reduce the amount of feed wasted by 10â15%. On average, a farmer can hand-chop 500 kg of forage or fodder each day, while the machines can process around 1,000 kg of the material per hour.
According to Siddiquee, giving chopped feed to livestock improves their productivity. One farmer’s herd of 17 crossbreed cows produced 115 liters of milk per day â he expects this to increase to 130 liters per day after feeding them fodder produced with a mechanized chopper.
âHe can now save labor costs and four hours of his time per day by using the fodder chopping solutions,â he said, adding that the collaborative effort is âfostering increased livestock productivity and [farmer] incomes.â
However, Cox’s Bazar is far away from the center of Bangladesh, where most of these machines are produced. For example, there are more than 30 small engineering workshops in the more centrally located Khulna Division and they have cumulatively made 7,470 choppers.
âIn Cox’s Bazar, it was almost impossible for those livestock farmers to get to know the chopper machines, and actually get access to them,â said Khaled Khan, team lead with iDE, who also aided in private-sector engagement.
So, the collaboration between CSISA-MEA and LPIN began connecting farmers and agriculture service providers with these fodder chopper producers and distributors. Moreover, it worked to increase knowledge of how to operate the machines among the farmers.
âFodder choppers are an entirely new technology in Cox’s Bazar,â said Zakaria Hasan, CSISA team lead in the district.
Though it is still early days, the partnership has been met with a warm reception. Farmers and agriculture service providers cumulatively purchased 12 of the choppers within two weeks â each machine can support its owner and five other farmers â and three dealers are now selling the machines to meet farmer demand. In the region, 60 dairy farms are now purchasing chopped fodder for their livestock.
According to Khan, engaging the private sector in this project was essential. He explained that increasing the connectivity between the buyers and the sellers will help make the market larger and more stable.
âWe found the perfect opportunity of supply and demand because their partners are demanding our partners’ service. The role of the private sector was the most important for the sustainability of this marriage of demand and supply,â Khan said.
âWe want to establish a linkage between these two private entities. Our project’s job is to facilitate that, so that even after the project is over this networking continues in the future.â
Cover photo: Farmer Hosne Ara uses a mechanized fodder chopper to prepare feed for livestock in Bangladesh. (Photo: Ashraful Alam/CIMMYT)
Md. Zakaria Hasan is a field office coordinator with CIMMYTâs Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program in Bangladesh. He coordinates all the CIMMYT activities in the Faridpur region.
Hasan completed his undergraduate and masters degrees in Agricultural Science from Bangladesh Agricultural University. He started his career as a research associate in soil science at the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), then joined the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) as a researcher in agronomy.
Joining CIMMYT in 2012, Hasan’s main expertise is in agronomy, mechanized crop production, adaptive research, public and private sector engagement, and management of field activities.
In the plains area of Nepalâs Terai and in larger valleys in the hills, many parts of rice and wheat grain production process are nearly 100% mechanized. The second half of wheat and rice harvesting ââ threshing and cleaning ââ was mechanized as early as the 1960s. By the mid-1990s nearly 100% of wheat in the Terai was being threshed mostly by stand-alone threshers that were powered by 5-8 horsepower (HP) diesel pumpset engines.
Rice threshing began first in the far eastern Terai in early 2000s with similarly small-sized rice threshers with pumpset engines. However, by the 2010s as 4WTs became ubiquitous in the Terai, the larger horsepower tractor power take-off (PTO) driven wheat and rice threshers became prominent
However, one of the main parts of the production process, the field harvesting of grain, is still not yet fully mechanized even though it is has one of the largest labor requirements. Grain harvesting machinery entered Nepal from India in the late 1990s with the introduction of large 90+ horsepower self-propelled combines in central Terai (Parasi, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu Districts), mainly for wheat. Machines for rice harvesting were introduced in the Western Terai by the 2010s.
In the last decade, the types and numbers of powered or mechanized harvest technologies in Nepal has greatly increased in size. With advent of many new machines from China and elsewhere, the market for grain harvest machinery has become very dynamic. Nevertheless, various bottlenecks limit access and usage far below demand.
A new study by researchers from the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), a project led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), provides the results of a study on the value chains of rice, wheat and maize harvesting equipment that are used in Nepal by farmers and service providers. It documents the movement of the various new technologies into the value chain, characterizing the whole harvesting machinery market.
The study also provides a detailed value chain map of the various reaper-harvesters, threshers, shellers and combine harvesters that are now widely available for sale in Nepal with the overall goal of providing recommendations for policy makers and development agencies to promote greater access to and usage of such machinery.
Read the full study: Cereal grain harvesting and post-harvest machinery in Nepal
In Ethiopia, farming systems rely heavily on animal and human power, reducing productivity and efficiency. In recent years, the government and development partners have made significant efforts to modernize agriculture.
In 2013, CIMMYT introduced one-axel multipurpose tractors in various districts of Amhara, Oromia, South and Tigray regions. This new technology has helped to improve farmersâ lives and phase out outdated farming practices. Farmers have reduced drudgery, improved productivity and gained higher profits. This short video shows the impacts the two-wheel tractor brough to smallholder farmers in Ethiopia.
Financial support for this initiative came from the German development agency GIZ, USAID and the Australian government.
Protected from the harsh midday sun with a hat, Pramila Mondal pushes behind the roaring engine of a two-wheel tractor. She cultivates a small plot of land with her husband in the small village of Bara Kanaibila, in the Rajbari district of Bangladesh, near the capital Dhaka.
Using this machine, she also provides planting services to farmers who need to sow wheat, maize, mungbean, mustard and jute, earning her between $600 and $960 in each planting season.
Mondal and her husband first heard about this technology five years ago, when they attended an event to promote agricultural mechanization, organized by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). After seeing a demonstration, they were convinced that the power-tiller-operated seeder could form the basis for a business.
Ultimately, Mondal bought the machine. She got training on how to operate and maintain it, as part of the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia â Mechanization Irrigation and Mechanization Extension Activity (CSISA-MI and CSISA-MEA) project, supported by USAID through Feed the Future.
Letâs get it started
Mondal became the only woman in her area who could operate a seeder of this type, making her locally famous. After seeing the results of her business, others followed suit.
Eight more women in her area expressed interest in operating power-tiller-operated seeders and also went on to become service providers.
They all faced a similar problem: power tillers are hard to start. Pulling the starting rope or turning the hand crank requires a lot of strength.
The CSISA-MEA project team worked with a local engineering company to introduce a self-starting mechanism for power tiller engines. Since then, starting diesel engines is no longer a problem for women like Mondal.
Glee for the tillerwoman
Almost all of the 11 million hectares of rice planted every year in Bangladesh are transplanted by hand. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find people willing to do this type of backbreaking work. New machines are being introduced that transplant rice mechanically, but they require rice seedling to be raised in seedling mats.
As this new service is required, Mondal jumped at the opportunity. With support from CIMMYT through the CSISA-MEA project, she is now raising seedlings for this new type of rice transplanters.
CIMMYT facilitated training for machinery service providers on mat type seedling production, in partnership with private companies. Mondal and other women who were also trained produced enough seedlings to plant 3.2 hectares of land with a rice transplanter they hired from a local owner.
Mondal and her husband now have big dreams. They intend to buy a rice transplanter and a combine harvester.
âWith our effort we can make these changes, but a little support can make big difference, which the CSISA-MEA project did,â she said.
USAID has started the implementation of a $21.4 million project led by CIMMYT, the International Development Enterprises (iDE), and the Georgia Institute of Technology to support the mechanization of agriculture in Bangladesh.
Read more: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/21m-usaid-project-boost-agriculture-mechanisation-2042813
The agricultural sector is possibly the largest livelihood provider in India, with the smallholder farming community in the vast Indo-Gangetic Plains making the bulk of it. They are the community responsible for growing the food available on our table. In celebration of Indiaâs National Farmerâs Day on December 23 â known in Hindi as Kisan Diwas â we share the story of a farmer-turned-entrepreneur from eastern Uttar Pradesh, where the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and its partners have invested in supporting smallholder farmers to implement best farming practices and improve yields through sustainable intensification.
âI am a farmer and I am hopeful of a future for my children in the farming sector,â says Surender Prasad, a 52-year-old farmer from Umila village in Santkabir Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh. Prasad is one of the innovative farmers in and around the district who has time and again strived to introduce new implements and technologies on his farm â often a big risk for smallholders like him.
In 2014, Prasad met researchers from CIMMYTâs Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project while visiting the village Lazar Mahadeva during an inter-district traveling seminar. After seeing the farmer demonstration plots for himself â which, incidentally, is one of the best ways of raising farmer awareness in the region â Prasad was convinced of the efficiency of transplanting rice by machine and using zero tillage in wheat production.
Through his continued association with the project, Prasad has now adopted both practices, in addition to direct seeded rice (DSR) and Laser Land Levelling. With a single 35 horsepower tractor, cultivator and harrow, Prasad was able to improve his wheat grain yield by one ton per hectare during the 2014-15 cropping season, and secure improved profit margins as a result.
Encouraged by these results, in 2018 Prasad purchased a 55 horsepower New Holland Tractor, a Happy Seeder, a tractor-mounted sprayer and other machinery for custom hire under the state governmentâs machinery bank scheme. His aspiration for entrepreneurship grew in the months following these purchases and he has since established himself as a local service provider, alongside his role as a farmer. According to Prasad, his continued association with CSISA and its network of partners helped him gain better technical knowledge and skills as well as confidence with using conservation agriculture-based machinery, thanks to trainings provided by the project team.
A budding entrepreneur
Today Prasad is an important entrepreneur in the region, providing custom hiring services for Happy Seeder and DSR and promoting agricultural mechanization in his community. Going forward, scale-appropriate farm mechanization will help farmers in the area to intensify their cropping system at a lower cost, supported by use of the conservation agriculture approaches encouraged by the CSISA project team, which have been shown to improve yields, reduce farmer costs and preserve natural resources. For example, using these best management practices Prasad was able to harvest an additional 1.1 tons of wheat from the 10 acres of land owned by him and his brother, and most farmers in his village now follow his crop management advice.
He is quick to adopt new ideas and has become something of an influencer in the area, earning him friends among the farming community and helping the CSISA team reach more farmers with new innovations.
This year the opportunity for hiring out mechanization services has been immense, largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has created difficulties for farmers engaged in rice transplanting. As a result, Prasad managed to sow 90 acres of DSR on his own farm and in the nearby village, as well as seeding 105 acres of wheat in the fall 2020 season. âThanks to mechanization we were far less affected by the COVID-19 disruptions and managed to plant rice and then wheat without much delay,â he explains. Prasad also provided tractor-mounted sprayer services for applying herbicides and insecticide on 90 acres of rice crop. Considering these successes, he has now planned to offer year-round extension services.
âI feel overwhelmed after serving my own community as a service provider,â says Prasad. âI feel proud of myself when other farmers come asking for my assistance.â Endorsing his contribution as an innovative farmer, the Department of Agriculture for the Government of Uttar Pradesh recognized him with awards in 2015 and 2019. He attributes his success to his exposure to CSISA interventions and support and believes that CSISA acted as a facilitator, encouraging him to use his ideas for his own benefit and for the benefit of the larger agrarian community around him.
Gokul Paudel is an agricultural economist working to streamline farming practices in South Asia. He seeks to understand, learn from and improve the efficiency of on-farm management practices in a vast variety of ways. Although he joined the International Improvement Center for Wheat and Maize (CIMMYT) right after university, Paudelâs on-farm education started long before his formal courses.
âI was born in a rural village in Baglung district, in the mid-hills of Nepal. My parents worked on a small farm, holding less than half a hectare of land,â he says. âWhen I was a kid, I remember hearing that even though Nepal is an agricultural country, we still have a lot of food insecurity, malnutrition and children who suffer from stunting.â
âI would ask: How is Nepal an agricultural country, yet we suffer from food insecurity and food-related problems? This question is what inspired me to go to an agricultural university.â
Paudel attended Tribhuvan University in Nepal, and through his coursework, he learned about plant breeding, genetic improvement and how Norman Borlaug brought the first Green Revolution to South Asia. âAfter completing my undergraduate and post-graduate studies, I realized that CIMMYT is the one organization that contributes the most to improving food security and crop productivity in developing countries, where farmers livelihoods are always dependent on agriculture,â he explains.
Approaching the paradox
Paudel is right about the agriculture and food paradox of his home country. Almost two thirds of Nepalâs population is engaged in agricultural production, yet the country still has shockingly high numbers in terms of food insecurity and nutritional deficiency. Furthermore, widespread dissemination of unsustainable agronomic practices, like the use of heavy-tilling machinery, present similar consequences across South Asia.
If research and data support the claim that conservation agriculture substantially improves crop yields, then why is the adoption of these practices so low? That is exactly what Paudel seeks to understand. âI want to help improve the food security of the country,â he explains. âThatâs why I joined the agricultural sector.â
Paudel joined CIMMYT in 2011 to work with the Socioeconomics Program (SEP) and the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), providing regional support across Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
His work is diverse. Paudel goes beyond finding out which technological innovations increase on-farm yield and profit, because success on research plots does not always translate to success on smallholder fields. He works closely with farmers and policy makers, using surveys and high-tech analytical tools such as machine learning and data mining to learn about what actually happens on farmersâ plots to impact productivity.
A growing future for conservation agriculture
Over the last two decades, the development of environmentally sustainable and financially appealing farming technologies through conservation agriculture has become a key topic of agronomic research in South Asia.
âConservation agriculture is based on three principles: minimum disturbance of the soil structure, cover crop and crop rotation, especially with legumes,â Paudel explains.
Leaving the soil undisturbed through zero-till farming increases water infiltration, holds soil moisture and helps to prevent topsoil erosion. Namely, zero-till farming has been identified as one of the most transformative innovations in conservation agriculture, showing the potential to improve farming communitiesâ ability to mitigate the challenges of climate change while also improving crop yields.
Still, the diffusion rate of zero-tillage has remained low. Right now, Paudelâs team is looking at a range of factors â such as farmersâ willingness to pay, actual demand for new technologies, intensification under input constraints, gender-disaggregated preferences and the scale-appropriateness of mechanization â to better understand the low adoption rates and to find a way to close the gap.
Can farm mechanization ease South Asiaâs labor shortage?
In South Asia, understanding local contexts is crucial to streamlining farm mechanization. In recent years, many men have left their agricultural jobs in search of better opportunities in the Gulf countries and this recent phenomenon of labor out-migration has left women to take up more farming tasks.
âWomen are responsible for taking care of the farm, household and raising their children,â says Paudel. âSince rural out-migration has increased, they have been burdened by the added responsibility of farm work and labor scarcity. This means that on-farm labor wages are rising, exacerbating the cost of production.â
The introduction of farm machinery, such as reapers and mini-tillers, can ease the physical and financial burden of the labor shortage. âGender-responsive farm mechanization would not only save [womenâs] time and efforts, but also empower them through skills enhancement and farm management,â says Paudel. However, he explains, measures must be taken to ensure that women actually feel comfortable adopting these technologies, which have traditionally been held in the male domain.
From farm-tech to high-tech
Right now, amidst the global lockdown due to COVID-19, Paudelâs field activities are highly restricted. However, he is capitalizing on an opportunity to assess years’ worth of data on on-farm crop production practices, collected from across Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
âWe are analyzing this data-set using novel approaches, like machine learning, to understand what drives productivity in farmers’ fields and what to prioritize, for our efforts and for the farmers,â he explains.
Although there are many different aspects of his work, from data collection and synthesis to analysis, Paudelâs favorite part of the job is when his team finds the right, long-lasting solution to farmersâ production-related problems.
âThereâs a multidimensional aspect to it, but all of these solutions affect the farmerâs livelihood directly. Productivity is directly related to their food security, income and rural livelihoods.â
A changing landscape
About 160 km away from where he lives now, Paudelâs parents still own the farm he grew up on â though they no longer work on it themselves. They are proud to hear that his work has a direct impact on communities like theirs throughout the country.
âEvery day, new problems are appearing due to climate change â problems of drought, flooding and disease outbreak. Though itâs not good news, it motivates me to continue the work that Iâm doing,â says Paudel. âThe most fascinating thing about working at CIMMYT is that we have a team of multidisciplinary scientists working together with the common goal of sustainably intensifying the agricultural systems in the developing world.â
A new small-mechanization pilot initiative launched in July is equipping farmers with the business and technical skills they need to provide mechanization services to communities in six wards of Masvingo district, Zimbabwe.
With funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) managed by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is leading implementation of the pilot in collaboration with Kurima Machinery and the Zimbabwe Agriculture Development Trust (ZADT), who are supporting the technical training and financial management, respectively.
Anchored on a strong business model, 15 farmers have signed up to become service providers and invested an initial deposit of $500 to access the mechanization package comprising a two-wheel tractor and trailer, a direct planter and a maize cob sheller. Through a âlease-to-ownâ credit facility, eligible service providers will have 24 months to pay the remaining balance for the set of equipment.
âThis approach addresses re-payment challenges in past interventions, where equipment was distributed without a firm commitment from the service providers and without putting in enough effort to establish a viable business,â says Christian Thierfelder, a cropping systems agronomist at CIMMYT. âAn advantage of this new form of financial commitment by the service providers is that it guarantees full participation and a change in their perception towards farming as a business.â
Since 2013, smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe have been exposed to the benefits of combining small-mechanization with conservation farming systems to improve productivity â land preparation, planting and harvesting to achieve higher yields while reducing production costs. Besides making farming tasks more efficient for individuals, this set of equipment can be used to provide critical services to other farmers in their wards.
The two-wheel tractor can have various implements attached to it for services such as planting, transportation and shelling. It can also be used to run other important implements such as water pumps, mills or threshers.
This mechanization pilot therefore presents an additional pathway out of poverty and into sustainable production and income generation at household level, while boosting the local economy and rural employment in Masvingo district.
Training for local service provision
Eligible service providers were recently invited to attend a one-week specialized business and technical training course at Gwebi Agricultural College, just outside of Harare. The training package consisted of two main components: business management; and two-wheel tractor operation, maintenance and repair.
Elliot Zvovovo, a participating service provider, explains how the balanced training approach equipped him fully with all the knowledge and skills he needs to run his business. âI learned different ways of record keeping, managing income and treating my clients professionally,â he says.
âOn the machinery side, I learned about of all the parts of a two-wheel tractor and practiced assembling the engine so that maintenance and repair will be easy for me.â
Julius Shava, another participating service provider, agrees, adding that knowing how to maintain the two-wheel tractor and troubleshooting will also minimize costs of hiring external mechanics to attend to faults. âI realized the importance of routine checks for oil and water levels, how to crank-start the tractor and hitch the planter all by myself.â
Supporting agricultural extension in line with service providers is critical to mainstreaming transformational change in rural areas. As such, seven local extension officers â key partners in the implementation of small-mechanization activities â were also invited to participate in the training.
âThe training proved to be very effective, particularly the emphasis on mastering business principles and on the technical side, integrating service providersâ existing knowledge of conservation farming with small-mechanization,â says Canaan Zhakata, an extension officer for Ward 15.
Through the practical sessions, all service providers have now learned how to operate a two-wheel tractor, calibrate the direct planter for seed and fertilizer rates and use the sheller â giving them full technical skills and knowledge,â explains Dorcas Matangi, a research associate at CIMMYT.
The certification they have received will increase farmersâ confidence as they return to Masvingo to commence service delivery, with continued on-site support from their local extension officers. âOnce we return to Masvingo, we can assist the new service providers by monitoring their service delivery to ensure full compliance with the technical requirements for operating the machinery,â says Tsvakai Dumbu, an extension officer for Ward 17.
A profitable business for the local economy
This mechanization pilot is poised for success as it draws on existing positive results gained by the women and youth service providers in western Zimbabwe, who are running successful mechanized enterprises following the recently completed Farm Mechanization and Conservation Agriculture for Sustainable Intensification (FACASI) project.
âDuring a recent seed fair, we heard of a youth group in Makonde that is making up to $7,000 just from maize shelling services,â says Zvovovo. âKnowing that it takes just one day to shell up to three tons of maize with the sheller, I now know that reaching such an income is achievable.â
This pilot will prove that there is scope for small-mechanization to expand on productivity through the two-wheel tractor, trailer and sheller, as shown in other parts of eastern and southern Africa. It will explore leverages on the opportunities and demand for services in Masvingo.
Cover image:Â An extension officer from Masvingo district drives a two-wheel tractor during a training for service providers and extension officers at Gwebi Agricultural College, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Shiela Chikulo/CIMMYT)
A new study examines how intra-household gender dynamics affect womenâs articulation of demand for and adoption of labor-saving technologies in maize-based systems, drawing on empirical data from diverse household categories in Ethiopia and Kenya, where both women and men play important roles in agriculture.
Where agriculture relies heavily on manual labor, small-scale mechanization can reduce labor constraints and contribute to higher yields and food security. However, demand for and adoption of labor-saving machinery remains weak in many areas. Paradoxically, this includes areas where women face a particularly high labor burden.
âHow do we make sense of this?â asks Lone Badstue, a rural development sociologist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). âWhat factors influence womenâs articulation of demand for and use of farm power mechanization?â
To answer this question, an international team of researchers analyzed data from four analytical dimensions â gender division of labor; gender norms; gendered access to and control over resources like land and income; and intra-household decision-making â to show how interactions between these influence womenâs demand for and use of mechanization.
âOverall, a combination of forces seems to work against womenâs demand articulation and adoption of labor-saving technologies,â says Badstue. Firstly, womenâs labor often goes unrecognized, and they are typically expected to work hard and not voice their concerns. Additionally, women generally lack access to and control over a range of resources, including land, income, and extension services.
This is exacerbated by the gendered division of labor, as womenâs time poverty negatively affects their access to resources and information. Furthermore, decision-making is primarily seen as menâs domain, and women are often excluded from discussions on the allocation of labor and other aspects of farm management. Crucially, many of these factors interlink across all four dimensions of the authorsâ analytical framework to shape womenâs demand for and adoption of labor-saving technologies.
Demand articulation and adoption of labor-saving technologies in the study sites are shown to be stimulated when women have control over resources, and where more permissive or inclusive norms influence gender relations. âWomenâs independent control over resources is a game changer,â explains Badstue. âAdoption of mechanized farm power is practically only observed when women have direct and sole control over land and on- or off-farm income. They rarely articulate demand or adopt mechanization through joint decision-making with male relatives.â
The study shows that independent decision-making by women on labor reduction or adoption of mechanization is often confronted with social disapproval and can come at the cost of losing social capital, both within the household and in the community. As such, the authors stress the importance of interventions which engage with these issues and call for the recognition of technological change as shaped by the complex interplay of gender norms, gendered access to and control over resources, and decision-making.
Read the full article âHow local gender norms and intra-household dynamics shape womenâs demand for labor-saving technologies: insights from maize-based livelihoods in Ethiopia and Kenyaâ in Gender, Technology and Development.
Read more recent publications by CIMMYT researchers:
1. Activity profiling of barley vacuolar processing enzymes provides new insights into the plant and cyst nematode interaction. 2020. Labudda, M., Rozanska, E., Prabucka, B., Muszynska, E., Marecka, D, Kozak, M, Dababat, A.A, Sobczak, M. In: Molecular Plant Pathology v. 21, no, 1, pg. 38-52.
2. Heteromorphic seeds of wheat wild relatives show germination niche differentiation. 2020. Gianella, M., Balestrazzi, A., Pagano, A., MĂŒller, J.V., Kyratzis, A.C., Kikodze, D., Canella, M., Mondoni, A., Rossi, G., Guzzon, F. In: Plant Biology v. 22, no. 2, pg. 191-202.
3. Genetic dissection of maternal influence on in vivo haploid induction in maize. 2020. Nair, S.K., Chaikam, V., Gowda, M., Hindu, V., Melchinger, A.E., Prasanna, B.M. In: The Crop Journal v. 8 no. 2, pg. 287-298.
4. Genome-wide analyses and prediction of resistance to MLN in large tropical maize germplasm. 2020. Nyaga, C., Gowda, M., Beyene, Y., Muriithi, W.T., Makumbi, D., Olsen, M., Mahabaleswara, S.L., Jumbo, M.B., Das, B., Prasanna, B.M. In: Genes v. 11, no. 1, art. 16.
5. Performance and yield stability of maize hybrids in stress-prone environments in eastern Africa. 2020. Rezende, W.S., Beyene, Y., Mugo, S.N., Ndou, E., Gowda, M., Julius Pyton Sserumaga, Asea, G., Ismail Ngolinda, Jumbo, M.B., Oikeh, S.O., Olsen, M., Borém, A., Cruz, C.D., Prasanna, B.M. In: The Crop Journal v. 8, no. 1, pg. 107-118.
6. Genetic analysis of QTL for resistance to maize lethal necrosis in multiple mapping populations. 2020. Awata, L.A.O., Beyene, Y., Gowda, M., Mahabaleswara, S.L., Jumbo, M.B., Tongoona, P., Danquah, E., Ifie, B.E., Marchelo-Dâragga, P.W., Olsen, M., Ogugo, V., Mugo, S.N., Prasanna, B.M. In: Genes v. 11, no. 1, art. 32.
7. Variation in occurrence and aflatoxigenicity of Aspergillus flavus from two climatically varied regions in Kenya. 2020. Monda, E., Masanga, J., Alakonya, A. In: Toxins v. 12, no. 1, art. 34.
8. A detached leaf assay to rapidly screen for resistance of maize to Bipolaris maydis, the causal agent of southern corn leaf blight. 2020. Aregbesola, E., Ortega Beltran, A., Falade, T. D. O., Gbolagade Jonathan, Hearne, S., Bandyopadhyay, R. In: European Journal of Plant Pathology v. 156, no. 1, pg. 133-145.
9. Spread and impact of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) in maize production areas of Kenya. 2020. De Groote, H., Kimenju, S.C., Munyua, B., Palmas, S., Kassie, M., Bruce, A.Y. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment v. 292, art. 106804.
10. Genetic dissection of grain yield and agronomic traits in maize under optimum and low-nitrogen stressed environments. 2020. Berhanu Tadesse Ertiro, Olsen, M., Das, B., Gowda, M., Labuschagne, M. In: International Journal of Molecular Sciences v. 21, no. 2, art. 543.
11. ToxA-Tsn1 interaction for spot blotch susceptibility in Indian wheat: an example of inverse gene-for-gene relationship. 2020. Sudhir Navathe, Punam S. Yadav., Chand, R., Vinod Kumar Mishra, Vasistha, N.K., Prabina Kumar Meher, Joshi, A.K., Pushpendra Kumar Gupta In: Plant Disease v. 104, no. 1, pg. 71-81.
12. Novel sources of wheat head blast resistance in modern breeding lines and wheat wild relatives. 2020. Cruppe, G., Cruz, C.D., Peterson, G.L., Pedley, K.F., Asif, M., Fritz, A.K., Calderon Daza, L., Lemes da Silva, C., Todd, T.C., Kuhnem, P., Singh, P.K., Singh, R.P., Braun, H.J., Barma, N.C.D., Valent, B. In: Plant Disease v. 104, no. 1, pg. 35-43.
13. Stripe rust resistance genes in a set of Ethiopian bread wheat cultivars and breeding lines. 2020. Gebreslasie Zeray Siyoum, Huang, S., Gangming Zhan, Badebo, A., Qingdong Zeng, Jianhui Wu, Qilin Wang, Shengjie Liu, Lili Huang, Xiaojing Wang, Zhensheng Kang, Dejun Han In: Euphytica v. 216, no. 2, art. 17.
14. Appraisal of wheat genomics for gene discovery and breeding applications: a special emphasis on advances in Asia. 2020. Rasheed, A., Takumi, S., Hassan, M.A., Imtiaz, M., Ali, M., Morgounov, A.I., Mahmood, T., He Zhonghu In: Theoretical and Applied Genetics v. 113, pg. 1503â1520.
15. Diversity and incidence of plant-parasitic nematodes associated with saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in Morocco and their relationship with soil physicochemical properties. 2020. Mokrini, F., Salah-Eddine Laasli, Karra, Y., El Aissami, A., Dababat, A.A. In: Nematology v. 22, no. 1, pg. 87-102.
16. Maya gene variants related to the risk of type 2 diabetes in a family-based association study. 2020. DomĂnguez-Cruz, M.G., Muñoz, M. de L., Totomoch-Serra, A., GarcĂa-Escalante, M.G., Burgueño, J., Valadez-GonzĂĄlez, N., Pinto-Escalantes, D., Diaz-Badillo, A. In: Gene v. 730, art. 144259.
17. Effect of allele combinations at Ppd-1 loci on durum wheat grain filling at contrasting latitudes. 2020. Arjona, J.M., Royo, C., Dreisigacker, S., Ammar, K., Subira, J., Villegas, D. In: Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science, v. 206, no. 1, pg. 64-75.
18. Yield and quality in purple-grained wheat isogenic lines. 2020. Morgounov, A.I., Karaduman, Y., Akin, B., Aydogan, S., Baenziger, P.S., Bhatta, M.R., Chudinov, V., Dreisigacker, S., Velu, G., GĂŒler, S., Guzman, C., Nehe, A., Poudel, R., Rose, D., Gordeeva, E., Shamanin, V., Subasi, K., Zelenskiy, Y., Khlestkina, E. In: Agronomy v. 10, no. 1, art. 86.
19. Anther extrusion and its association with Fusarium head blight in CIMMYT wheat germplasm. 2020. Kaijie Xu, Xinyao He, Dreisigacker, S., He Zhonghu, Singh, P.K. In: Agronomy v. 10, no. 1 art. 47.
20. Does farm structure affect rural household incomes? Evidence from Tanzania. 2020. Chamberlin, J., Jayne, T.S. In: Food Policy v. 90, art. 101805.
21. GAR dwarf gene Rht14 reduced plant height and affected agronomic traits in durum wheat (Triticum durum). 2020. Shan Duan, Zhangchen Zhao, Yue Qiao, Chunge Cui, Morgounov, A.I., Condon, A.G., Liang Chen, Yin-Gang Hu In: Field Crops Research v. 248, art. 107721.
22. Ex-ante and ex-post coping strategies for climatic shocks and adaptation determinants in rural Malawi. 2020. Abid, M., Ali, A., Rahut, D.B., Raza, M., Mehdi, M. In: Climate Risk Management v. 27, art. 100200.
23. Management of spot blotch and heat stress in spring wheat through azoxystrobin-mediated redox balance. 2020. Sudhir Navathe, Chand, R., Vinod Kumar Mishra, Pandey, S.P., Kumar, U., Joshi, A.K. In: Agricultural Research v. 9, pg. 169â178.
24. Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2020. Bonilla Cedrez, C., Chamberlin, J., Guo, Z., Hijmans, R.J. In: PLoS One v. 115, no. 1, art. e0227764.
25. Unravelling the variability and causes of smallholder maize yield gaps in Ethiopia. 2020. Banchayehu Tessema Assefa, Chamberlin, J., Reidsma, P., Silva, J.V., Ittersum, M.K. van. In: Food Security v. 12, pg. 83-103.
26. Linking land distribution with food security: empirical evidence from Pakistan. 2020. Mahmood, H.Z., Ali, A., Rahut, D.B., Pervaiz, B., Siddiqui, F. In: Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences v. 30, no.1, pg. 175-184.
27. Agricultural growth and sex-disaggregated employment in Africa: future perspectives under different investment scenarios. 2020. Frija, A., Chebil, A., Mottaleb, K.A., Mason-DâCroz, D., Dhehibi, B. In: Global Food Security v. 24, art. 100353.
28. Genetic diversity analysis using DArTseq and SNP markers in populations of Aegilops species from Azerbaijan. 2020. Abbasov, M., Sansaloni, C.P., Burgueño, J., Petroli, C.D., Akparov, Z., Aminov, N., Babayeva, S., Izzatullayeva, V., Hajiyev, E., Rustamov, K., Mammadova, S.A., Amri, A., Payne, T.S. In: Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution v. 67, no. 2, pg. 281-291.
29. Bridging the disciplinary gap in conservation agriculture research, in Malawi. A review. 2020. Hermans, T.D.G., Whitfield, S., Dougill, A.J., Thierfelder, C. In: Agronomy for Sustainable Development v. 40, no. 1, art. 3.
30. Scaling agricultural mechanization services in smallholder farming systems: case studies from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. 2020. Van Loon, J., Woltering, L., Krupnik, T.J., Baudron, F., Boa, M., Govaerts, B. In: Agricultural Systems v. 180, art. 102792.
In most developing countries, smallholder farmers are the main source of food production, relying heavily on animal and human power. Women play a significant role in this process â from the early days of land preparation to harvesting. However, the sector not only lacks appropriate technologies â such as storage that could reduce postharvest loss and ultimately maximize both the quality and quantity of the farm produce â but fails to include women in the design and validation of these technologies from the beginning.
âAgricultural outputs can be increased if policy makers and other stakeholders consider mechanization beyond simply more power and tractorization in the field,â says Rabe Yahaya, an agricultural mechanization expert at CIMMYT. âIncreases in productivity start from planting all the way to storage and processing, and when women are empowered and included at all levels of the value chain.â
In recent years, mechanization has become a hot topic, strongly supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Under the commission of BMZ, the German development agency GIZ set up the Green Innovation Centers (GIC) program, under which the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) supports mechanization projects in 16 countries â 14 in Africa and two in Asia.
As part of the GIC program, a cross-country working group on agricultural mechanization is striving to improve knowledge on mechanization, exchange best practices among country projects and programs, and foster links between members and other mechanization experts. In this context, CIMMYT has facilitated the development of a matchmaking and south-south learning matrix where each country can indicate what experience they need and what they can offer to the others in the working group. CIMMYT has also developed an expert database for GIC so country teams can reach external consultants to get the support they need.
âThe Green Innovation Centers have the resources and mandate to really have an impact at scale, and it is great that CIMMYT was asked to bring the latest thinking around sustainable scaling,â says CIMMYT scaling advisor Lennart Woltering. âThis is a beautiful partnership where the added value of each partner is very clear, and we hope to forge more of these partnerships with other development organizations so that CIMMYT can do the research in and for development.â
This approach strongly supports organizational capacity development and improves cooperation between the country projects, explains Joachim Stahl, a capacity development expert at CIMMYT. âThis is a fantastic opportunity to support GIZ in working with a strategic approach.â Like Woltering and Yahaya, Stahl is a GIZ-CIM integrated expert, whose position at CIMMYT is directly supported through GIZ.
A catalyst for South-South learning and cooperation
Earlier this year, CIMMYT and GIZ jointly organized the mechanization working groupâs annual meeting, which focused on finding storage technologies and mechanization solutions that benefit and include women. Held from July 7â10 July, the virtual event brought together around 60 experts and professionals from 20 countries, who shared their experiences and presented the most successful storage solutions that have been accepted by farmers in Africa for their adaptability, innovativeness and cost and that fit best with local realities.
CIMMYT postharvest specialist Sylvanus Odjo outlined how to reduce postharvest losses and improve food security in smallholder farming systems using inert dusts such as silica, detailing how these can be applied to large-scale agriculture and what viable business models could look like. Alongside this and the presentation of Purdue Universityâs improved crop storage bags, participants had the opportunity to discuss new technologies in detail, asking questions about profitability analysis and the many variables that may slow uptake in the regions where they work.
Discussions at the meeting also focused heavily on gender and mechanization â specifically, how women can benefit from mechanized farming and the frameworks available to increase their access to relevant technologies. Modernizing the agricultural sector in developing countries in ways that would benefit both men and women has remained a challenge for many professionals. Many argue that the existing technologies are not gender-sensitive or affordable for women, and in many cases, women are not well informed about the available technologies.
However, gender-sensitive and affordable technologies will support smallholder farmers produce more while saving time and energy. Speaking at a panel discussion, representatives from AfricaRice and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) highlighted the importance of involving women during the design, creation and validation of agricultural solutions to ensure that they are gender-sensitive, inclusive and can be used easily by women. Increasing their engagement with existing business models and developing tailored digital services and trainings will help foster technology adaptation and adoption, releasing women farmers from labor drudgery and postharvest losses while improving livelihoods in rural communities and supporting economic transformation in Africa.
Fostering solutions
By the end of the meeting, participants had identified and developed key work packages both for storage technologies and solutions for engaging women in mechanization. For the former, the new work packages proposed the promotion of national and regional dialogues on postharvest, cross-country testing of various postharvest packages, promotion of renewable energies for power supply in storing systems and cross-country scaling of hermetically sealed bags.
To foster solutions for women in mechanization, participants suggested the promotion and scaling of existing business models such as âWoman mechanized agro-service provider cooperativeâ, piloting and scaling gender-inclusive and climate-smart postharvest technologies for smallholder rice value chain actors in Africa, and the identification and testing of gender-sensitive mechanization technologies aimed at finding appropriate tools or approaches.
Cover image:Â A member of Dellet â an agricultural mechanization youth association in Ethiopiaâs Tigray region â fills a two-wheel tractor with water before irrigation. (Photo: Simret Yasabu/CIMMYT)