As the effects of climate change intensify, rain dependent crop production is becoming more challenging for smallholder farmers in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. Farmers often experience either too little or too much rain to effectively grow their crops, which means growing crops under irrigation is becoming key to building resilience to climate shocks. However, smallholder farmers often lack the access to equipment and skills to implement low-cost irrigation technologies.
The Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) implemented by the International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has partnered with Total LandCare (TLC) Malawi and Zambia to promote Sustainable Intensification practices in eastern and central Malawi. TLC conducted a training session on using treadle pumps for irrigation plot layout in Mumbi Village, Petauke District, Zambia.
Farmers setting up an irrigation plot as a live demonstration. (Photo : TLC)
Letting gravity do the work
The irrigation system operates on the principle of pumping water manually from a low point to a high point from which the water then flows by gravity through a system of channels to irrigate crops.
Properly managed, treadle pump irrigation can improve household food security, income, nutrition, and health sustainably without detrimental effects to the environment.
The training educated 12 farmers in establishing an irrigation layout using gravity-fed basins, with water pumped from a stream downhill using a treadle pump. Participants learned how to erect channels that directed water into basins.
During practical irrigation training in Muya village of Mondolo camp, Petauke district, one of the farmers, Magret Tembo said, “This method of irrigation will negate the burden associated with use of watering cans, a practice which has been giving us backaches. Through this technology, we will experience increased production through better water management and increased area coverage.”
Following the setup demonstration, participants received practical guidance on various aspects of irrigation and crop management, covering such topics as planting techniques and effective fertilizer use, and application of pesticides and fungicides.
Inexpensive and durable
“Treadle pump irrigation offers tremendous opportunities to dramatically increase agricultural production while enriching the livelihoods of many resource-poor farmers,” said Zwide Jere, Co-founder/Managing Director of TLC.
Treadle pumps are inexpensive, so individuals can afford to purchase one and they are durable and easy to maintain, so one pump will work for years for individual households.
“The pumps are also designed to work in many environments,” said Paul Malambo, Country Manager for TLC Zambia. “So, over the years, TLC has been able to distribute the pumps in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia.”
A farmer demonstrating how to use the pump (top left and right) in Kasenengwa, Zambia (Photo: TLC)
“Providing access to technical knowledge and support for under-utilized land, water and labor resources is an important part of the AID-I project, said Kevin Kabunda, CIMMYT lead for the AID-I. “As is collaboration with local partners like TLC who facilitate the dissemination of expertise.”
TLC is a registered non-governmental organization based in Malawi and active in Zambia. Its mission is to empower self-reliance and prosperity for rural households in the Southern Africa region.
On October 4, 2023, Sieglinde Snapp, program director of the Sustainable Agrifood System (SAS) program, along with the country representative of CIMMYT and project lead of the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer Project (NSAF) Dyutiman Choudhary, visited the National Soil Science Research Center (NSSRC) under the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC). The chief of NSSRC, Shree Prasad Vista, and his team welcomed Snapp and the team from CIMMYT. In the meeting, Vista presented an overview of NSSRC’s work and emphasized the collaborative work with NSAF. He focused on the achievements NSSRC has accomplished with the joint efforts of NSAF. He highlighted the launch of the Digital Soil Map and new fertilizer recommendations. He also reflected on the benefits of soil health cards to the farmers that NSAF supported. In addition, he prioritized the importance of collaboration to improve the livelihood of farmers. He appreciated the cross-learning that CIMMYT has been providing for knowledge transfer and adopting best management practices. After the meeting, the team visited the NSSRC’s laboratory, which provided insights about their soil research activities.
The chief of NSSRC briefs Sieg Snapp on farmers’ health card. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Following the visit to NSSRC, Snapp and CIMMYT colleagues visited the NARC Head Office within the same premises. The Executive Director of NARC, Dhurbaraj Bhattari, welcomed the delegates in his office. The ED presented an overview of NARC and its primary focus. He emphasized the importance of collaborative work with CIMMYT. After the presentation, the delegates from CIMMYT, NARC and NSSRC discussed critical issues regarding sustainable agricultural practices. The primary focus of the meeting was the strategies to boost sustainable agricultural productivity to enhance crop yields, value chain enhancement for farmer’s benefits, policy development for collaboration and harmonization to encourage horizontal and vertical cooperation between different stakeholders, need for investment in research and infrastructure at the grassroots level for addressing the challenges faced by farmers.
Addressing the meeting, Snapp focused on the importance of partnership aligning with CIMMYT’s latest strategies to facilitate knowledge transfer and the adoption of best practices. She also raised her concerns regarding the loss of crops between harvest and storage. She reflected on the commitment of CIMMYT to improving agriculture through science and innovation to change the livelihood of farmers. She showed her commitment to ongoing collaboration for sustainable agricultural development.
The meeting provided a platform to strengthen the longstanding collaboration between CIMMYT and NARC to address the challenges faced by farmers to enhance agricultural productivity through sustainable approaches. The Executive Director of NARC extended heartfelt gratitude for CIMMYT’s support, which has played a pivotal role in transforming the lives of countless farmers. He also expressed hope for continued collaboration in the future.
The CIMMYT and NSSRC team at NSSRC offices. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Snapp visited CIMMYT Nepal from October 3-7, 2023. 2023. During her visit, she interacted and engaged with various stakeholders, including Nepal staff, farmers in the field, agricultural cooperatives, government authorities, seed growers, suppliers and feed mills.
In Nepal, the International Water Management Institute and CIMMYT conducted research on Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming System (SI-MFS) in collaboration with local governments in Gurbakot Municipality of Surkhet and Haleshi Tuwachung Municipality of Khotang.
The research found a noticeable shift in farmers’ interest in farming practices, where successful implementation of innovation and scaling, it’s crucial to have farmers’ interest and ownership in interventions.
Nepal’s traditional farming system faces labor shortages, and climate-induced risks to crop production, infrastructure, investment, and agro-advisory tools. This calls for urgently redesigning agriculture practices and addressing the challenges and a noticeable shift in farmers’ interests in farming practices.
The International Water Management Institute and CIMMYT, in collaboration with local governments in Gurbakot Municipality of Surkhet and Haleshi Tuwachung Municipality of Khotang, conducted research on Sustainable Intensification of Mixed Farming System (SI-MFS), the research found a noticeable shift in farmers’ interests in farming practices.
The introduction of mechanisation in agricultural practices has ensured the promotion of technology and conservation of agriculture to stimulate smallholder production and the preservation of climate-proofing farming practices in Zimbabwe.
CIMMYT hosted a meeting, to discuss how the HAFIZ project has set the foundation for harnessing farm mechanization in Zimbabwe, shaping the future of mechanisation policies and interventions in Zimbabwe. As well as future initiatives to improve technology to sustain growth and master the impact of climate change.
On May 26, 2023, representatives from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) hosted a scaling networking event at CIMMYT headquarters in Texcoco, Mexico. This event marked the culmination of a Scaling Readiness Training organized by the One CGIAR Portfolio Performance Unit (PPU), which included 30 participants from various CGIAR centers working on various One CGIAR Initiatives.
Consequently, the Scaling Networking Event was happy to bring together scaling experts from the CGIAR training together with other experts from GIZ, CIMMYT, and other academic and non-governmental organizations. The participants exchanged learnings, ideas, and methodologies for scaling agricultural innovations. Fortunately, this did not remain just an abstract exercise as the attendees were also eager to explore future joint scaling projects. Because collaboration is one of the most important factors in scaling innovations, the purpose of the event was to establish new collaborative initiatives and partnerships.
GIZ and CIMMYT have a long history of collaboration in Mexico and elsewhere. In Africa, for example, a group of mechanization specialists from CIMMYT recently provided training in this area to strengthen the work of the GIZ Green Innovation Centers for the agricultural and food sectors. In this event, both organizations explained what they meant by scaling and how they have worked on it using tools such as the Scaling Scan. The Scaling Scan is another example of the collaboration between GIZ and CIMMYT (and the Netherlands Development Organization SNV) and is a tool that analyzes bottlenecks and opportunities in scaling and innovation.
Both organizations noted a need to explore a wider space to connect sectors and actors interested in scaling innovations developed by agricultural research. Looking at different scaling approaches, the Scaling Readiness framework was presented as the official scaling practice in One CGIAR. Also, the University of Chapingo and the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico showed the tools they are using from analyzing social networks and Geographical Information Systems. They showed the connections with people that scaling requires and the importance of basing scaling assessments on quantitative data.
Plenary discussion to identify the best ways to carry out collaborations (Photo: Ronay Flores/CIMMYT)
The Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI) and GIZ Mexico also discussed the difficulties that come with deciding what to scale and how to do so responsibly. Given current environmental concerns, GIZ Mexico emphasized the need to scale technologies at the intersection between biodiversity and agriculture. CEMEFI started a dialogue among scaling specialists about how to scale while also taking social factors into account. The major topics that came out of this discussion were the need to engage communities more, spend time with them planning interventions, and examine power relations.
As part of this event, scaling practitioners from three One CGIAR Research Initiatives, of which CIMMYT is a member, presented their scaling reflections. They shared their work and some research questions that are now being investigated in the Digital Initiative, the Latin American “AgriLAC” Initiative, and the Mitigation Plus Initiative. Some of the questions addressed in the event included what criteria should be chosen to select innovations, how to bring different scaling processes together, and finally, how to develop scaling strategies that could be supported by the digital and technological enabling conditions and tools.
Before the event concluded, the participants still had sufficient energy to debate and support the idea of creating a Latin American scaling community of practice to continue exchanging scaling experiences in the region, not only with partners but between scaling researchers and practitioners. The expected result would be to strengthen scaling work so that the most relevant practices to make agri-food systems resilient and sustainable could be adopted, adapted, or transformed to suit each community and its needs in each context.
What then were the final learnings for this event? The importance of scaling with partners; the need to address social inclusion in scaling by understanding power relations; and the sharing of varied scaling experiences and processes. All of this was highlighted at the end of the meeting, which gave closure to the day but an initial drive towards future potential collaborations that were created out of it.
Scientists, researchers and stakeholders from around the world gathered at the global sorghum conference from June 5-9, 2023, in Montpellier, France, to discuss the latest developments in sorghum research, innovation, challenges and sustainable practices in the face of climate change.
The Dryland Crops Program (DCP) partners pose for a group photo at the Sorghum Conference (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)
Participating as a sponsor, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) demonstrated valuable insights and technological advances in a variety of sessions. Two CIMMYT representatives and six National Agricultural Research Extension Systems (NARES) partners, presented findings, addressing critical topics such as adaptation genetics and genomics, climate and environmental change, sorghum yield optimization techniques and the development of new sorghum products for human consumption.
CIMMYT has initiated a crop improvement program, known as the Dryland Crop Program (DCP), focused on sorghum, millets (pearl and finger millet), chickpea, pigeon pea and groundnut. The program is in the process of establishing a CGIAR-NARES network with stakeholders form 17 countries in Africa to collaboratively create, develop and implement a crop improvement network for these crops in Eastern, Southern, Western and Central Africa. This cooperative approach will enable CIMMYT and the network to identify suitable products for specific market segments, establish joint breeding pipelines, conduct on-farm germplasm testing and ultimately release and scale up superior seed varieties. This will ultimately lead to improving the quality and yield of these dryland crops, ensuring food security and promoting sustainable agricultural practices.
Nebie Baloue from CIMMYT Senegal providing information about the Dryland Crops Program (DCP) program to visitors at the CIMMYT’s booth (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)
Abhishek Rathore presented “Understanding sorghum race level diversity and development of sorghum genomic resources by using deep learning-based variant calling approach,” which examines sorghum’s racial diversity and the creation of genomic resources. Using a deep learning-based variant, researchers identified race-specific genetic signatures and gained a comprehensive understanding of sorghum race structure and domestication processes. These discoveries pave the way for more targeted breeding programs and the identification of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) markers.
Baloua Nebie presented a poster on “Crop improvement network approach to co-develop market required products and strengthen partners’ capacities in Africa.” He indicated the dryland crops improvement programs are in collaboration with CGIAR-NARES programs, with CIMMYT acting as a facilitator within the network to deliver varieties more quickly and efficiently in response to market demand. The network is comprised of 10 NARES in Western and Central Africa, seven NARES in Eastern and Southern Africa, as well as farmer organizations and seed companies. In addition to their national roles, NARES partners will contribute to regional activities based on their comparative advantages; these roles include co-sharing of regional pipelines development, early to late testing of breeding lines, product release and scaling. Through consultative meetings and program evaluation, these activities will be aligned with the regional and country-specific market segments identified by stakeholders.
Alex Zongo of the Institut de l’Environnement et des Recherches Agricoles (INERA) / CNRST – Burkina Faso, a NARES partner, presented research analyzing the macro-institutional determinants of the adoption of new sorghum/millet varieties. He shed light on the obstacles associated with the adoption of new sorghum/millet varieties. The research uncovered the economic and social incentives that prevent their scaling through a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Mr. Jeffrey Ehlers Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation engages in conversation with Nebie Baloua from CIMMYT Senegal at the CIMMYT’s booth (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)
With climate change posing a significant threat to global agriculture, NARES partners involved in regional networks have delved into the pressing issues of enhancing sorghum production’s climate resilience. Rekiya Abdoulmalik, from the Institute of Agriculture Research (IAR) in Nigeria, presented a poster on the threats to sorghum cultivation in Nigeria posed by current security issues and potential climate change effects. The study evaluated 14 varieties of dwarf sorghum in multiple locations. The analysis identified stable, high-yielding varieties with the potential to contribute to Nigeria’s food security in the face of shifting environmental conditions.
Other NARES partners presenting posters included Henry Nzioka from Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research (KALRO), who made a case for the biological control of the striga weed in sorghum. Citing technological advancements, he illustrated how the integration of climate-smart weed management technologies can lead to the control of the weed.
Another presentation by Charles Bett of KALRO focused on mechanization in the sorghum value chain, which revealed that investments in machinery and traction power have a positive and significant effect on sorghum yield. The findings recommend a shift in policy to help farmers afford small-scale machinery and gradually replace ox power with affordable machinery.
Assitan Daou from the Institut d’Economie Rurale (IER) in Mali emphasized the suitability of sorghum as a crop for growing populations in varying climates and the significance of an agroecological transition for adaptation to climate change. His poster presentation centered on sorghum cropping systems under rainfed conditions, which aligned with the conference’s goals of increasing crop productivity, adapting to climate variations and bolstering the resilience of small-scale farmers.
The conference, according to Chris Ojiewo, Strategic Partnerships and Seed Systems lead for the Dryland Crops Program at CIMMYT, played a crucial role in sharing the latest sorghum research findings and their outcomes. “The conference provided an important platform for communicating advances in research and associated outputs and outcomes on sorghum as an important cereal grain contributing to food, nutrition and income securities and overall resilience in agrifood systems especially to smallholder farmers in areas prone to drought stress and more so in the face of changing and variable climates,” said Ojiewo.
Nebie Baloua from CIMMYT Senegal engaging with visitors at the CIMMYT’s stand (Photo: Marion Aluoch/CIMMYT)
CIMMYT also set up an exhibition booth that provided an overview of the various activities undertaken as a part of its dryland crop programs and CGIAR-NARES improvement network. Senior officials of donor organizations consulted CIMMYT staff regarding approaches to dryland crops improvements, key achievements and the possibility of new partnerships.
The next 21st Century Global Sorghum Conference will be hosted by Texas University in Lubbock in September 2026.
