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Theme: Nutrition, health and food security

As staple foods, maize and wheat provide vital nutrients and health benefits, making up close to two-thirds of the world’s food energy intake, and contributing 55 to 70 percent of the total calories in the diets of people living in developing countries, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. CIMMYT scientists tackle food insecurity through improved nutrient-rich, high-yielding varieties and sustainable agronomic practices, ensuring that those who most depend on agriculture have enough to make a living and feed their families. The U.N. projects that the global population will increase to more than 9 billion people by 2050, which means that the successes and failures of wheat and maize farmers will continue to have a crucial impact on food security. Findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which show heat waves could occur more often and mean global surface temperatures could rise by up to 5 degrees Celsius throughout the century, indicate that increasing yield alone will be insufficient to meet future demand for food.

Achieving widespread food and nutritional security for the world’s poorest people is more complex than simply boosting production. Biofortification of maize and wheat helps increase the vitamins and minerals in these key crops. CIMMYT helps families grow and eat provitamin A enriched maize, zinc-enhanced maize and wheat varieties, and quality protein maize. CIMMYT also works on improving food health and safety, by reducing mycotoxin levels in the global food chain. Mycotoxins are produced by fungi that colonize in food crops, and cause health problems or even death in humans or animals. Worldwide, CIMMYT helps train food processors to reduce fungal contamination in maize, and promotes affordable technologies and training to detect mycotoxins and reduce exposure.

Biofortification to fight “hidden hunger” in Zimbabwe

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CIMMYT and partners recently held a seed fair in Mutoko, Zimbabwe to validate CIMMYT’s drought-tolerant and nutritious seed varieties. Above, smallholder farmers showcase their indigenous seeds as part of an information and technology exchange among various stakeholders. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT
CIMMYT and partners recently held a seed fair in Mutoko, Zimbabwe to validate CIMMYT’s drought-tolerant and nutritious seed varieties. Above, smallholder farmers showcase their indigenous seeds as part of an information and technology exchange among various stakeholders. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CIMMYT) – Annually, vitamin A deficiency affects between 250,000 and 500,000 vulnerable and malnourished young people with early-life blindness worldwide. Half of these people die, according to the World Health Organization. The goal of completely eradicating vitamin A deficiency – mainly in Africa and Southeast Asia – remains a big challenge.

“There is very good evidence that vitamin A deficiency leads to an impaired immune system and can even have an impact on brain development,” said Thokozile Ndhlela, a CIMMYT maize breeder in southern Africa, addressing about 1,400 people at a seed fair event in Mutoko and Murewa districts of Mashonaland East province in Zimbabwe.

“But effective science can make a huge difference by enriching staple crops such as maize with pro-vitamin A and providing subsistence farming households with nutritionally enhanced food, ” Ndhlela explained to the audience, which included smallholder farmers, private seed companies, non-governmental organization representatives, traditional leaders, members of parliament and government officials.

In Zimbabwe, nearly one in every five children under the age of 5 are Vitamin A deficient. While vitamin A is available from a variety of sources, such as yellow, orange and red pigmented fruits, dark leafy vegetables, or animal products such as milk, eggs, liver and cheese,  these are often too expensive or unavailable in Zimbabwe’s rural areas, where 70 percent of the population live.

As part of efforts to address this nutritional challenge, CIMMYT and the CGIAR HarvestPlus research program are working with Zimbabwean researchers to develop maize varieties with high beta-carotene content.

“Beta-carotene, which is converted in the body to vitamin A is naturally found in maize,” said Ndhlela. Maize that is rich in beta-carotene is also orange in colour.

Since 2002, CIMMYT and CGIAR have been working on biofortification to enhance the micronutrient content of maize to support a fortification strategy launched by the Zimbabwe government in November 2015 through an agro-based initiative managed by farmers.

The improved orange maize varieties are bred to have some of the important traits such as high-yield potential, disease-resistance, and drought-tolerance, thereby reducing farmers’ vulnerability to effects of drought and other stresses, such as heat. This represents one promising strategy to enhance the availability of vitamins and minerals for people whose diets are dominated by micronutrient-poor staple food crops.

Grace Mhano, director of Afriseed Seed Company of Malawi. Her company is one of the institutions promoting provitamin A orange maize under the Malawi Improved Seed Systems and Technologies (MISST) project. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT
Grace Mhano, director of Afriseed Seed Company of Malawi. Her company is one of the institutions promoting pro-vitamin A orange maize under the Malawi Improved Seed Systems and Technologies (MISST) project. Photo: J. Siamachira/CIMMYT

Orange maize – when eaten as a porridge-like staple food known as sadza in Zimbabwe – could provide half of the average daily requirement of vitamin A for women and children. This maize is bred specifically for human consumption compared to yellow maize, which is mainly for animal feed.

“Our focus is on hidden hunger, caused by insufficient mineral and vitamins in the diet – that is the major hunger problem Zimbabwe faces today,‘’ says Tendayi Mutimukuru-Maravanyika,’’ HarvestPlus Zimbabwe country manager.

CIMMYT together with HarvestPlus, Zimbabwe’s Department of Research and Specialist Services, and other partners have released the ZS242 maize variety in Zimbabwe. An additional three hybrids are expected to be released in the country by end of October 2016. Regionally, six varieties have been released in Zambia, and four in Malawi.

Farming households have benefited from the orange maize in 13 districts: Mutare, Makoni, Mutasa, Mount Darwin, Guruve, Shurugwi, Gokwe South, Kwekwe, Mutoko, Murewa, Zaka, Bikita and Marondera. The intention is to have the production and consumption of these crops scaled up to the national level through collaboration with the private sector. In the 2015-2016 cropping season, 73 tons of orange maize seed was distributed to eight districts and about 30,000 households benefited.  Out of the 13 districts, CIMMYT set up demonstration plots in five districts, of which seed fairs were held in two districts.

Demonstrations and field days are organized in various districts to create awareness, educate and train farmers on how to produce the crop and showcase good agricultural practices. “We also train partners to ensure that the product gets to the intended beneficiary, the consumer, in a way that contributes to their health,’’ said Lister Katsvairo, HarvestPlus southern Africa regional manager.

Due to a general preference for white maize, encouraging the acceptance of the orange maize variety remains a challenge often overcome when consumers taste it, according to Katsvairo. Consumers prefer the orange variety once they understand the benefits of vitamin A in their diets. In addition, people believe that yellow and orange maize are the same, but the two breeds are different in taste and colour. “They both have the same nutritional value, but orange maize contains more vitamin A compared to yellow maize, ‘’ Katsvairo said.

Douglas Makuvire, Murewa district agricultural extension officer, says most children in his area suffer from vitamin A deficiency, alluding to consumer fear of eating orange maize as a result of negative previous experiences with yellow maize, but said that efforts involve reassuring people of the nutritional benefit.

Murewa smallholder farmer, Donald Kure, 62, said he had a bad experience with yellow maize during the devastating 1992 drought when the government fed millions of people with it to avert mass starvation. “The taste was pathetic, ‘’ he recalls. Though Kure had mixed feelings about the orange maize he remained optimistic.  “Maybe this orange maize variety would be different,’’ he said after tasting sadza prepared with orange maize meal at the field day.

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Blindfold test shows taste bias for nutritious orange pro-vitamin A maize

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A farmer prepares Sadza to be used in the taste evaluation exercise. R.Lunduka/CIMMYT
A farmer prepares Sadza to be used in the taste evaluation exercise. R.Lunduka/CIMMYT

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – The prevalence of “hidden hunger” due to micronutrient deficiency is a big issue in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been identified as one of the most affected regions with 30 percent of the population undernourished.

Biofortification of crops by increasing levels of vitamin A and protein in maize kernels is one effective way of improving diets of the rural poor and smallholder farmers.

CIMMYT and partners continuously develop improved maize varieties with enrichment traits. In particular, pro-vitamin A varieties – a biofortified orange maize developed in partnership with Harvest Plus for the southern Africa region and Quality Protein Maize. In addition to the nutritious component, these varieties are also tolerant to drought and common diseases while at the same time meeting yield potential goals amid efforts to achieve food security.

Bred using conventional methods, pro-vitamin A maize varieties are also stress tolerant compared to commercially available white, yellow and currently available orange varieties in the market.

“To date we have released 11 varieties, six in Zambia, four in Malawi and one in Zimbabwe. We anticipate additional releases of three hybrids in Zimbabwe by end of October 2016,” said Thokozile Ndhlela, a maize breeder at CIMMYT in Zimbabwe.

Since many African consumers prefer white maize, it has increasingly become critical to overcome biases toward nutritious non-white maize varieties to encourage adoption and increase uptake.

The basis of the bias is related to the fact that yellow maize is generally grown for livestock feed in some regions and less popular for human consumption. It is also associated with poverty because volumes of non-white maize was imported into major maize growing countries in sub-Saharan Africa following a famine that hit the region in the late 1980s and lasted into the 1990s. This relief maize was disliked because it was poorly stored, turned rancid and acquired a bad taste.

The impact of memories of poor flavor and biases against non-white relief maize was initially underestimated by the agriculture for development sector, until it became apparent that it did influence smallholders’ decisionmaking regarding whether or not to adopt improved varieties.

Blindfolded farmer takes part in the taste evaluation exercise. R. Lunduka/CIMMYT
Blindfolded farmer takes part in the taste evaluation exercise. R. Lunduka/CIMMYT

“Taste forms a very important trait in maize adoption,” said Rodney Lunduka, a socio-economist at CIMMYT. “In the case of the orange maize in Zimbabwe, the main reason for non-adoption is, in fact, taste. Farmers indicated that the old variety called Kenya that was distributed during the famine of the 1980s and 1990s had a very bad taste.”

In an effort to counteract the negative legacy of non-white maize, CIMMYT organized a taste evaluation exercise with farmers in the five districts of Marondera, Mrehwa, Zaka, Bikita and Mutoko in Zimbabwe. The farmers were blindfolded and participated in a taste test of a maize cornmeal food staple known in Zimbabwe as Sadza prepared from the orange pro-vitamin A maize flour and white maize flour. They were asked to rate the meal on taste and smell. Almost 240 farmers (119 female and 119 male) participated in the evaluation exercise.

“The farmers were adequately briefed about the exercise and not allowed to see the Sadza before testing,” said Lunduka. “This helped to remove any biases based on sight, so that they are not influenced by color but taste.”

The evaluation it found that 80 percent of female farmers and 84 percent of male farmers preferred the orange Sadza saying it had better taste and flavor.

“These results show that there is an opportunity to reach out to farmers with this nutritious maize, hence there is need to continue breeding for more robust varieties that will not only be nutritious but also competitive in terms of productivity,” Ndhlela added.

After the evaluation, most involved in the taste test, flocked to the Sadza made with orange maize.

In turn, greater availability of pro-vitamin orange maize can boost micronutrient levels and substantially lower the risk of hidden hunger.

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Food security requires acceleration of advanced science, not just “feeding,” CIMMYT 50 delegates say

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Lindiwe Majele Sibanda of FANRPAN delivers a presentation at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference. CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortes
Lindiwe Majele Sibanda of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network delivers a presentation at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference. CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortes

MEXICO CITY (CIMMYT) – The agriculture for development sector must begin “nourishing” families with nutrition-sensitive interventions instead of focusing on “feeding,” said a leading food security expert at a conference in Mexico City hosted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

“We’ve spent a lot of time in the last 50 years in the comfort zone of ‘feeding’,” said Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, chief executive for the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) in southern Africa.

On a panel of experts, which included researchers, policymakers, farmers and the private sector, Sibanda urged almost 1,000 delegates attending the three day conference to consider the potential risks of focusing solely on boosting yields and fortifying grains with micronutrients and vitamin A, rather than developing strategies for increased dietary diversity.

The panel also discussed topics related to agricultural research and development such as food security and nutrition, climate change, the social tensions that are both cause and result of migration, scientific developments and new technologies.

After the first day, a mixture of formal and celebratory activities at the CIMMYT research station in El Batan outside Mexico City, delegates relocated to the city to tackle such wide-ranging topics as nutrition, the newly approved portfolio for the CGIAR system of agricultural researchers to which CIMMYT belongs, funding, scientific developments, new technologies and technical innovations.

We are not yet on the right trajectory when it comes to nutrition and health outcomes, said Juergen Voegele, senior director, agriculture global practice World Bank and CGIAR System Council Chair.

“Without a CGIAR there would be 100 countries in conflict and not the 60 that we know today,” Voegele said. “The CGIAR has a major role to play in ensuring nutrition security and peace and conflict resolution.”

He said that productivity increases achieved in the 1980s and 1990s were ahead of population growth, but are currently lagging behind, leading to the necessity to increase funding for the CGIAR. Currently, for every dollar invested in the CGIAR, the return is $17, in some programs rising up to $100.

“At the current trajectory, we will not solve the world’s food challenges,” he said, adding that recent reforms have contributed much to focusing the efforts of the CGIAR towards the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, 15 measurable targets aimed at reducing poverty, and reaffirmed the World Bank’s commitment to championing and supporting CGIAR research.

The challenges are vast, said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT’s director general. “We have more people, less land, greater demand, all in the face of climate change.”

For food prices to remain constant, annual yield gains for maize would have to increase from 1.2 percent to 1.7 percent. For wheat they would have to increase from 1.1 percent to 1.7 percent.

A new agreement signed by CIMMYT and agri-seed company Dupont Pioneer at the conference, which will use CRISPR-Cas advanced breeding technologies to develop improved crops by using the best characteristics native to the plant, aims to streamline research into plant breeding and disease.

“It has become abundantly clear that there are at least two essential ingredients to feeding a growing population –innovation and farmers — and we must do a better job of connecting the two,” said Paul Schickler, president of Dupont Pioneer

The technology will be put to use first to challenge Maize Lethal Necrosis disease in sub-Saharan Africa, which first emerged in Kenya in 2011 and affects almost a quarter of total maize production with annual losses of about $110 million and up to 90 percent yield loss on individual farms, Schickler said.

“Usually, cutting-edge technologies benefit farmers in high income countries first,” said Marianne Banziger, CIMMYT’s deputy director general, commenting on the agreement between CIMMYT and Dupont Pioneer.

“The public-private partnership allows us to extend such benefits much more rapidly to farmers in low- and middle-income countries, addressing problems they uniquely face, giving them equal opportunities. As a result, we democratize access to new technologies.”

Among many recent scientific advancements, innovative remote sensing and satellite imagery technologies for assessing the effectiveness of research results in the field are increasingly being used.

Scientist David Lobell of Stanford University said that he uses satellite images to estimate which crops are being grown by farmers and the yields they obtain. Jose Luis Araus of the University of Barcelona spoke of a virtual revolution where phenotyping assessments are moving from the ground-based time consuming assessments to much more rapid assessments using drones and airplanes.

Other scientists, such as Ken Giller from the University of Wageningen described his work evaluating farm-level technology adoption.

“The fast-growing population of Africa is pushing down farm sizes, making it less likely that food security can be achieved in the near future,” Giller said. “We need to find new approaches to ensure that the combination of off-farm and on-farm incomes achieve household food security and, more, get farmers out of poverty.”

Mexico’s sub-secretary of agriculture, Jorge Armando Narváez Narváez, was among the many international agriculture experts and government officials who spoke at the conference, emphasizing the need to have reliable and market-oriented agricultural research and development platforms.

The benefits of global agricultural research that made improved hybrid maize seeds and fertilizer available to smallholders in the 1980s were illustrated by development economist and Cornell University Ph.D. graduate Ed Mabaya, who grew up on a hillside maize-livestock farm in rural Zimbabwe.

He recounted a meeting he had with a childhood friend whose fate was to remain in the village, struggling to survive and feed his family.

Mabaya concluded that his parents’ use of improved seed and farming practices derived from agricultural research helped open a pathway out of poverty for his family, with similar experiences for other progressive farmers in the community.

Reporting by Bianca Beks, Connie Castro, Ricardo Curiel, Jennifer Johnson, Mike Listman, Genevieve Renard, Miriam Shindler and Sam Storr.

African Conservation Tillage Network CEO calls for high level support of conservation agriculture

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African Conservation Tillage Network CEO Saidi Mkomwa
African Conservation Tillage Network CEO Saidi Mkomwa

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Regional and national support for conservation agriculture is key to achieving widespread sustainable production intensification, said Saidi Mkomwa, CEO of the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT).

Increased uptake of conservation agriculture, soil management practices involving minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop rotations used to boost sustainable agriculture and add to its profitability, will benefit from coordinated promotion through regional bodies and national governments, said Mkomwa, who will speak at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on Wednesday.

CIMMYT research and programs supporting conservation agriculture’s greater sustainable productivity have helped organizations, governments and their institutions expand efforts, but to have real impact against challenges climate change and reduced resources increased high-level action is needed, he said.

Mkomwa will take part in a panel discussion titled, “The contribution farming systems research in scaling improved management practices and technical innovations” during the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference in Mexico.

He shares his opinions on agricultural development in the following interview.

Q: What do you hope to contribute to the CIMMYT conference?

To congratulate CIMMYT on their 50 years of unique contributions such as their contribution to the Green Revolution, which pulled millions of people out of hunger. This is also an opportunity to remind CIMMYT of their former wheat breeder and father of the Green Revolution Borlaugs’ 1970’s prophecy, that a second Green Revolution will be necessary in 20 to 30 years, to make the bounty everlasting. The next Green Revolution challenged also by climate change, is being compelled to focus on the new food frontiers – smallholder rainfed agriculture in the semi-arid regions, which are also home to the millions of the hungry and the poor. CIMMYT is already researching and empowering farmers (particularly in Southern Africa) to adapt and adopt conservation agriculture as means to achieving sustainable production intensification. What could add value to this effort is more effective and higher level leadership and coordination of such activities which can empower the African Union’s Africa’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and national governments to support and invest in relatively low cost conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification.

Q: What is significant about CIMMYT: What role has CIMMYT played in your area of work?

CIMMYT has expertise and experience in plant breeding and promoting best performing crop cultivars as well as in research on conservation agriculture systems and practices that is capable of intensifying farming without degrading natural resources. CIMMYT’s research on conservation agriculture has helped to generate reliable scientific evidence and technologies in support of conservation agriculture as the best option for sustainable production intensification by smallholder farmers in Africa. This work has helped many governments and their institutions and other organizations in Africa, including ACT, to expand their effort to introduce and spread conservation agriculture.

Q: What are the key challenges the world faces into the future?

The conventional tillage agriculture has become unfit for meeting future food security sustainably and is increasingly being replaced with conservation conservation because of its greater productivity, profitability, efficiency, resilience and regenerative qualities. Availability and efficient utilization of production inputs – with specific focus on water, fertilizers and fuel – which were essential in the Green Revolution, become crucial as supplies dwindle and costs escalate. Their manufacture or use in conventional tillage agriculture further contributes to GHG emissions but can be minimized by adopting conservation agriculture systems as widely as possible across Africa and beyond.

Key challenges that are faced globally include the need to adopt conservation agriculture in response to sub-optimal yield plateau and profit margins prevailing in most countries; loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services, soil degradation and erosion; loss of efficiency and resilience; and greater need for research, education and extension systems to overcome inadequate level of staff and farmer capacity.

Mexico, funding, sustainability key to meeting agricultural challenges, “CIMMYT 50” delegates say

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kropff50
Martin Kropff (R), CIMMYT director general and Mexico’s agriculture secretary Jose Calzada Rovirosa, speak with members of the press at “CIMMYT 50,” CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary conference in El Batan Mexico, near Mexico City. CIMMYT/Alfonso Cortez

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Although increasing food supply to meet future demand must involve pushing the boundaries on technological innovation, sustainability must always be first and foremost, said Martin Kropff, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the organization, which has attracted almost a thousand delegates from Mexico and around the world, including agriculture ministers, scientists, policy makers and farmers.

“We can’t afford to be complacent because the need is so immense, but we must be cautious in our application of research to consider farmer needs and the environment,” Kropff said, as he set out a strategic plan for CIMMYT until 2022. “It’s not just about food security, we must achieve nutritional security as well.”

Kropff detailed plans to take a broader view of maize and wheat as components of agrifood systems, rather than strictly as commodities, taking into consideration the activities and relationships that determine how food is produced, processed, distributed and consumed, together with the human and biological systems that shape those activities.

“Already, at least 900 million people go to bed hungry at night – an unacceptable number now, which will continue to grow in tandem with population growth if we don’t ratchet up our efforts to improve maize and wheat yields,” he said, adding that the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals provide a roadmap for ensuring food security.

He also announced that CIMMYT would engage in more public-private partnerships and increase its focus on training and capacity building.

Just as a Mexican delegation, including agriculture secretary Jose Calzada Rovirosa, arrived at CIMMYT’s main research station in El Batan outside Mexico City, the skies opened and rain poured down, fortunately clearing in time for mid-day tours of the crops, wheat quality laboratory and the gene bank.

Mexico plays a major role in the improvement of maize and wheat crops by hosting five CIMMYT research stations throughout the country and providing funding for such programs as MasAgro, a project that not only works to develop improved maize and wheat varieties but also supports conservation agriculture techniques that help increase yields and improve environmental sustainability of farming.

“CIMMYT’s achievements are indisputable,” Calzada Rovirosa said. “’CIMMYT 50’ calls on all of our consciences. The world needs to increase yields without hurting the environment.”

He affirmed his continued support for the longstanding partnership between CIMMYT and Mexico.

“The Mexican government is committed to continuing the promise we made 50 years ago to support CIMMYT and agricultural research in Mexico,” said Calzada Rovirosa, who also delivered a message of congratulations from Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto.

Farmers in Mexico were represented at the conference by Rodolfo Rodriguez Flores, president of Patronato, the farmers’ organization in Mexico’s northern state of Sonora.

Later in the day, agriculture ministers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and Pakistan, countries where CIMMYT has also played a key role supporting national agricultural programs, spoke, detailing achievements and future plans.

CIMMYT needs long-term, secure funding to achieve its goals, said Derek Byerlee, a former World Bank economist and adviser who delivered the keynote address at the conference.

“Although the first drought-tolerant maize varieties were made in the 1980s, we’re just now achieving widespread distribution of drought-tolerant maize seed in Africa,” said Byerlee who has had a long association with CIMMYT. “The CIMMYT maize program works with 200 local and global seed companies and it’s crucial to get these varieties to farmers.”

Byerlee’s history of CIMMYT, titled “The Birth of CIMMYT – Pioneering the idea and ideals of international agricultural research” was published this month. It details the challenges global agricultural research faces.

Today, global, publicly-funded networks which combine the talent and resources of scientists and institutions across borders to foster more productive, profitable agricultural systems seem logical, but at their inception after World War Two, they were remarkably innovative, Byerlee said.

Developing countries will need to take much larger responsibility and participation in their own agricultural development, but the principles that underlie the origins of CIMMYT and the CGIAR remain valid.

At the same time, many countries where CIMMYT works are embroiled in conflict, making research and development activities difficult and at times dangerous.

Other highlights of the day included speeches by Sanjaya Rajaram, a prolific wheat breeder known as the Sultan of Wheat who worked for many years at CIMMYT as director of the Global Wheat Program and won the 2014 World Food Prize.

“New wheats are better able to produce under high temperatures, but more needs to be done to address climate change,” Rajaram said, adding that disease resistance has been a critical achievement in protecting yield.

“More prosperous emerging countries like India or Mexico need to provide long-term funding for CIMMYT and other CGIAR centers and programs,” he said. “CIMMYT scientists based in our target countries and global partnerships are key to success. It’s a shared global enterprise with national systems and the private sector.”

Julie Borlaug, the granddaughter of the late 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug, the key wheat breeder known internationally as the father of the Green Revolution, spoke enthusiastically of CIMMYT’s work and compassionately about rural poverty and smallholder farmers.

“Mexico is a leader and should continue its legacy worldwide,” said Julie Borlaug, who is now associate director of external relations at the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A & M University.

Reporting by Ricardo Curiel, Jennifer Johnson, Mike Listman, Katelyn Roett and Miriam Shindler.

CIMMYT Participates in the Sixth African Green Revolution Forum

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Tsedeke Abate, project leader of Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa and CIMMYT Maize Seed Systems in Africa, raises a point during a session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Tsedeke Abate (left), project leader of Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa and CIMMYT Maize Seed Systems in Africa, raises a point during a session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) team led by Director General Martin Kropff joined 1700 delegates from around the globe who participated in the sixth African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) that brought together heads of state and government ministries, development partners, farmer organizations, private sector representatives, eminent thinkers, researchers, and finance and investment leaders.

Titled Seize the moment! Securing Africa’s rise through agricultural transformation, the forum focused on increasing investment in African smallholders to maximize the economic opportunities in Africa’s agricultural sector and bring about a much needed transformation.

The Sustainable Intensification of Maize and Legume Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) program, together with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), hosted a side event focusing on SIMLESA’s work on sustainable intensification practices and its implications for policymakers. Over 30 participants took part in this event.

Martin Kropff taking part in the ‘big debate’ session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Martin Kropff taking part in the ‘big debate’ session at AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

After receiving a brief from John Dixon, principal adviser for research at ACIAR, SIMLESA project leader Mulugetta Mekuria and a host of other presenters and participants agreed that the challenge of rising population and dwindling land resources makes farming system production practices, such as sustainable agricultural practices that help reduce environmental risks to crop production, a viable option for African farmers.

Mekuria singled out successes of SIMLESA that show that farmers’ food production, profitability and livelihoods as well as family nutrition have improved as a result of the diversity of food crops grown in these farming systems. He called on governments, policymakers and the private sector to institutionalize and include sustainable agricultural intensification in national agricultural development policy to achieve the much needed agricultural transformation.

Mulugetta Mekuria, project leader of SIMLESA, makes a presentation focusing on SIMLESA’s work. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
Mulugetta Mekuria, project leader of SIMLESA, makes a presentation focusing on SIMLESA’s work. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

A session that focused on harnessing Africa’s potential to create competitive grain value chains benefited from the participation of Tsedeke Abate, project leader of Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa and CIMMYT Maize Seed Systems in Africa. He noted that, despite the availability of improved maize varieties in Africa, 49 percent of maize varieties planted by smallholders are obsolete, yet remain popular in Africa’s seed value chain. Abate emphasized the importance of replacing these with new, improved stress tolerant maize varieties to strengthen smallholders’ food systems.

“Solutions for Africa’s problems are within farmers’ reach. It is therefore important for governments and the private sector to implement holistic workable models that will favor smallholders, like availability of improved varieties, inputs and resources, fertilizers, technology, support programs, sufficient extension to farmers,” said Abate.

Another session on the best way to achieve agricultural transformation featured Kropff alongside former President of the Republic of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete; Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of YARA; Joseph DeVries, Chief of Agricultural Transformation at AGRA; and Sheila Sisulu, Former Deputy Director of WFP and Africa Food Prize Committee member.

B.M. Prasanna, Martin Kropff and Stephen Mugo brief Beth Dunford, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Food Security, on CIMMYT’s work at a KALRO/USAID event during AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT
B.M. Prasanna, Martin Kropff and Stephen Mugo brief Beth Dunford, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Food Security (2nd from left), on CIMMYT’s work at a KALRO/USAID event during AGRF. Photo: B. Wawa/CIMMYT

Kropff explained that the key to unlocking smallholders’ potential is to enable them to access improved varieties, innovative technology and mechanization that will save farmers’ time and boost their capacity to maximize production and reduce food waste, which is rampant in Africa. “As the region faces increasing challenges from climate change, rapidly growing urban populations, and an urgent need for jobs, agriculture offers solutions, providing a clear path to food and nutritional security and employment opportunities for all Africans,” Kropff noted.

With the right policies and investments in place, lives of hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers could be transformed, putting all African countries on the path to sustainable agricultural transformation, concluded Kropff.

Emphasized throughout the forum was the challenge of building on available opportunities to secure investments that will improve lives of smallholders. The good news is that AGRF culminated with commitments of over USD 30 billion to transform African agriculture.

New generation of hunger fighters needed, says Julie Borlaug at CIMMYT 50th anniversary

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Julie Borlaug (R) stands with her mother, Jeannie Laube Borlaug, beside a statue of her grandfather Norman Borlaug at the Mexico headquarters of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in El Batan. CIMMYT/Marcelo Ortiz

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Encouraging youth willing to become “hunger fighters” to take up the challenges of farming despite erratic weather caused by climate change, drought, dwindling water supplies and nutrient-depleted soil, is key to future food security, said Julie Borlaug, associate director for external relations at the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M University.

These hunger fighters must embrace technological innovation, creativity, bold ideas  and collaborate across all disciplines, while also effectively engaging smallholder farmers and private and public sectors to come up with sustainable solutions, Borlaug said, adding that the average age of a farmer in the United States and Africa is well over 50 years.

Julie Borlaug, the granddaughter of 1970 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug, a former key wheat breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) known internationally as the father of the Green Revolution, will address delegates at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference on September 27, 2016 with a speech titled, “CIMMYT’s future as a Borlaug legacy.”

After 50 years, CIMMYT remains relevant in the fight for food security and an important part of the Borlaug legacy, Borlaug said, adding that technological innovation is needed to address agriculture and the challenge of climate change.

“Since the seven years of his passing, I know my grandfather would be pleased by the leadership team and all at CIMMYT. As hunger fighters and the next generation, they have made CIMMYT their institution and continue to advocate strongly for improvement in science and technology to feed the world,” she said.

Her grandfather, who started work on wheat improvement in the mid-1940s in Mexico, where CIMMYT is headquartered near Mexico City, led efforts to develop semi-dwarf wheat varieties in the mid-20th century that helped save more than 1 billion lives in Pakistan, India and other areas of the developing world. In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Norman Borlaug paid tribute to the “army of hunger fighters” with whom he had worked.

Borlaug shared some views on CIMMYT and the future of agriculture in the following interview.

Q: What are the key challenges the world faces into the future?

In my opinion, the entire agricultural community should focus on addressing three major challenges: the first is climate change and erratic weather patterns. Droughts and a decline of limited natural resources such as water and soil are of major consequence to agricultural productivity. The second major challenge is the societal resistance to new technologies and innovation. And the third major challenge we are facing is how to engage the next generation to work in the agricultural sector.

To address the first challenge, we must have biotechnology and technological innovation across the board to address issues that will stem from climate change. The utilization of drought, heat and saline tolerant crops, informatics, and other innovations will be a necessity. Technology will be part of the integrated solution that creates better farming systems, more nutritious foods and addresses all the issues that come with climate change and sustainability.

It is important to understand the societal resistance to new technologies and innovation. I understand their skepticisms and confusion. It is important to note that when speaking to these critics, we keep in mind the campaigns that have been mounted against our industry and have spread fear and inaccurate information that the public has accepted as fact. In my opinion, the agricultural industry has to improve in explaining to the public why modern agriculture is so important to our future and why the opposition to it cannot be permitted to deprive millions of people of its promise.

Q: What is significant about CIMMYT: What role has CIMMYT played in your area of work?

CIMMYT is both personally and professionally significant to me. Personally, I have grown up knowing how deeply invested, protective and grateful my grandfather was to the role CIMMYT played in his career, the Green Revolution and as a leader in international maize and wheat research. CIMMYT was not just a place in which my grandfather was employed but part of his family. All who met, worked with my grandfather or had the opportunity to have an early morning CIMMYT breakfast with him, remember the deep interest he had in their careers and research as well as his often too candid assessment of their current & future work. His passion for CIMMYT never faded and in the end of his life his return “home” to his Yaqui Valley wheat fields in Sonora, Mexico, gave him hope for the future of CIMMYT, the CGIAR system as a whole and international research and development in agriculture.

Professionally for me, CIMMYT has helped me learn more about my grandfather professionally but it has also broadened my depth and knowledge of maize and wheat research as well as the importance for the CG system. At the Borlaug Institute at Texas A&M, we work in international agriculture development and have had the opportunity to partner with CIMMYT on many occasions. I promised my grandfather that I would help to bring all the Borlaug Legacy Institutions together to work collaboratively and not competitively as we once had. CIMMYT was the first Borlaug legacy institution to join us in working collectively towards my grandfather legacy to end hunger and poverty.

Celebrating 50 years of collaboration: CIMMYT in the Mexican senate

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eventosenadoMexico City, Mexico (CIMMYT) — In recognition of the contributions the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center has made to agriculture and food security in Mexico and the world, a symposium was held 13th September at the Mexican Senate. Organized by the senate’s commission on agriculture and livestock, the symposium “50 years of CIMMYT in the Senate,” marked five decades of invaluable collaboration between the Center and the Mexican government.

CIMMYT was founded in Mexico in 1966 with the aim of improving food and nutritional security around the world. In the past 50 years, the agricultural research breakthroughs made by the Center and its scientists have produced nutritious and stress tolerant maize and wheat that has improved the lives and livelihoods of smallholder farmers and consumers around the world. None of these achievements would have been possible without the support of the Mexican Government, beginning with former president Adolfo Lopez Mateos’ support of the fledgling Center upon its founding and extending into the present day with cutting edge projects working to bring novel solutions to the challenges faced by Mexican agriculture.

“We are here today celebrating our 50th anniversary thanks to the leadership, vision and support of the Mexican people and their government that have allowed us to make this beautiful country our home,” said Martin Kropff, Director General of CIMMYT.

CIMMYT’s work has had incredible impact on the society and economies of Mexico and the world. “Around 50 percent of modern maize and wheat varieties planted around the world are descended from lines developed by CIMMYT,” Kropff announced. “Each year, these varieties generate between three and four billion dollars in profits for the farmers that grow them around the world.”

Kropff also recognized the important role that the Mexican government and other CIMMYT partners and allies, especially Mexico’s National Forestry, Agricultural and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP), have played in this success. Fernando Flores Lui, Director General of INIFAP, referred to CIMMYT as a “pillar in the development of improved maize and wheat for the world,” and that their collaboration with the Center constitutes a “new model of collaboration based on equity and mutual support.”

simposio-senado-1In his welcome address to the symposium, Senator Manuel Cota JimĂ©nez, president of the Mexican senate’s commission on agriculture and livestock, recognized the longstanding collaboration between CIMMYT and the Mexican government. “CIMMYT 50 marks a year for celebration, but also a year of challenges. CIMMYT has long worked to overcome the greatest challenges of agriculture in Mexico, it is our duty to continue working to ensure that our laws and public policies are in line with our goals for Mexican farmers and agriculture,” he said. “The countryside cannot remain isolated from science.”

One of the most fruitful examples of the success of this collaboration and partnership between CIMMYT and the Mexican government is the Sustainable Modernization of the Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro) project. A joint initiative of CIMMYT and Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), MasAgro has developed 11 improved wheat varieties and over 40 improved maize varieties for the benefit of Mexican farmers.

In his keynote address, Bram Govaerts, director of MasAgro and CIMMYT’s regional representative in Latin America, presented on the project’s achievements over the past six years. A study from the University of Chapingo has shown that technicians who participate in the MasAgro project are nine times more efficient in their technical support to farmers than technicians who do not participate in the project. For the same amount of money invested, technicians using the MasAgro model reach nine times more farmers.

Govaerts also emphasized the importance of focusing on and supporting farmers in all components of agriculture to achieve the best results. “Planting improved seeds without agronomy is like trying to drive a racecar down a dirt road,” he said.

simposio-senado-2This support of the Mexican government will be equally crucial in the next 50 years if CIMMYT is to continue in its mission of improving food security and farmer livelihoods across the world. The relationship of collaboration and partnership between CIMMYT and the Mexican senate was strengthened and renewed through the open dialogue of the symposium, paving the way to implement the solutions necessary to ensure that improved maize and wheat varieties will be available not only to improve the lives and livelihoods of Mexican farmers, but to protect smallholder farmers and food security around the world.

“We still have so much left to accomplish, and that is why it is so important that we can count on the support of the legislators present today to maintain the budget for agricultural research and development,” Kropff said in his keynote address. “That is the objective of this symposium—to find solutions to the problems we face today and overcome them to achieve a food secure future for the Mexican people.”

The symposium was followed by a round table on maize and wheat improvement, agronomy and extension services held at the historic Casona de Xicoténcatl, the former headquarters of the Mexican senate. Over 30 researchers from CIMMYT and INIFAP participated in the event, as well as various representatives from different sectors of maize and wheat value chains in Mexico.

CIMMYT was honored by the attendance of Sanjaya Rajaram, 2014 World Food Prize laureate and keynote speaker at the symposium, and other distinguished guests including members of the Mexican senate’s commission on agriculture and livestock, senators MarĂ­a Hilaria DomĂ­nguez Arvizu, Silvia Garza GalvĂĄn, Salvador LĂłpez Brito and Adolfo Romero Lainas, as well as Patricia Ornelas Ruiz, director of the agrifood and fisheries information service (SIAP). The rectors of several Mexican agricultural universities also participated in the symposium, including JesĂșs Moncada de la Fuente of the Colegio de Posgraduados, Sergio Barrales DomĂ­nguez of the University of Chapingo and JesĂșs Valenzuela GarcĂ­a of the Universidad AutĂłnoma Agraria Antonio Narro. Representatives of various farmer groups and Mexican seed companies were also in attendance.

CIMMYT museum highlights cultural aspects of maize and wheat

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TEXCOCO, Mexico (CIMMYT) – A new museum in Mexico provides historical background and context for scientific research into maize and wheat, emphasizing agricultural achievements in the developing world.

The inaugural exhibition at the museum opened on Wednesday to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“The interactive displays in this vibrant and informative space underscore the significance of 50 years of maize and wheat research conducted throughout the world,” said Martin Kropff, CIMMYT director general. “We now have a space at CIMMYT that allows visitors to dig into the history, present and future of the center in an innovative way.”

CIMMYT has helped reduce the proportion of hungry people from about half the global population in the 1960s to below 20 percent today. Yearly economic benefits from its research and training activities, conducted on a budget of $180 million, are conservatively estimated at $4 billion.

The 200-square-meter (2,150-square-foot) museum is based at CIMMYT’s El Batan headquarters, promoting the work of CIMMYT’s scientific research and focusing on achievements and on the ground impacts in the world and raising awareness of future challenges. It features information and displays about staff achievements, including those of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug. Scientists working at CIMMYT have been honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, three World Food Prizes and many other significant awards.

The museum represents a bridge between two of CIMMYT’s director generals, with former Director General Thomas Lumpkin spearheading the initiative and Kropff carrying out and completing this vision during the ceremony today.

Visitors to the museum can explore the cultural and historical significance of maize and wheat.

“The museum engages visitors in the cultural aspects of research that can amplify understanding of its socio-cultural impact and generate dialogue,” said Richard Fulss, head of CIMMYT’s knowledge management unit in charge of the museum. “It expresses CIMMYT’s scientific developments in new ways, illustrating it in various themes and topics showcasing its global scope and impacts.”

Interactive illustrations of maize and wheat portray origins, historical influence on emerging nations and how the crops are consumed in different parts of the world.

Of key importance to the museum will be how staple maize and wheat crops have evolved over time, including the role of tools and technology, work in the research labs and the diversity of seeds kept by CIMMYT.

A Chat With: DuPont Pioneer president points to technology to boost yields

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New innovations will improve farming productivity said DuPont Pioneer President Schickler. Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe
New innovations will improve farming productivity said DuPont Pioneer President Paul Schickler. Photo: CIMMYT/ Peter Lowe

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Data and predictive analytics can help seeds reach their full yield by providing farmers with information and management advice, said DuPont Pioneer President Paul Schickler.

Although seed varieties possess greater genetic potential than ever before, farmers are failing to achieve maximum yield because they lack the knowledge to farm certain varieties of maize and wheat in certain locations, said Schickler who will speak at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) next week.

To help farmers bridge this gap, Schickler said DuPont Pioneer has abandoned learning best practices from field trials and now uses data modelling. Simulating combinations of seeds and  unique farming practices enables smoother delivery of better information and management advice, he said.

Targeted genome editing using engineered nucleases innovations, such as Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR) technology, are also driving DuPont Pioneer’s seed development to improve the productivity of climate- and disease-resistant crops, said Schickler.

He will deliver a talk during a session titled, “The critical role of innovation in agriculture” on Sept. 28 at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference which will be held from Sept. 27 to 29, 2016 in Mexico City.

He shared some views on agricultural innovation in the following interview.

Q: What is significant about CIMMYT?

There’s no denying it – we have all benefitted from CIMMYT’s scientific research and heart for innovation. Since its beginnings, CIMMYT has played a revolutionary role in global agriculture — fostering maize and wheat productivity while improving rural livelihoods and boosting farmer productivity. And, they have excelled at bringing a collaborative focus to agriculture.

As I reflect on the past 50 years of CIMMYT, I also think of one of the world’s great humanitarians and innovators – former Global Wheat Program director and Nobel laureate Noman Borlaug. Through science, he has been credited with saving 1 billion people from starvation.

At DuPont Pioneer, we have a strong appreciation for the contributions of Borlaug and CIMMYT. We have collaborated throughout its 50-year history and we look forward to 50 more.

Q: How does your area of specialization address challenges facing agriculture?

At DuPont Pioneer, we develop and supply advanced plant genetics and services to farmers to increase agricultural production and feed a growing world population. We collaborate with farmers and organizations, including CIMMYT, in more than 90 countries to apply the best of global science to develop uniquely local solutions. One thing has become abundantly clear – we can only help farmers be successful when we recognize their right to choose the best seeds, agronomic practices and tools for their operations. The “right” practices for farmers differ by geography, environment, market situation and more.

As president of DuPont Pioneer, I am immersed in issues pertaining to farmer and agricultural productivity, food and nutrition security, scientific research, product innovation and sustainability. Together with organizations like CIMMYT, we are making advancements in these areas while promoting community development and national security. Efforts to increase global food security may also support a decrease in civil unrest.

Q: What innovation do you see improving agriculture?

Innovation will continue to be critical on a global scale as we consider increasing yields and food production under the constraints of limited arable land, shrinking natural resources, and a growing population. To make sure enough healthy food is available, farmers need seeds that can thrive and are safe for people and the environment.

Every year, seed companies develop products with greater and greater genetic potential. But most customers fail to achieve the maximum yield potential of the seeds they plant. We need to help farmers bridge the gap between a product’s potential yield and its “real-world,” harvestable yield.

CIMMYT celebrates 50 in eastern and central Africa

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cakeNAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) — The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) held its eastern and central Africa 50th anniversary celebrations on 9 – 10 September, 2016.

The event was hosted by CIMMYT’s regional office in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing together over 150 stakeholders, partners, dignitaries, donors and staff to take stock of achievements made in the region and lessons learned through five decades of partnership, with a focus on the future of maize and wheat research in the region.

CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff led the event and encouraged staff to share CIMMYT’s impact in eastern and central Africa and strategic vision the organization has adopted for the future. Guests also had an opportunity to view CIMMYT and partner activities in the three major research sites in Kenya and give feedback on CIMMYT’s work.

Seed companies, national agricultural research organizations and long-serving CIMMYT staff were presented awards recognizing the long and fruitful collaboration between them and CIMMYT.  A tree was planted in honor of the late Wilfred Mwangi, who was CIMMYT’s Regional Liaison Officer in Africa.

Check out the full photo story of CIMMYT’s eastern and central Africa celebrations here.

European Space Agency selects CIMMYT to pilot new remote sensing project

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Signing ceremony (L-R) with Pierre Defourny, Urs Schulthess, Kai Sonder, Bruno GĂ©rard and Francelino Rodrigues giving CIMMYT access to the pilot version of the Sen2-Agri processing system and receive training on its use. Photo: Liliana DĂ­az RamĂ­rez

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to have access to the pilot version of the Sen2-Agri processing system and receive training on its use.

As an ESA “champion user,” CIMMYT will test the ESA prototype system in Bangladesh and Mexico. These two sites cover a wide range of farming systems, from the large wheat fields of the Yaqui Valley to a more diverse system in Bangladesh, where parcel sizes can be as small as 0.05 hectares and farmers grow two to three crops per year on a single field.

“The great unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) expertise acquired by CIMMYT is very complementary to the full exploitation of the new satellite generation capabilities,” says Pierre Defourny, professor at the UniversitĂ© catholique de Louvain in Belgium who is leading the Sen2-Agri project. “CIMMYT’s two cases will generate products that will support our joint efforts for wheat blast monitoring in Bangladesh and improve data availability for GreenSat in Mexico.”

In the early days of remote sensing, limited availability of data was a major constraint for putting the data to good use. Basic processing of the coarse data was also time consuming and tedious.

Fortunately, this has greatly changed in recent years. Open and free satellite data, such as Landsat 8 and Sentinel 1 & 2, allow for almost weekly coverages at resolutions as fine as 10 meters. Thanks to this new speed and precision, users can now focus on applying the data, deriving information products even for small holder farmers in remote areas.

The Sentinel 2 satellites have a swath width of 290 km. Sentinel-2A is already operational, while Sentinel-2B will be launched in the spring of 2018. Together, they will be able to cover the Earth every 5 days.
The Sentinel 2 satellites have a swath width of 290 km. Sentinel-2A is already operational, while Sentinel-2B will be launched in the spring of 2018. Together, they will be able to cover the Earth every 5 days.

For example, the CIMMYT-led STARS project in Bangladesh developed an irrigation scheduling app called PANI, which uses remotely sensed data to estimate crop water use. From this data the farmer receives a simple text message on their cell phone that gives recommendations as to whether a particular field needs to be irrigated or not.

Sen2-Agri is unique compared to other systems in that it simplifies and automates satellite data processing. The system allows for semi-automated generation of products, such as cropland detection, crop classification, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and leaf area index (LAI) based on images taken periodically by satellites Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8.

A signing ceremony was held on 15 August, 2016 to seal the cooperation between ESA and CIMMYT. Bruno GĂ©rard, Director of CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification Program, sees this agreement as a fundamental game changer for CIMMYT’s geo-spatial work.

“Sen2-Agri will give CIMMYT access to high spatial and temporal resolution quality imagery and related ‘know-how,’ which in turn will enable us to further develop partnership with top-notch institutions in the earth observation field,” says GĂ©rard.

Interface of the Sen2-Agri system, which allows for a semi-automated generation of cropland, crop type, LAI and NDVI maps.
Interface of the Sen2-Agri system, which allows for a semi-automated generation of cropland, crop type, LAI and NDVI maps.

The benefits of the Sen2-Agri are likely to far extend beyond the Yaqui Valley and Bangladesh. After the pilot phase of this project, the high-resolution imagery gathered could be applied to other areas CIMMYT projects are implemented.

In combination with bio-physical and socio-economic data, this will allow CIMMYT and other organizations to improve monitoring and evaluation, better assess and understand changes and shocks in crop-based farming systems and improve technology targeting across farmer communities.

The Sen2-Agri test program is being coordinated by Urs Schulthess. Please feel free to contact him at u.schulthess@cgiar.org if you have questions about or suggestions for future applications of the system.

Young African scientists gain inspiration from experienced maize researchers

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CIMMYT team and scientists from the Africa Plant Breeding Academy. Credit: CIMMYT
CIMMYT team and scientists from the Africa Plant Breeding Academy. Credit: CIMMYT

NAIROBI, Kenya (CIMMYT) – “The focus of the CIMMYT Global Maize Program includes elements that are key to many breeding programs in Africa. It has made important strides in sub-Saharan Africa.”

These words were delivered by Rita Mumm, a member of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) board of trustees and the coordinator of the Africa Plant Breeding Academy (AfPBA), which recently benefited from a wealth of knowledge shared by the CIMMYT Global Maize Program (GMP) team in Africa at the AfPBA training program held in June 2016 at the World Agroforestry Center.

The AfPBA is an initiative of the African Orphan Crop Consortium, a partnership of public and private organizations working together to sequence 101 crops of economic and nutritional importance to Africa. Students at AfPBA undergo a 13-month continuing education program delivered in three two-week sessions to learn about principles of plant breeding to enable use of advanced tools and technologies in breeding of crops relevant for Africa.

The CIMMYT team led by B.M Prasanna, director of CGIAR Research Program MAIZE and CIMMYT-GMP interacted with the trainees of the most recent session of the academy. The session was attended by 29 Ph.D. and master’s level scientists – including seven women – from 17 countries across Africa. The focus of the interactive session was to share knowledge on maize breeding work in sub-Saharan Africa and highlight the progress made in addressing various biotic and abiotic stresses affecting smallholders’ maize productivity in Africa.

The scientists learned about maize breeding work to develop improved maize varieties with farmer-preferred traits.  In particular, drought tolerance, nitrogen-use efficiency, nutritional enhancement, and disease resistance. In addition, presentation focused on the use of such modern technologies to increase efficiency and enhance genetic gains in tropical maize as molecular marker-assisted breeding and doubled haploid technology for maize improvement.

Students from the Africa Plant Breeding Academy during a visit at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. Credit: CIMMYT
Students from the Africa Plant Breeding Academy during a visit at the MLN screening facility in Naivasha, Kenya. Credit: CIMMYT

Collaborative efforts to strengthen the maize seed system for African farmers to access the improved new varieties was explained, as was the progress made with partners to increase farmer adoption as well as to replace the old varieties with the new climate resilient maize varieties.

“This is just one example of CIMMYT’s capacity development efforts that gives tremendous satisfaction. These breeding stories and highlights from Africa could have potential positive impact on the young scientists, as they are the key to further developing and deploying products that can make a difference in the livelihoods of the resource-poor smallholders in Africa,” said Prasanna.

The highlight of the training for many of the participants was the  tour to the Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) Screening Facility at Naivasha established jointly by CIMMYT and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) to screen germplasm against MLN (under artificial inoculation), including germplasm from several private and public institutions. The participants received hands-on training to identify symptoms of MLN-causing viruses and how to score MLN disease severity by screening germplasm at the site. In addition, a demonstration was conducted on screening for MLN through artificial inoculation.

“Our global and regional mandate gives us the opportunity to support scientists across Africa to build their capacity in plant breeding work as well as in socioeconomics and sustainable intensification practices. Scienstists get the opportunity to learn, share their experiences and grow further. Through such  trainings, we  see improvements in  technology uptake and use in various countries and regions across Africa,” said Stephen Mugo, CIMMYT regional representative for Africa.

In addition to the CIMMYT team, instructors included Lago Hale from the University of New Hampshire, Bruce Walsh from the University of Arizona, Allen Van Deynze from the University of California–Davis, and Rita Mumm from the University of Illinois.

A Chat With: IPNI Director Shamie Zingore — boosting smallholder agriculture in Africa

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IPNI sub-Saharan Director Shamie Zingore
IPNI sub-Sahara Africa Director Shamie Zingore

EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) – Effective partnerships involving research, public and private sector institutions are key to unlocking the potential of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, said Shamie Zingore, a director at the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), who oversees the region.

Cross-sector partnerships that deliver the results of agricultural research to smallholder farmers, who produce 80 percent of food consumed in the developing world, improve productivity and are essential to providing food security in Africa, said Zingore who will speak at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in September.

IPNI is a non-for-profit, science-based organization dedicated to the responsible management of plant nutrition.

Zingore said partnerships that bring together national governments, agricultural research institutes and industry  underpin his organizations’ work to support sustainable crop production intensification in the region.

IPNI’s cross-sector efforts to encourage fertilizer use within integrated soil fertility management (ISFM), which involves the use of locally adapted agricultural practices that can maximize the efficiency of nutrient and water use and improve agricultural productivity, shows the power of partnership combined with the development and dissemination of technologies that have increased yields and protected soil fertility, he said. The role of the private sector in addressing challenges that smallholder farmers face in accessing inputs at affordable prices and the knowledge for their appropriate use must be encouraged, he added.

Zingore will participate in a panel discussion during a session titled “Technical Innovations into Context to Achieve Greater Impact” at the CIMMYT 50th anniversary conference which will be held from Sept. 27 to Sept. 29 in Mexico City.

He shared some views on the future of agriculture in the following interview.

Q: What do you hope to contribute to the CIMMYT conference?

The theme of the conference is relevant and timely in the context of the increasingly urgent need to translate agricultural science into practice to support agricultural development and poverty alleviation in the developing world. I’m honored to participate at the conference to share knowledge and insights on the critical role of soil fertility management research in sustainable crop production intensification in sub-Saharan Africa — as well as the processes to achieve impact by adapting agronomic technologies to highly variable and complex conditions on smallholder farms. Effective partnerships between research, public and private sector institutions will be the key to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture. Representing IPNI, as a fertilizer industry science-based research organization, I also hope to highlight the role of the private sector in addressing the challenges that smallholder farmers face in accessing inputs at affordable prices and the knowledge for their appropriate use.

Q: What is significant about CIMMYT? What role has CIMMYT played in your area of work?

CIMMYT has for many decades conducted innovative and transformational research to improve maize and wheat productivity through the plant breeding, agronomy, farming systems and conservation agriculture and socioeconomic programs. My institution has effectively collaborated with CIMMYT in several initiatives including the CGIAR  program on MAIZE and Taking Maize Agronomy to Scale (TAMASA) initiative that have supported wide-scale dissemination of site-specific nutrient management in both conventional and conservation agriculture maize production systems. CIMMYT has played a key role in building effective research and extension partnerships and capacity for delivering agronomic solutions to smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Q: What are the key challenges the world faces into the future?

The overarching challenge is the question of how agricultural productivity can be increased to meet the food requirements by a rapidly increasing world population that will reach over 7 billion by 2050. Developing countries that are food insecure, including those in sub-Saharan Africa, will contribute most to the increasing population. Technological innovations will need to be increasingly robust to sustainably increase crop productivity and nutrient quality of food produced in the face of land degradation and climate change challenges.

Q: How does your area of specialization address these challenges?

Poor soil fertility, low fertilizer use and inappropriate fertilizer management practices are some of the key factors limiting crop productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Yields have remained low despite advances made in developing high yielding crop varieties adapted to growing conditions in the region. Strong partnerships on developing ISFM are focusing on the development and dissemination of technologies that contribute not only to increased yields but also pay attention to maintenance of soil organic matter and soil fertility in the long-term. Our research results have shown that appropriate ISFM technologies enhance nutrient and water use efficiency, increasing crop productivity and resilience to moisture stress. We are addressing the issue of balanced nutrient management, with a focus on micronutrient fertilization, to increase productivity in vast agricultural soils that are deficient in micronutrients. Balanced fertilizer, focusing on the applying the right types of fertilizer at the right rate, time and place will be the basis of increasing yield in an economically viable manner and improving the nutrient contents of food produced by smallholder farmers.

TAMASA is a CIMMYT led project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Are cows the next development boom for smallholder farmers?

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HARARE, Zimbabwe- Smallholder livestock farmers in Zimbabwe are beginning to flip every notion about the country’s industry on its head.

zim_fact1Dairy and beef livestock production play an important economic and nutritional role in the lives of many Zimbabwean farm households. However, rearing livestock has traditionally been expensive as livestock take a lot of space and suck up a lot of money for feed and maintenance, leaving poor farmers to rarely see a significant return on investment in these animals, let alone compete with larger livestock producers in the country.

Zimbabwe’s small-scale livestock producers face a wide range of challenges but key among these is the lack of adequate supplementary feed, particularly during the dry winter months when natural grazing pastures are dry. As a result, productivity of the animals is often very poor, and livestock producers miss out on the prospects of increasing their incomes from beef and dairy cattle production.

In addition, increasing human populations associated with expansion in arable land area continues to put pressure on pastures which continue to dwindle in both quality and area leading to insufficient grazing to sustain livestock throughout the year. Because of this and a decreasing natural resource base, farming systems are under greater pressure to provide sufficient food and to sustain farmers’ livelihoods.

In Zimbabwe’s sub-humid Mashonaland East Province, groups of innovative farmers, extension workers and experts in crop-livestock integration are making livestock sustainable and lucrative for more than 5,000 farmers who are now beginning to increase their profits – for some up to 70 percent – thanks to new efforts led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and other partners. This initiative seeks to integrate crops and livestock technologies with a major focus on food, feed and soil.

Joyce Chigama, working in her mucuna field, feeds her six livestock on legume diets. Her animals gained an average of nearly one kilogram (kg) per day for 60 days, allowing her to later sell five of these livestock for USD 3,000. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.
Joyce Chigama, working in her mucuna field, feeds her six livestock on legume diets. Her animals gained an average of nearly one kilogram (kg) per day for 60 days, allowing her to later sell five of these livestock for USD 3,000. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.

Together, this consortium is working with the smallholder farmers to introduce forage legumes such as mucuna and lablab using conservation agriculture-based sustainable intensification practices.

With this approach, maize productivity for food security is improved through forage and pulse legume rotations under conservation agriculture while livestock benefit from feeding on increased biomass output and conserved supplementary feed prepared from the forage legumes.

Maintaining the availability of adequate feed for livestock is crucial to rural smallholders in Zimbabwe. Most smallholders could not afford to buy commercial supplements for their natural pastures, especially during the long dry winter season when livestock usually run short of feed. Also, they did not know how to produce cost-effective home-grown feeds. Thanks to this agribusiness, the farmers learned to improve on-farm fodder production.

Conservation agriculture is a cropping system based on the principles of reduced tillage, keeping crop residues retention on the soil surface, and diversification through rotation or intercropping maize with other crops. The immediate benefits of conservation agriculture are: labor and cost savings, improved soil structure and fertility, increased infiltration and water retention, less erosion and water run-off–thus contributing to adaptation to the negative effects of climate variability and change. Through improved management and use of conservation agriculture techniques maize yields were increased from the local average of 0.8 tons per hectare to over 2.5 tons per hectare depending on rainfall and initial soil fertility status.

Mucuna (also known as velvet bean), is well-adapted to the weather conditions in Zimbabwe and can grow with an annual rainfall of 300 mm over four to six months. Growing this cover crop is an agroecological practice that helps farmers address many problems such as poor access to inputs, soil erosion and vulnerability to climate change.

Ben Makono (left) has fed his cattle a legume-based diet and seen their selling price rise by an average of USD 200 per cow. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.
Ben Makono (left) has fed his cattle a legume-based diet and seen their selling price rise by an average of USD 200 per cow. Photo: Johnson Siamachira/CIMMYT.

In addition, mucuna’s high biomass yield also smothers weeds so farmers do not have to spend time weeding. Mucuna also improves soil by fixing up to 170 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare and producing up to 200 kilograms of nitrogen from its residues. Moreover, the biomass produced effectively controls wind and water erosion.

Under the conservation agriculture systems employed here, cattle are used for reduced tillage using an animal drawn direct seeder or rippers in the cereal-legume production systems. Cattle manure is also used for fertilization. In turn, cattle benefit from the system through fattening on home formulated mucuna-based diets and feeding on crop residues.

Since 2012, smallholder farmers have received training and technical assistance on improved agricultural and animal husbandry practices for animal breeding, animal health and nutrition, fodder production and herd management. For example, farmers have learned to prepare nutritious feed rations for their livestock using locally available resources such as molasses and maize residues. As a result of these newly acquired skills, farmers have been better able to adapt to the severe drought currently affecting much of southern Africa.

As part of strengthening the project’s multi-stakeholder platform, a workshop was recently held at CIMMYT’s southern Africa regional office in Harare, Zimbabwe. The meeting brought together 40 participants including farmers and personnel from non-governmental organizations, the government and the private sector. The workshop sought to further enhance crop-livestock integration through facilitating agribusiness deals between the private sector and farmers. Farmers clinched a contract farming agribusiness deal with Capstone Seed Company to supply lablab seed. This means farmers have a guaranteed market for their lablab seed.

Makera Cattle Company also offered opportunities to farmers to improve their cattle breeds through crossing their local breeds with pedigree bulls. They agreed to supply bulls as breeding stock to interested farmers on a loan scheme.

Theresa Gandazha is a smallholder dairy farmer whose first cow produced about 12 liters of milk per dayThe high cost of feed resulted in her barely breaking even when she sold the milk she produced. However, after adopting a legume-based diet for her cow, she has witnessed a dramatic increase in her income due to significantly reduced feed costs. The cow’s milk has increased its yield to 16 liters per day, earning Gandazha nearly USD 130 per month. Photo: Lovemore Gwiriri/ILRI
Theresa Gandazha is a smallholder dairy farmer whose first cow produced about 12 liters of milk per day. After adopting a legume-based diet for her cow, she has witnessed a dramatic increase in her income due to significantly reduced feed costs. The cow’s milk has increased its yield to 16 liters per day, earning Gandazha nearly $130 per month. Photo: Lovemore Gwiriri/ILRI

Thanks to the spread of the crop-livestock project, Zimbabwean farmers are now able to engage in new market opportunities and improve their incomes by increasing crop and livestock productivity at a sustainable, affordable rate.

By focusing on a commercial approach, the project is ensuring long-term sustainability of the dramatic income increases and other benefits that the farmers have already witnessed. Helping farmers improve their productivity and living standards is an important first step, but the project also has to make sure the farmers have access to reliable markets.

CIMMYT’s Integrating Crops and Livestock for Improved Food Security and Livelihoods in Rural Zimbabwe (ZimCLIFs) project is working with more than 5,000 smallholder farmers to introduce fodder production. ZimCLIFs is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and implemented by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) as the lead agency, in collaboration with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Ecosystem Sciences, the University of Queensland, the Community Technology Development Organization (CTDO), the Cluster Agricultural Development Services (CADS) and the government of Zimbabwe. It seeks to strengthen potential synergies offered by crop-livestock integrated farming systems.

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