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Theme: Capacity development

CIMMYT training courses play a critical role in helping international researchers meet national food security and resource conservation goals. By sharing knowledge to build communities of agricultural knowledge in less developed countries, CIMMYT empowers researchers to aid farmers. In turn, these farmers help ensure sustainable food security. In contrast to formal academic training in plant breeding and agronomy, CIMMYT training activities are hands-on and highly specialized. Trainees from Africa, Asia and Latin America benefit from the data assembled and handled in a global research program. Alumni of CIMMYT courses often become a significant force for agricultural change in their countries.

Farmers in Zimbabwe embrace agroecology

Written by Tawanda Hove on . Posted in News.

Smallholder farmers display a range of small and large grains at the agroecology seed fair in Mbire, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Tawanda Hove/CIMMYT)

Smallholder farmers in resource-poor communities of Zimbabwe and much of the Global South have been experiencing low crop productivity due to many factors, including inappropriate seeds and seed varieties, labor shortages, loss of agro-biodiversity, insufficient inputs, degrading soils, and recurrent droughts. These threats are now amplified by climate change.

This has resulted in broken food systems rendering food and nutrition insecurity commonplace. The One CGIAR initiative, Transformational Agroecology Across Food, Land, and Water Systems, led by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Zimbabwe, is designed to bring agroecological advances to smallholder famers in an effort to strengthen local food systems.

Smallholder farmers in the Mbire and Murehwa Districts of Zimbabwe were introduced to innovative agroecology interventions, premised on harnessing nature’s goods and services while minimizing adverse environmental impacts and improving farmer-consumer connectivity, knowledge co-creation, and inclusive relationships among food system actors.

Smallholder farmers register for the agroecology seed fair in Mbire, Zimbabwe. (Photo: Tawanda Hove)

Farmer to farmer collaboration at seed fairs

In response to challenges related to lack of appropriate seeds and eroding agrobiodiversity and, as a way to transition prevailing food systems to more sustainable ones, farmers were invited to take part in seed fairs. The seed fair’s objective was to enable smallholder farmers to access improved and locally adapted seeds of food crops originating from the private sector and fellow farmers. In addition, the seed fairs provided a platform for learning about agroecological practices. Farmers were also given a chance to see different machinery that could aid in land, food, and feed preparation, and address their labor shortage challenges.

At the opening of the seed fair in Mbire, Dorcas Matangi, CIMMYT research associate, acknowledged that smallholder farmers operate in challenging and complex ecological, social, and economic systems and there is a need for interventions that address the natural resource base without ignoring the social and economic dynamics within communities.

“The communal culture of sharing and trading between community members can be capitalized on for a collective benefit, said Matangi. “One such case is through events such as seed fairs where we encourage farmers to showcase and sell seeds they know perform very well.”

She further explained to the participating farmers how increasing their crop diversity and using practices such as conservation agriculture techniques benefit the environment and improves food security and nutrition.

“I am grateful for these efforts,” said Grace Musandaira, supervisor of the Agriculture Advisory and Rural Development Service. “Our region is arid, and as such, it is very difficult for our farmers to achieve significant yields to assure them there is enough food for the year. In addition, the knowledge provision relating to preserving and improving agrobiodiversity through agroecological practices is set to improve rural livelihoods.”

Senzeni Nyagonye, a farmer in Mbire, said “This initiative is teaching and exposing us to so many new concepts such as conservation agriculture with mechanization. If we can apply conservation agriculture with the seeds we bought at this seed fair, we are optimistic about a great harvest.”

A total of 1,058 farmers attended two seed fairs in Mbire and Murehwa. Farmers had the opportunity to access a variety of crop seeds ranging from maize, to sorghum, millets, groundnuts, bambara groundnuts, and sunflowers. More than 200 farmers exhibited local seeds that were available for sale or exchange. Private seed companies also showcased and sold certified drought-tolerant maize, sorghum, bean and cowpea varieties.

“The seed fairs in Mbire and Murehwa were very successful”, said Matangi. “And we feel these efforts will serve as a useful case study to guide a national scale-up.”

Building capacities in genetic resources and seed production strengthens collaboration ties between Guatemala and CIMMYT

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Field day on maize seed production. (Photo: CIMMYT)

More than 20 participants attended the genetic resources and seed production courses given by researchers from the Global Maize Program of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), from October 24 to 28 in Antigua, Guatemala. Among the attendees were technicians and researchers from the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (ICTA, for its acronym in Spanish), as well as students from Universidad Rafael Landívar and the University Centers of Chimaltenango (CUNDECH, in Spanish) and Quiché (CUSACQ, in Spanish) of Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala.

Thanks to the support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE, in Spanish), the National Council for Protected Areas (CONAP, in Spanish) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), these courses contributed to the development of a biosafety project, supported by GEF and UNEP, to complete the implementation process of the Cartagena Protocol through an innovative approach that promotes a strong link between biotechnology and biodiversity. In addition, it sought to strengthen capacities in the performance and interpretation of molecular analyses and promote the generational change that is gradually taking place in this Central American country.

Activities began on October 24 and 25 with the course on Statistics Applied to Genetic Resources given by Juan Burgueño, Head of CIMMYT’s Biometrics and Statistics Unit, to students from the aforementioned universities and ICTA staff interested in the analysis of molecular data for the purpose of characterizing accessions and the formation of core collections in germplasm banks. On the 26 and 27 of the same month, César Petroli, a specialist in high-throughput genotyping at CIMMYT, offered a course on biotechnology and high-throughput genotyping.

ICTA seed production leaders and CIMMYT course facilitators. (Photo: CIMMYT)

At the same time, Alberto Chassaigne, curator of the Maize Collection of CIMMYT’s germplasm bank, participated in the course on Genetic Resources and Management of Germplasm Banks. He explained the management of CIMMYT’s germplasm bank, the processes that are carried out and the partnerships with ICTA on work with community seed banks and the plans of both institutions for 2023. Also, as a specialist in Seed Systems, Chassaigne and Ubaldo Marcos, research assistant in CIMMYT’s Maize Seed Systems area, gave a course on Maize Seed Production. This course was aimed at staff in charge of the production of basic and certified seed at ICTA. This course concluded with a field day at the Regional Research Center of the South (CISUR, in Spanish), Cuyuta, Escuintla, where participants asked the specialists questions while visiting a maize seed production plot.

In turn, María de los Ángeles Mérida, a researcher specializing in genetic resources from ICTA, who organized these courses, spoke about the collection and conservation of native varieties of maize in Guatemala. Additionally, César Azurdia, CONAP biodiversity advisor, gave a presentation on wild relatives of different crops in Guatemala. Leslie Melisa Ojeda C. (CONAP) also participated, and spoke about the issue of legislation on crop wild relatives; and, Mynor Otzoy, a researcher from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, spoke about the collection and morphological characterization of cocoa germplasm in Guatemala.

Along the path of constant strengthening of collaboration ties with countries, course participants highlighted their interest and need to continue this type of training. In 2023, it is expected to facilitate a team training with Ubaldo Marcos and Félix San Vicente, CIMMYT maize breeder for Latin America. It should be noted that, within the framework of the CGIAR germplasm bank initiative, the objective will be to replicate this experience in other Latin American countries and increase participation in community seed banks (ex situ and in situ banks).

Indian scientists visit CIMMYT Türkiye facility for wheat improvement systems

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Scientists from the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Wheat and Barley, part of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and the Mountain Research Centre for Field Crops at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology visited the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) facility in Türkiye on November 14-17.

This trip was an extension of their visit to the Türkiye Akdeniz University, Antalya, under the ICAR-NAHEP overseas fellowship program. The trip to CIMMYT program in Türkiye was with the objective to get exposure to CIMMYT’s germplasm and other new developments in wheat improvement that may be helpful for wheat production in the Northern Hill zone of India, which grows wheat on around 0.8 million hectares.

Ajaz Ahmed Lone, Principal Scientist, Genetics and Plant Breeding at the Dryland Agricultural Research Station, and Shabir Hussain Wani, Scientist, Genetics and Plant Breeding and Principal Investigator, aimed to learn more about CIMMYT’s wheat improvement systems.

Meeting at TAGEM, from left to right: Hilal Ar, Amer Dababat, Ajaz Lone, Shabir Wani, Fatma Sarsu, Aykut Ordukaya. (Photo: TAGEM)

After a brief introduction on CIMMYT’s international and soil borne pathogens program in Türkiye by Abdelfattah Dababat, CIMMYT Country Representative for Türkiye and program leader, the visitors met with General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (TAGEM) representative Fatma Sarsu and her team to discuss possible collaboration and capacity building between the two institutions.

Ayşe Oya Akın, Amer Dababat, Shabir Wani, Sevinc Karabak, Senay Boyraz Topaloglu, Ajaz Lone and Durmus Deniz outside of the GenBank in Ankara, Türkiye. (Photo: GenBank)

Wheat improvement in Türkiye

Lone and Wani also visited the GenBank in Ankara to meet its head, Senay Boyraz Topaloglu, who gave a presentation about the GenBank and highlighted the site’s various facilities.

They then visited the Transitional Zone Agricultural Research Institute (TZARI) in Eskisehir, located in Central Anatolian Plateau of Türkiye, to hear about historical and current studies, particularly within the national wheat breeding program delivered by Head of the Breeding Department, Savas Belen. Belen briefed the visitors about the institute’s facilities, and the collaboration with CIMMYT scientists on wheat breeding activities and germplasm exchange.

Dababat and Gul Erginbas-Orakci, research associate at CIMMYT, presented an overview of soil borne pathogens activities in TZARI-Eskisehir.

Before the visitors departed to Konya, Director of TZARI, Sabri Cakir, welcomed the visitors in his office.

Visitors to TZARI, from left to right: Sali Sel, Shabir Wani, Ajaz Lone, Sabri Cakir, Amer Dababat, Savas Belen, Gul Erginbas-Orakci. (Photo: TZARI)

On the final day, the scientists were briefed about Bahri Dagdas International Agricultural Research Institute (BDIARI) through a presentation given by Murat Nadi Tas and Musa Turkoz. Bumin Emre Teke from the animal department presented a European project report on animal breeding, and Mesut Kirbas provided an overview of a European project on e-organic agriculture, as well as visits to the institute’s laboratory and field facilities and the newly established soil borne pathogens field platform.

Dababat said, “It was a fruitful short trip which enabled scientist from SKUAST-Kashmir and CIMMYT-Türkiye to share knowledge about wheat improvement activities and will give way to a road map for future research collaborations between the three institutions.”

Musa Turkoz, Amer Dababat, Ajaz Lone, Shabir Wani, Gul Erginbas-Orakci, Murat Nadi Tas, Bumin Emre Teke and Mesut Kirbas visit the BDIARI site in Konya, Türkiye. (Photo: BDIARI)

Groundnut ESA crop improvement network sets regional and country level priorities

Written by Susan Otieno on . Posted in News.

Members of Umoja, Tuaminiane, Upendo and Ukombozi groundnut farming groups in Naliendele, Tanzania showing their groundnut harvests in May 2022. (Photo: Susan Otieno/CIMMYT)

The Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals in Africa (AVISA) project has developed draft national groundnut target product profiles in Malawi, Mozambique, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Groundnut is grown in eastern and southern Africa, where it remains an important food and oil crop from small holder farmers.

The new findings from the project are a result of work from groundnut crop breeding and improvement teams from the National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) representatives from the six largest groundnut producing countries in the eastern and southern Africa region.

Their important research was carried out with the support of representatives from the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) and CGIAR.

Developing target product profiles for groundnut

For the first time, through the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)-led AVISA program, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, groundnut breeding teams discussed and documented country level priorities at a meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Their findings were developed using a standard target product profile template recently developed by CGIAR Excellence in Breeding (EiB) in conjunction with CGIAR’s Market Intelligence Initiative. The template serves as a tool to capture market segments and develop targeted product profiles.

The groundnut breeding teams also shared information on current groundnut production metrics and trends in the six national programs. This also helped to establish a common understanding of countries’ level research priorities.

Futhi Magagula from CCARDESA and Elailani Abdalla, Mohamed Ahmed and Abdelrazeg Badadi from ARC-Sudan deliberate on groundnut market segments for Sudan. (Photo: Biswanath Das/CIMMYT)

Agnes Gitonga, market strategist at CGIAR Genetic Innovations Action Area, who led the team in understanding and applying the template, explained that the quality of a target product profile (TPP) is dependent on how well market segments are defined. “To ensure target product profiles are an accurate reflection of customer needs, who include farmers, consumers, and processors,” she said.

“National groundnut teams nominated Country Product Design Teams that will meet nationally before the end of 2022 to review and update country TPPs. These multi-stakeholder teams will ensure that the needs of diverse groups are captured and that breeding efforts are accurately focused.”.

Harish Gandhi, Breeding Lead, Dryland Legumes and Cereals (DLC) at CIMMYT, further explained that a bottom-up approach for defining country and regional priorities was used, where each country defined market segments and target product profile based on the use of the produce and growing conditions of farmers. This strategy involved each country defining its market segments and TPP, which was based on the use of the produce and growing conditions of farmers.

Building on the draft national target product profiles that were defined at the meeting, participants went on to prioritize traits such as diseases, nutrition and stress tolerance. These factors can be critical at regional level and important in identifying potential locations for conducting phenotyping. The phenotyping locations are distributed based on capacity of stations in different countries to screen for traits, such as late leaf spot disease screening in Msekera in Zambia, which is a known hotspot for the disease.

“We had a good opportunity to consider grower needs as well as consumer needs in each country for purposes of defining the relevant groundnuts market segments. I believe this will have a positive impact on future work in groundnuts in the East and Southern Africa region,” reflected Gitonga.

The collaboration of the teams involved was a key factor for the project’s success so far and will be crucial in working towards its goals in the future.

“Involving different stakeholders in designing target product profile was an effective way of enabling transformation of individual preferences (area of interest) to collective preferences (targeted product) with consumer needs and markets in mind,” said Happy Daudi, Groundnut Breeding lead at the Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI).

Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI) Naliendele Station Groundnut Research Team ((L-R) Bakari Kidunda, Gerald Lukurugu, Anthony Bujiku and Dr. Happy Daudi) deliberate on national groundnut breeding priorities. (Photo: Biswanath Das/CIMMYT)

Strengthening groundnut breeding programs in east and southern Africa

The project’s first meeting will provide an important foundation for future research, which will use the new findings as a blueprint.

Biswanath Das, Plant Breeder, Groundnut for East and Southern Africa region and NARES Coordinator and Programming lead for EiB said, “Defining national TPPs, identifying regionally important traits and mapping a testing network are fundamental building blocks of a modern breeding program.”

At the meeting, a schedule was laid out for peer-to-peer assessments of breeding programs within the regional network to take stock of current efforts and gaps. This step helps to develop customized capacity development plans for each network partner.

“Through targeted and demand led capacity development, the East and Southern Africa groundnut crop improvement network aspires to strengthen the role of each network member in collaborative, regional breeding efforts,” Das said.

The meeting laid the ground for coordinated regional groundnut breeding and took steps towards formalizing a regional NARES-CGIAR-SME groundnut crop improvement network. By building on excellent connections that already exist among national groundnut breeding teams. Das underscored that the move will strengthen alignment of NARES, CGIAR and regional research efforts around a common vision of success.

In addition, David Okello who leads groundnut research at National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO) Uganda, noted that the meeting provided a good opportunity for consolidating the existing network. He also looked forward to welcoming more groundnut improvement programs in the region on board.

Partnership approach to maize development praised in new study

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Publications.

Using data from 1995-2015, an empirical study from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), led by Vijesh Krishna, CIMMYT Lead Adoption – Impact Economist, has estimated the economic benefits of new varieties in 18 major maize-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Kevin Pixley, Deputy Director General for Research (Breeding and Genetics), a.i., and Director of the Genetic Resources Program, said, “This was not easy due to the challenges of gathering and analyzing complex data, but it’s a very important milestone for CIMMYT. Peer review in a highly respected journal is a gold standard that gives external critique and endorsement to the impact assessment methods used and estimates reported for CIMMYT and IITA’s work with partners in Africa.”

Around 60 percent of the 1,345 maize varieties released in this twenty-year period had a known CGIAR parentage.

Approximately 34 percent of the total maize area in 2015 was cultivated with CGIAR-related maize varieties from 1995 onwards, equivalent to 9.5 million hectares (ha); 13 percent of the maize area was under CGIAR-related varieties released before 1995.

The new maize varieties hold an economic benefit for the region, with an estimated value of US $1.1-1.6 billion in 2015 equally attributed to CGIAR, public-sector national research and extension programs, and private sector partners. With maximum annual investment in CGIAR maize breeding sitting at US $30 million, the estimated benefit-cost ratio for investment was between 12:1-17:1, depending on the underlying assumptions.

“This paper is a valuable contribution to literature on impact assessment, highlighting the real challenges and approaches to quantify impact of work that is a collaboration among many,” continued Pixley. “Both the methodologies and impact estimates will be valuable to researchers and funders of plant breeding programs.”

Read the study: Impact of CGIAR maize germplasm in Sub-Saharan Africa

Cover photo: Farmer Chana Filimoni harvesting maize in his field in Chakwawa village, Salima District, Malawi. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

Shared priorities and plans for partnership

Written by Enawgaw Sisay on . Posted in News.

CIMMYT Director General Bram Govaerts with representatives from ATI and EIAR. (Photo: Enawgaw Shibeshi/CIMMYT)

In early September 2022, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) Director General Bram Govaerts made a brief visit to Ethiopia — his first since taking on the role in 2021. Over two days in Addis Ababa he met with a number of government representatives, donors and partners, including the Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI), the Ethiopian Institute for Agricultural Research (EIAR), Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and The Development Fund.

Discussions centered around South-South cooperation and how CIMMYT’s strategic priority to transform agrifood systems can support efforts to improve the livelihoods of resource poor farmers in Ethiopia and national food security. Through longstanding collaboration with local partners, CIMMYT has continued to support the country through maize and wheat germplasm supply, joint technology generation and demonstrations at scale, but the visit provided an opportunity to identify shared priorities and key areas for partnership.

Supporting a plan for self-sufficiency

In a meeting with representatives from the ATI and EIAR, the CIMMYT delegation were briefed on the elements of the Government of Ethiopia’s ten-year development plan and its targets to achieve food self-sufficiency by 2030, with commercialization, advocacy on land ownership, and financial sector reform emerging as key areas of focus.

In terms of policy change, explained ATI Director General Mandefro Nigussie, there are ten core agendas that the government has set and plans to implement in the coming years. These include land governance and advisory; public-private partnership; marketing and infrastructure; and digital agriculture. The continued need for capacity building emerged as a key concern, as high staff turnover has meant many of those trained by CIMMYT previously had now left their posts.

Govaerts thanked ATI and EIAR for their collaboration so far, noting that this would surely continue as CIMMYT planned to double engagement, collaboration, production and partnerships in the coming years. Addressing the concerns raised around capacity building, particularly the training of experts, he explained that training opportunities had been limited in the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and budget constraints, but capacity building for research and extension was included in the list of future action points, including a ministerial visit to CIMMYT offices in either Mexico or India.

The discussions were productive, and participants reached agreement on several other points, including collaboration on the establishment of a One Stop Shop by ATI; supporting EIAR’s data warehouse development that will provide farmers with access to an agronomy advisory services hotline; and supporting the breading of wheat for heat tolerance and Ethiopia’s irrigated wheat initiative.

Representatives from The Development Fund, a non-government organization (NGO) from Norway, meet with Govaerts. (Photo: Enawgaw Shibeshi/CIMMYT)

Strengthening collaboration

Govaerts later met with several representatives from The Development Fund, including Country Director for Ethiopia Ulf Flink, to discuss opportunities for strengthening partnerships for greater impact. The Development Fund’s Ethiopian portfolio has evolved over four decades from supporting relief work by one Tigrayan organization to supporting multiple projects with several organizations in Tigray and Afar, with a focus on socio-economic development to alleviate poverty, and improve food security and natural resource management in dryland areas.

While the organization has recently encountered challenges in Tigray, with several programs disrupted by instability, Flink noted that the implementation of The Development Fund’s collaborative projects with CIMMYT are progressing well and pointed out opportunities to scale-up joint operations in the region, where more than 5,000 farmers have been supported so far.

Govaerts thanked The Development Fund for the strong collaboration so far and emphasized CIMMYT’s need for continued strategic partnership in South-South collaboration that can make a difference to smallholders in the country. He also pointed to CIMMYT’s aim of doubling impact and coverage, highlighting that changes in partners’ thinking and ways of intervening could be opportunities to strengthen collaboration with The Development Fund.

Cognizant of the limitations imposed by major challenges such as funding modalities — which are shifting towards humanitarian rather than development assistance — and the increasing price of mechanization, meeting participants were able to agree on a number of action points to support future collaborative work. These include continued support to project implementation in Tigray when the security situation allows; exploring opportunities to strengthen collaborations in other countries such as Malawi; and supporting research-based advocacy at both regional and zonal levels.

Additionally, CIMMYT will share its methodology for Integrated Development and research-based humanitarian development support, and work with The Development Fund to provide improved crop varieties and grain with smallholder famers in drought- and conflict-affected areas where projects are being implemented.

Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

The Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub is one of the ways in which Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global food security and hunger initiative led by USAID, is taking immediate action to help cushion the blow of high fuel and fertilizer prices on farmers. It’s a two-year rapid response effort that connects farmers to innovative tools and information they need to manage the high costs and input supply disruptions over the next several cropping seasons.

AID-I provides targeted assistance to up to three million African smallholder farmers by improving soil health and fertilizer management; strengthening local seed systems; connecting farmers to financial products and services; and delivering extension and advisory services. AID-I Delivery Hubs focus on areas where the need and potential is greatest: Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.

The Southern Africa Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative (AID-I) Rapid Delivery Hub is establishing agile, networked rural innovation hubs to enhance the adaptation of technology, co-ownership, and sustainable inputs and outputs for value chains development. The project is fostering diversification through the scaling of productive and resilient agronomic practices and seed systems for cereals, legumes, vegetables and feed/fodder products, and strengthens rural-urban linkages to enable national capacity for cross-network management.

It is being implemented in close consultation with One CGIAR programs and integrates both CGIAR and non-CGIAR innovation partners to support scaling by last-mile delivery partners.

This work contributes to six of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

  1. Zero Hunger
  2. Good Health and Well-Being for People
  3. Gender Equality
  4. Decent Work and Economic Growth
  5. Responsible Consumption and Production
  6. Climate Action.

What are the project’s primary objectives?

  • Improve soil health and fertilizer management to grow more, more profitably and with less waste.
  • Strengthen local seed systems so agribusinesses can reach smallholder farmer customers with a diversity of crop seeds, including climate-resilient and more nutritious varieties.
  • Connect to financial products and services designed to overcome the unique needs smallholder farmers and small and medium agribusinesses face; and,
  • Deliver extension and advisory services on good agricultural practices, soil and water management practices, and post-harvest storage solutions so smallholder farmers and small and medium agribusiness owners are more productive and keep more of what they grow.

Video 

Deputy Assistant Administrator, USAID Resilience Environment and Food Security Bureau, Ann Vaughan, visits an AID-I demonstration plot of drought-tolerant maize varieties in Zambia.

Reports

Buffering the effects of extreme drought in Zambia: New crops and Advisories are helping farmers

From silver bullets to transition science in the CGIAR: reflections on the scalingXchange Call to Action

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Features.

The origins of the CGIAR, the world’s largest publicly funded agricultural research consortium for the poor, are closely related to the Green Revolution; a revolution mostly told as the work of one Northern hero with a superior technology that saved the world from starvation. Only recently has the notion that the introduction of that superior technology was one of many investments and innovations that kicked off as the Revolution started to gain ground – and that these investments and innovations came from both the North and South. Scaling of innovation happens in a larger system, often one that feels resistant to whatever we try to scale or, like in the case of the Green Revolution, aligned with what was being scaled and thus led to a tipping point and a completely new way agriculture is produced. The Revolution changed our relation to food, from which there was no going back.

In my ten years at the CGIAR – from 2005 to 2010 at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and then from 2017 to now at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) – major shifts can be observed in how scaling is approached.

First, scaling equals large adoption during the project, stemming from strong confidence that “if we build it, they will come”, or we just show how good our innovation is and others will scale it. From my own experience developing scale-appropriate drip irrigation in the Sahel, North Africa, I can say that approach hardly worked. When I re-joined the CGIAR in 2017, there was much more attention to the context in which the intervention is being scaled – we need to “create an enabling environment” for the innovation, and multiple innovations need to scale alongside “our”, mostly technical, innovation. It was very interesting to see up close how more and more colleagues have started to question whether scaling is “good” in the first place and whether it should be about “our” innovations.

COVID-19 and the major energy transitions that are going on in Europe and some states in the United States of America (USA) seem to have awoken a much stronger systems view, the realization that change takes decades, and that there are winners and losers in that process. I think we did a great job in questioning the “silver bullet” and “transfer of technology” mindset and see the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a transition process that requires radically different approaches and addresses multiple leverage points.

Scaling at One CGIAR

The major reform from 15 CGIAR centers to One CGIAR was the perfect opportunity to take scaling seriously as a science and an art. A range of methodologies have been developed, and informal networks of like-minded people have worked together a lot to push for a new paradigm on scaling. It is great that scaling is now well embedded in the One CGIAR strategy for the future. The big One CGIAR Initiatives have all reserved about 5 percent of their budgets to integrate scaling expertise. Also, scaling is very much recognized as a topic that requires a culture and mindset change within the organization to be much more effective.

Not surprisingly, the Call to Action from the Global South and its eight action points resonated a lot with me, especially since the following principles match really well:

  • It is not about reaching a target as fast as possible but about the whole environment for sustainability – more is not always better. Scaling can help us understand whether project outputs have contributed to something good (Action 1).
  • We need to reflect better on the viability of some innovations to go to scale – rather than promoting or selling our own solutions, supporting Southern solutions could increase viability (Action 7).
  • Problem owners should be in charge of scaling – scaling should be a locally owned process where those on the ground negotiate what is good and enough, and we, the research and development organizations, facilitate and support (Action 2).
  • The way projects are designed and implement set us up for failure. We create fake, highly controlled environments designed to prove that our innovation works – the gap with the reality on the ground could not be larger. The development community, with donors, need to rethink our approach (Action 5).
  • We need to invest in learning and the science of scaling. Organizations in the Global North need modesty in understanding that our role is not neutral and realize that there is so much we don’t know (Action 8).
  • Within organizations, scaling is a cultural issue tightly connected to change management. We need to shift mindsets and behaviors to allow better scaling to happen.

That this Call comes from researchers in the Global South is so powerful. It shows us that the current ways of working are not delivering and paints a picture of a better way of doing things, but at the moment, we are in uncertain limbo between the two. The guidance in the Call can help to incite momentum and change. I believe we are coming to a critical mass of people that can tip the scale and that the actions in the Call can become the new normal – so that the stories we tell in the future focus not just on external (Northern) innovations that lead to big change, but on the interplay between what is going in the South and how external “solutions” fit in.

Cover photo: Lead farmer Santa Bhandari harvests green maize for her buffaloes
Neulapur, Bardiya, Nepal. (Photo: Peter Lowe/CIMMYT)

From seed to feed

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

In 2022, more than 2,000 households participated in CIMMYT’s Maize Commercial Model program, doubling the number of farmers and area of maize produced compared to data from 2021. (Photo: Aayush Niroula/CIMMYT)

Experts at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are working with partners to drive self-sufficiency in poultry feed and achieve more sustainable maize systems in Nepal thanks to the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer (NSAF) project.

About 3,000 metric tons (t) of poultry feed is used in Nepal every day, with maize making up about half of feed ingredients. The Feed Association of Nepal estimates that more than 80% of maize for animal feed requirements are met through imports, which costs around $100 million a year. Maize imports are estimated to exceed $130 million in 2022.

Through the NSAF project — a project which facilitates sustainable increases in Nepal’s national crop productivity, income and household-level food and nutrition security across 20 districts — CIMMYT scientists have been supporting public private partnerships to increase commercial maize production and strengthen the “seed to feed” chain in the country.

In the Terai region, huge swaths of land lie fallow in the spring season. Experts estimate that enough maize grain could be produced on this land to substitute about 40% of maize imports to the country. Increasing spring maize production in these fallow lands has been one of the goals of the NSAF team, as well as improving coordination between public and private sectors. To do this, the team have designed a multi-stakeholder engagement initiative to strengthen the seed to feed chain.

In December 2020, CIMMYT experts began the initiative to scale up the use of new maize hybrid varieties and improved agronomic practices. In the spring of 2022, CIMMYT researchers partnered with public and private organizations in Banke, Bardiya and Kailali to help commercialize hybrid maize production and strengthen maize value chain coordination in the region. Partners included integrated agriculture and livestock development offices in Bardiya, agriculture knowledge centers in Banke and Kailali, local governments, farmer cooperatives, seed companies, agro-dealers and feed mills.

Working with these partners, CIMMYT scientists also advanced efforts to improve the capacity of actors to increase efficiency in supply chains, production and marketing, provide local employment and strengthen the market for domestically produced maize for poultry feed.

As of September 2022, the following milestones have been achieved:

  • Provincial governments have established multi-stakeholder maize commercial networks at sites where maize actors and stakeholders participate to coordinate commercial maize production, access to support services and to link farmers and grain buyers.
  • In 2022, more than 2,000 households from 19 local government units produced maize on 547 ha in Banke, Bardiya and Kailali. The total maize production increased from 1390t in 2021 to 3,232t in 2022. This was an increase of 61% in the number of farmers and 52% in area. The value of maize sold also tripled from USD 306,900 in 2021 to USD 915,700 in 2022.
  • The farm gate price of maize by 22% and the Government of Nepal invested $2.37 million to support access to quality seed, agriculture machinery and irrigation facilities.
  • Farmers sold 500t maize grains to feed mills in 2022, a huge jump from only 30t in 2021.
  • In partnership with the Government of Nepal, CIMMYT researchers organized training programs for farmers in maize commercial network sites on production, post-harvest, exposure visits and marketing to prepare them to produce maize as per buyers’ requirements. They also guided farmers on how to access credit, crop insurance, and digital advisory services to further improve their production and marketing.
Maize constitutes about half of all poultry feed products in Nepal and maize imports for feed are estimated to be worth around $130 million in 2022. (Photo: Aayush Niroula/CIMMYT)

Next steps

CIMMYT scientists plan to double the number of districts under the maize commercialization model from three to six in 2023. The Department of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, and the local and provincial governments are keen to scale out the model to several maize production regions of Nepal.

In a joint assessment with the Government of Nepal and private sector partners, CIMMYT scientists identified a number of key areas for further development. These include supporting farmers to access high yielding, short duration and stress tolerant maize varieties, as well as best management practices for improving maize production. Other priorities include developing models for contractual arrangements between farmers groups and feed mills, encouraging public and private sector investment in village-level warehouses with drying facilities. Finally, CIMMYT and partners are eager to introduce incentives such as subsidies on grain produced and sold by farmers through cooperatives, develop national maize quality standards and update the 1976 Feed Act.

Going forward, CIMMYT’s research on public private partnership for commercial maize production will focus on drivers of uptake of technology and institutional innovations, the role of aggregation models and contractual arrangements in maize market system coordination and impact assessment on farmers benefits.

CIMMYT and China: A successful partnership since 1974

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Videos.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is a non-profit international organization focused on applied agricultural research and training. It empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis.

Established in 1974, the research partnership between the People’s Republic of China and CIMMYT is improving the lives of millions of people in China through science-driven, evidence-based solutions. CIMMYT has five offices and over 20 collaborators throughout China.

The CIMMYT–China collaboration over four decades has added some 10.7 million additional tons of wheat to China’s national wheat output. Since 2000, CIMMYT germplasm has been planted on more than one million hectares across the country.

We look forward to many more years of collaboration to improve the lives of millions of people in China and the world.

Cover photo: An agricultural landscape in Yunnan Province, China. (Photo: Michelle DeFreese/CIMMYT)

Annual Report 2021 launched

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Today, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is excited to share with you the Annual Report 2021: From Discovery to Scaling Up.

Read the CIMMYT Annual Report 2021Read the web version of the Annual Report 2021

Download the Annual Report 2021 in PDF format

Download the financial statements 2021

Our latest Annual Report captures the three ways in which CIMMYT science makes a difference:

  1. The scientific pathway from discovery and validation: In 2021, we embarked on an ambitious initiative to apply environmental genome-wide association methods to predict how today’s maize, rice, sorghum, cassava, groundnut, and bean varieties will perform in the future under climate scenarios, and help them succeed in three or four decades from now.
  2. Translating science to innovation: Last year, we made important strides in boosting the resilience of maize and wheat to a hotter and drier world — and to the threats of ever-evolving and invasive pests and diseases.
  3. Scaling up innovation for farmers and society: In collaboration with dozens of public- and private-sector partners in the countries where we work, in 2021 we scaled up sustainable technologies and farming practices for hundreds of thousands of farmers.

CIMMYT director general Bram Govaerts presented the current challenges: “A global food crisis fueled by conflict, trade disruptions, soaring commodity prices and climate change.” He also expressed CIMMYT is ready to respond to the immediate and long-term threats facing humanity. “We have solid, science-informed solutions, policy recommendations and proven methodologies that will help avert the global food security crisis that looms,” he said.

We want to thank all our funders and partners for their collaboration and support, year after year.

Md. Saiful Islam

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Saiful Islam is a Research Coordinator and Cropping Systems Agronomist with the Innovation Science for Agroecosystems and Food Systems in Asia research theme in CIMMYT’s Sustainable Agrifood Systems (SAS) program in Bangladesh.

Currently, he has experiments run by local collaborators at over 50 farmers’ fields in the north-west region of Bangladesh. Capacity development with researchers, extension agents, and farmers is an important part of the team’s work. He and their team share results through publications, ranging from scientific articles to extension leaflets, and scale recommendations for farmers through the innovation networks.

Islam works closely with farmers, farmer organizations, national and international non-governmental organizations, and agricultural research and development institutions to help rural people with food and nutritional security for a given community.

MasAgro is “a gift for Africa”

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in News.

Francisco Mayorga joins the CIMMYT Board of Trustees to reflect on MasAgro. (Credit: Francisco Alarcón/CIMMYT)

Between June 20-23, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) hosted its Board of Trustees meeting, with presentations spanning the breadth of its global projects.

One particular project captured the imagination of attendees: MasAgro, which promotes the sustainable intensification of maize- and wheat-based production systems in Mexico. Through implementing collaborative research initiatives, developing improved varieties, and introducing sustainable technologies and farming practices, the program aims to improve livelihoods and production systems for farmers by enhancing their connections with local value chain actors.

Francisco Mayorga, businessman and former Secretary of Agriculture for Mexico, and Lindiwe Sibanda, CIMMYT board member and member of the CGIAR System Board, presented on the creation of CIMMYT’s MasAgro program and its results. Sibanda interviewed Mayorga to learn where the project’s achievements can be scaled and replicated, describing the project as a “gift for Africa” from Mexico.

Farmers load hybrid maize cobs in sacks for horse transportation over the mountains in Chiapas, Mexico. (Credit: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)

What’s in it for farmers?

Built on the premise of ‘take it to the farmers’, MasAgro helps farmers understand the broader context of agrifood systems in order to facilitate their successful transition to sustainable farming practices. This is accomplished through innovation hubs: core spaces defined by similar agroecological conditions that promote participatory innovation processes and co-implement functional structures for the validation, adaptation, and scaling of sustainable solutions.

Innovation hubs facilitate mentorship by providing closeness between farmers and value chain actors. A physical and virtual network of research platforms, demonstration modules and extension areas support actors to gain skills and knowledge to achieve common objectives. For example, farmers can learn how about agricultural tools and practices and where best to use them on their land, and they now consider the impact of fertilizers on the soil and ecosystem and seek alternatives.

Useful information is provided via multiple communication tools, including mobile messaging, to enable effective knowledge sharing and innovation between actors. The network has led to farmers independently adapting and adopting new practices after learning from others.

The selling point for farmers is understanding why sustainable agriculture creates opportunities for their livelihoods and lives – with improved practices, they can establish a successful long-term setup to increase their yield and income. These opportunities will appeal to smallholders worldwide.

Silvia Suarez Moreno harvests maize in Chiapas, Mexico. (Credit: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)

Benefits for the public and private sector

What also differentiates MasAgro is the emphasis on public and private sector partnerships. CIMMYT collaborated with partners to develop the MasAgro mindset and build their capacity to deliver seed to small- and medium-sized farms. Sibanda praised the use of CIMMYT’s presence in Mexico for developing these connections.

Mayorga highlighted the importance of securing funding and support from the Ministry of Agriculture in the project’s success. He said he initially persuaded colleagues to invest by emphasizing MasAgro’s holistic approach, which considers all elements of farming, rather than dealing with them as individual elements.

Using the different government instruments to support the theory of change towards the impact of MasAgro is part of the success. For example, for businesses, the Mexican government provided funding for laboratory equipment and training needs after identifying seed company partners to support through their research programs and regional markets. Mayorga also celebrated partnerships with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), who were supported by CIMMYT engineers to design more effective machinery and think around scale-appropriate business models. This created additional businesses in the agricultural sector.

Through these partnerships, private sector organizations have invested in agricultural research and development that will benefit smallholders, prevent food insecurity, and support a shift to sustainable farming. Countries in Africa can benefit from similar investment, which could be achieved through exporting and recreating the MasAgro model.

Tzeltal farmer harvests beans in her maize field. (Credit: P. Lowe/CIMMYT)

Flexible government support

Practical support and policy change from the Mexican government further encouraged farmers to adopt sustainable practices. Mayorga explained how a subsidy for farmers’ fuel was replaced with alternative financial support for equipment. Sibanda described this initiative as “visionary” and “a triple win” – farmers could purchase a machine at a subsidized rate, use less labor, and cause less damage to the environment.

To incentivize large companies in Mexico that buy a lot of wheat, Mayorga tapped into their desire “to encourage an economic behavior in the farmer” and introduce a more entrepreneurial approach to agriculture. They encouraged businesses to buy grains from farmers at a better price and learn more about the MasAgro approach.

“You don’t stay with an idea as a policy advisor and politician – you popularize it, look for new champions, walk the talk and put money into it,” summarized Sibanda. “I think that’s a legacy.”

The future of wheat

Written by Alfonso Cortés on . Posted in Videos.

CIMMYT’s experimental station in Obregón, a small city in Mexico’s state of Sonora, is considered a mecca for wheat research and breeding. In 1945, Norman Borlaug arrived as a geneticist for a special project between the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation, to help local farmers with wheat production. After a few years, his strong bond with the community, students and interns was key to making a remarkable difference on wheat research that save millions from famine and won him the Nobel Peace Prize. A legacy that has lasted for many decades.

At Obregón, scientists have access to state-of-the-art field facilities and an ideal location, in the northern Yaqui Valley. The station’s dry climate and favorable temperature in winter is suitable to assess yield potential, while its hot summers are ideal to study wheat’s tolerance to different stressors.

Here, scientists and field workers work hard all year round to ensure the future of wheat. Varieties grown in all continents have CIMMYT and Sonoran DNA.

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Jeanie Borlaug Laube. Jesús Larraguibel Artola, President of PIEAES (Patronato para la Investigación y Experimentación Agrícola del Estado de Sonora A.C.). Asociación de Organismos de Agricultores del Sur de Sonora A.C. (AOASS) Global Wheat Program, CIMMYT: Alison Bentley (Program Director), Karim Ammar, Rodrigo Rascón, Carolina Rivera, Alberto Mendoza, Leonardo Crespo and Nele Verhulst.

CREDITS: Production: Alfonso Cortés, Marta Millere and Silvia Rico, CIMMYT. Additional drone shots: Courtesy of INIFAP and PIEAES. Post-production: Silvia Rico, CIMMYT

MUSIC: The Way Up created by Evert Z. Licensed from Artlist.io (License owner: CIMMYT. Creator Pro License Number – 159864). Eclipse created by EFGR. Licensed from Artlist.io (License owner: CIMMYT. Creator Pro License Number – 159864).

Setting a standard: improving field trial data

Written by Sarah McLaughlin on . Posted in Features.

“In Afghanistan, wheat is synonymous with food,” says Rajiv K. Sharma, formerly a senior scientist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). Standing at about 250kg per year, the country’s per capita consumption of the crop is among the highest in the world. However, Afghanistan does not have a robust wheat research and development system. The majority of wheat varieties have been introduced from outside the country and the national wheat seed replacement rate is one of the lowest in the world at around 5%.

In a bid to strengthen research and development and boost crop productivity in the country, CIMMYT scientists have collaborated with Michigan State University and USAID to design a new, illustrated manual for wheat researchers, intended to aid them during experiments and facilitate smooth and timely data collection. As applied wheat research requires the monitoring and measurement of both qualitative and quantitative traits by different researchers across multiple locations, consistency of approach is crucial.

As well as providing descriptions of characteristics like glaucousness (the presence or absence of leaf waxes) and advice on measuring leaf area, the manual provides several different scales for determining the extent to which a wheat plant is affected by frost damage, cereal rusts or foliar diseases like Septoria and powdery mildew. Covering everything from leaf angle to chlorophyll content, this resource ensures that scientists throughout Afghanistan are supported to follow the same observation and measurement protocols while recording trial data, ensuring a standardized approach, thus bolstering the country’s wheat research sector and ensuring the data is also aligned to international projects.

The manual has since been distributed to National Agricultural Research System (NARS) researchers and other stakeholders across the country, accompanied by a number of CIMMYT-led trainings on how best to use the resource.

Download the manual here: Wheat Field Trial Data Collection Manual

Cover photo: Researchers check for stand reduction in wheat seedlings in Afghanistan. (Credit: CIMMYT)