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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.

Good postharvest management key to attaining food security

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By Wandera Ojanji /CIMMYT

Food security in Zambia is negatively affected by postharvest losses, said Chileshe Mulenga, permanent secretary of the country’s Eastern Province, at a training workshop for agricultural extension officers and agro-dealers on hermetic post-harvest technologies in Chipata, Zambia, on 29 January. “It is disheartening that, despite the successful efforts to increase crop production, low household food security and hunger still affect some of our people, due to a lack of effective storage,” Mulenga explained. “We must do everything possible to change this, as food security is a matter of national and regional security.”

Moffat Khosa (right) and an artisan demonstrate how to properly seal a metal silo using a rubber band. Photos: Wandera Ojanji/CIMMYT

Protecting harvested grain rather than using new land and chemical fertilizers to increase production also has economic and environment benefits, he said. “This project and training is therefore very important to us in Zambia because it focuses on the comparatively neglected storage aspect,” Mulenga said. “It is the first one of its kind and I wish it could have come at a much earlier time than now.”

The Effective Grain Storage for Sustainable Livelihoods of African Farmers Project (EGSP) Phase-II organized the workshop in collaboration with the Zambian Ministry of Agriculture. Building on the successes of the previous phase (2008-2011), EGSP-II (2012-2016) is improving food security and reducing the vulnerability of resource-poor farmers – particularly women farmers – in Eastern and Southern Africa through the dissemination of metal silos and super grain bags. The project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

The goal of the training event was to impart knowledge and skills to extension staff and agro-dealers on managing metal silos and super grain bags, said Tadele Tefera, CIMMYT entomologist and coordinator of EGSP-II. It also raised awareness about the importance of correct post-harvest management of grain, helping extension workers and agro-dealers gain insights into different factors affecting post-harvest management.

Finally, participants learned about traditional and improved post-harvest technologies and their importance for reducing grain losses, and agro-dealers gained a greater appreciation regarding investment opportunities in the market or the technologies. “As agro-dealers, you already know that it is agriculture which is driving the economy of Eastern Province and all your businesses,” Mulenga said. “Your businesses can only grow as the farmers also grow. I therefore implore you, agro-dealers and extension staff, to use the knowledge and skills gained form this training to make these technologies available to farmers.”

Participants attend a hermetic post-harvest technologies training in Zambia.

The event drew more than 60 participants, including government extension officers, agro-dealers and artisans from Katete and Chipata Districts. Training facilitators included Tefera; Addis Tishome, CIMMYT entomologist; Jones Govereh, CIMMYT policy economist; Ivor Mukuka, EGSP national coordinator from the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute; and Moffat Khosa, of the Zambian Ministry of Agriculture’s Department of Mechanization.

Topics included grain storage technologies and practices; on-farm use and handling of metal silos; innovative agriculture extension systems, approaches and methodologies; and opportunity entrepreneurship and business sustainability. Kennedy Kanenga, provincial coordinator of Eastern Province, reminded the extension officers that their main job is to facilitate dissemination of information and appropriate technologies for improved agriculture.

He urged the project partners to take advantage of existing entry points to promote the adoption of the technology through agriculture camp committees, organized groups, lead farmers and institutions. He called for the formation of farmer field schools, holding field days and participation in agricultural shows to increase awareness and adoption of the technologies.

“With these strategies, we expect the adoption rates to improve,” he said. “We would like to see a situation where our farmers are keeping their grains in the metal silos for more than just a season and avoid a situation similar to the 2010-11 season when we had a bumper harvest but lost much of the grain during storage.”

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: 28 March

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Check out the Storify recap here.

Speakers addressed visions for the future of wheat and agriculture research and improvement during the final day of the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security.

The challenges related to producing enough food for the global population in 2050 are immense, speakers agreed, but complex solutions are possible. Wheat will play a large role in meeting those goals.

“I believe, in the bottom of my heart, that we do have the tools and capabilities to achieve the incredible goal of doubling food supply in a sustainable way,” said Robb Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer for Monsanto.

Fraley spoke about the future of agriculture technology and the partnerships that will make its implementation possible. Changing how to breed and select crops and deciding where they are grown are all ways forward.

Dr. Norman Borlaug is remembered at the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. (Photo: Brenna Goth)

Multi-faceted solutions to address ever-evolving problems are key, according to Fraley. Computer-modeled and statistically based data science, for instance, can optimize farm management practices to improve productivity. Advice can be distributed to farmers in most countries using cell phones.

“These tools, which have virtually no barrier to adoption, will be transformational,” Fraley said.

Biotechnology is also changing the way people think about breeding crops, Fraley said. About 17 million farmers in nearly 30 countries are using biotech crops.

Public-private partnerships can help bring this technology to farmers. For example, Water Efficient Maize for Africa – a partnership including Monsanto and CIMMYT – is using genetics from multiple sources to produce biotech and non-biotech maize hybrids.

“I think this kind of model can work for every crop,” Fraley added.

Opposition to genetically modified (GM) crops is a complicated movement with important policy implications, said Robert Paarlberg, professor of political science at Wellesley College. He added that the near future of staple crops is “not particularly bright” because the gene revolution hasn’t reached farmers’ fields.

The gene revolution faces institutional barriers never posed to the Green Revolution, Paarlberg presented. Waning donor commitments in the 1990s tasked private companies with promoting GM crops. Anti-corporation activists then began to speak out against the technology.

GM crops have been reframed from promising to hazardous waste, he said. High regulation barriers – such as requiring biosafety laws, committees and reviews to introduce GM crops – leave developing countries “stuck,” Paarlberg added.

“Even if public opinion changes, how do you relax these regulations?” he asked.

He predicted that, within five years, GM cotton will be grown on every continent and GM feed crops will be used everywhere but food staple crops may not be grown at all.

Other types of agricultural innovations were presented at the conference. Rikin Gandhi, CEO of Digital Green, explained how he is using videos made “by farmers, for farmers” to spread information and encourage new practices in India.

Social networks, such as local extension workers, are particularly effective in disseminating information. Digital Green’s website now has 2,800 videos that can be shown and distributed using technology that is locally available.

Increasing yield – through multiple actors in the agricultural system – is key, speakers agreed.

“The time for wheat is arriving,” said Tray Thomas, founding partner of The Context Network, while addressing the wheat market outlook. “We have the technology; we have the people; we have the demand for it.”

Technology investment is key, he said, as well as advances from hybrid seed, new traits and new systems.

Innovation and research have already helped, said independent researcher Derek Byerlee. Without CGIAR germplasm research from 1965 to 2004, land area used for agricultural purposes in 2004 would have been 18 to 27 million hectares greater. Broad-based investment in crop research and development is the best way to save forests, he said.

Regardless of the technology, partnerships can help.

Steve Jennings, head of programme policy for Oxfam in the United Kingdom, urged people to adopt partnerships when incentives align and research is the solution to a mutually understood problem.

The Summit ended with new examples of collaboration between researchers, donors and policy makers. HĂ©lĂšne Lucas, international scientific coordinator of the Wheat Initiative, explained how the initiative fosters a vibrant global wheat research community.

Participants also learned more about the newly announced International Wheat Yield Partnership, which aims to increase wheat yield potential by up to 50 percent in 20 years through collaboration between the public and private sector.

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: 27 March

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Check out the Storify recap here.

Wheat’s importance in the world was the focus of day three of the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. Wheat’s history, production needs and methods of improvement were among the topics of discussion.

CIMMYT receives the World Food Prize’s Norman E. Borlaug medallion. (photo: Brenna Goth)

Wheat has socially evolved from the grain of “civilized people” to a crop for everyone, said food historian Rachel Laudan. Mechanized milling eliminated the need to devote significant time and back-breaking labor  grinding wheat and led to consumption of the grain worldwide.

 

“Wheat has touched every corner of the world,” Laudan said. Today, tortillas, noodles, breads and other regional products are available in nearly every country.

 

This global dependence on wheat highlights the importance of its nutritional value, according to Wolfgang Pfeiffer, deputy director of operations for HarvestPlus. The organization is working on biofortification, which can pack crops with minerals at no additional cost, he said.

Current efforts focus on zinc-dense wheat, though biofortication in general requires branding, marketing and advocacy. Biofortified crops have been released in 27 countries, and HarvestPlus is working to demonstrate the viability of biofortification as a global solution.

 

Apart from improving nutrition, increasing wheat yield to meet worldwide demand is a challenge, said Tony Fischer, honorary research fellow for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia.

 

However, new agronomy and tools, untapped wheat genetic diversity, non-conventional breeding and intensification on all fronts could lift yields. Conventional breeding is also helping, Fischer said.

 

“Even in the toughest environments, science can make progress,” he added.

 

Factors such as water use and climate change challenge wheat production and present uncertainty, said independent scholar Uma Lele and Graham Farquhar, professor at the Australian National University.

 

Declining water availability is causing discussions, debates and conflicts worldwide, yet research and development on water management and rainfed agriculture is often ignored. This complacency could lead to sudden food shortages or dramatic rises in prices, Lele said.

 

“We’ll wake up and say that we should have paid more attention to water,” she added.

 

Farquhar said farmers have faced challenges presented by climate change before but that water use efficiency for drought tolerance is becoming increasingly important. Some grain-producing areas, including Australia, Central America, Chile, Mexico and southern Africa, are projected to become drier.

 

Summit sessions emphasized that agricultural research offers tools to help.

 

The use of wheat’s distant relatives – such as rye and triticum – can help improve salt tolerance, biomass, disease and insect resistance, said Ian King, researcher at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. The university works with a UK consortium to increase the gene pool of wheat and the screening of germplasm produced at Nottingham will take place at CIMMYT.

 

Additionally, genomic selection and precision phenotyping improve breeding efficiency, said Jesse Poland, assistant professor at Kansas State University.

 

Bruno Gerard, director of CIMMYT’s Conservation Agriculture Program, explained sustainable intensification and precision agriculture principles.  Technological breakthroughs allow for more research that’s better, easier, faster and cheaper.
Not every solution will work in every country. Speakers addressed regional differences with specific presentations on wheat in Mexico, China, India, Central and West Asia and North Africa. After, a panel discussion focused on how private-public partnerships can be used to foster collaboration in addressing these challenges.

 

A special highlight of the day  occurred during the Summit dinner. CIMMYT was honored with the World Food Prize Foundation Norman E. Borlaug Medallion. CIMMYT is the Foundation’s fifth recipient of the medal, which recognizes organizations and heads of state who are not eligible for the World Food Prize but have made outstanding contributions to improving food security and nutrition.

 

Summit speakers Sir Gordon Conway, Ronnie Coffman, Per Pinstrup-Andersen (2001 World Food Prize Laureate) and Robb Fraley (2013 World Food Prize Laureate) presented the award, along with Julie Borlaug, Dr. Borlaug’s granddaughter. Marianne BĂ€nziger, CIMMYT’s deputy director general for research and partnerships, accepted the medal on CIMMYT’s behalf.

 

The Summit ends tomorrow with sessions focusing on the future of wheat and food security.

 

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: 26 March

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Read the Storify recap here.

 

Today’s sessions at the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security recognized Dr. Norman Borlaug’s legacy and the roles of wheat and wheat farmers around the world in the fight for global food security.

 

Participants packed the auditorium at the Universidad de La Salle Noreste in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico, for a day focusing on the successes and shortcomings of the Green Revolution and the challenges in producing enough food for today’s  world and in the future. Keynote speakers included Sir Gordon Conway, professor at Imperial College London, and Howard G. Buffett, chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Howard G. Buffett answers questions from Sir Gordon Conway about the “Brown Revolution.” (Photo: Brenna Goth)

 

Speakers addressed past and current successes in agricultural research while stressing that problems persist.

 

“We live in a world of chronic crises,” Conway said during his talk on lessons learned from the Green Revolution, adding that, oftentimes, when one crisis is solved, another arises.

 

Not all of the poor benefitted from the Green Revolution; it passed by much of Africa and it led to increased reliance on synthetic fertilizers. At the same time, rising food prices, a need to increase food production, rising meat consumption and stressors including climate change challenge food security.

 

Sustainable intensification – through ecological and genetic approaches – can help, Conway said, as well as making sure people get the inputs they need.

More than 700 people attended the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security (Photo: Brenna Goth)

 

“We’ve got to intensify production,” he said. “We’ve got to get yields up.”

 

Buffett also stressed sustainability with his call for a “Brown Revolution,” or a focus on saving soil and the world’s ecosystem. Much of his philanthropic work focuses on farming and agriculture.

 

Farming is the most important profession in the world, Buffett said, yet he has met farmers who cannot feed their families.

 

“I said ‘This is wrong,’” Buffett commented. “We have to figure out how to do this better.”

 

He called on world leaders to support agriculture and said he remains a “pessimistic optimist” in facing global challenges.

 

Participants enjoyed the campus of La Salle University (Photo: Brenna Goth)

Dr. Borlaug took action when witnessing these challenges and didn’t back down to opposition, according to Summit speakers. Several presentations focused on their personal relationships with Dr. Borlaug and the impact he made on wheat research.

 

M.S. Swaminathan, known as the father of the Green Revolution in India, spoke about Dr. Borlaug’s impact on India through a video message. In another video message, Jeanie Borlaug-Laube, Dr. Borlaug’s daughter, said her father worked for everything he had and would tell young people to continue the fight to feed the world. Wheat breeder Sanjaya Rajaram, who started his career with Dr. Borlaug, recounted early mornings in the field and Dr. Borlaug’s kindness to Mexican staff.

 

Though Dr. Borlaug focused much of his career on fighting wheat stem rust, new factors threaten wheat production. Hans Braun, director of CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program, spoke about the need to breed varieties resistant to climate change and revisit triticale, a crop full of potential and Dr. Borlaug’s “unfinished business.”

 

Scientists today can learn from Dr. Borlaug’s communication skills, said Ronnie Coffman, professor at Cornell University and chair of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. Researchers must advocate for biotechnology to fight hunger, he said.

 

Regarding Dr. Borlaug’s response to opposition to the Green Revolution, Coffman said, “Borlaug did not waver before the naysayers and policymakers. We must draw on his conviction and share it with the world.”

 

The day ended with policy recommendations and a panel discussion on what Dr. Borlaug might do today. The Summit continues tomorrow with a focus on why wheat matters to the world. Follow @CIMMYT on Twitter from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. MST for live updates.

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: 25 March

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

 Check out the Storify recap here!

 

Happy birthday, Norman Borlaug!

 

CIMMYT is celebrating 100 years of Norman Borlaug with the #Borlaug100 Summit on Wheat for Food Security in Ciudad ObregĂłn, Sonora, Mexico. The first day of the Summit was spent with a few of Dr. Borlaug’s favorite things: visits to the wheat fields, collaboration with local farmers and carne asada.

 

Nearly 700 people from more than 60 countries are attending the Summit, which unites some of the greatest minds in agriculture to talk about Dr. Borlaug’s legacy, wheat science and food security. On Tuesday, participants visited the Norman E. Borlaug Experimental Station (CENEB) for a morning of field visits and the official opening of the Summit.

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Farmer evaluation of QPM varieties critical to NuME project success

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By Seifu Mahifere/CIMMYT

 

The Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia project (NuME) is working to promote quality protein maize (QPM) by making sure new varieties fit farmers’ specifications. The project conducted a training event on farmers’ and consumer participatory evaluation (FCPE) methodologies to ensure that QPM varieties developed and disseminated by NuME reflect the tastes and preferences of targeted farmers.

 

About 25 staff from national and regional research centers, regional bureaus of agriculture, Ethiopian seed enterprises and Sasakawa Global 2000 participated in the event during 6-8 March at the Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, southeast of Addis Ababa. The event addressed the basic principles of FCPE, methods of organization of FCPEs, as well as data entry, analysis and reporting of results.

 

Participants made a field trip to a NuME seed multiplication site run by the Melkassa center and observed the agronomic features of QPM varieties being grown on 4 hectares. They also tasted, smelled and observed food products made from QPM and conventional variety maize and gave their preferences. The trainees will follow this procedure when they conduct FCPEs with farmers and consumers in their localities. They need to understand farming systems of their localities, identify the criteria farmers use to evaluate varieties and understand ways of conducting on-station evaluations and evaluation during surveys.

Trainees evaluate maize varieties during a field exercise. Photo: Seifu Mahifere

 

The training was facilitated in part by Hugo de Groote, a CIMMYT economist based in Kenya, while Nilupa Gunaratna of the Harvard University School of Public Health covered the FCPE data analysis and reporting methodologies. Sasakawa Global 2000 and NuME staff members also made presentations on sensory evaluation for QPM food preparations as well as gender considerations in undertaking FCPEs.

 

Formally opening the training, Getachew Ayana, director of the Melkassa Research Center, noted that the center is “very pleased to host this important training, which helps to upgrade the skills of the participants on farmers’ evaluation methodologies of QPM varieties.” He noted that farmers’ evaluation of QPM varieties is critical to the success of NuME, which is currently developing and disseminating new QPM varieties in the major maize areas of the country.

 

Experience gained both from the Quality Protein Maize Development (QPMD) project (the predecessor to NuME) and other social science research indicates that failure to ensure the incorporation of farmers’ tastes and preferences for the varieties beforehand leads to farmers not adopting varieties they do not like. “It is thus absolutely critical that farmers and consumers are aware of the products we promote and that they like them from many points of view – taste, productivity and even color,” de Groote said, adding, “It is not enough that farmers and consumers like a particular variety, but we also need to make sure that they are also willing to pay for it.”

 

Adefris Teklewold, NuME project leader, noted the training took place at a good time for the project when major seed breeders in the country are in favor of promoting QPM. He said the training helped “to convince ourselves and farmers that QPM really helps improve the nutritional status of children and farmers in general.” Teklewold also underscored the need for the participants to disseminate the knowledge gained from the training to others through the ‘train the trainers’ methodology.

 

Happy Birthday, Norman Borlaug!

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Today, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center will celebrate what would have been Dr. Norman E. Borlaug’s 100th birthday with the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security, which brings together wheat scientists, policymakers, and donor agencies to reflect on the successes of the Green Revolution; the new challenges we are facing in terms of wheat production, environmental sustainability, and food security; and the innovations and partnerships we are going to need to meet those challenges. At the Summit, CIMMYT and Biology Fortified will debut a brand new music video produced by John Boswell of Melodysheep featuring Norman Borlaug and some of his signature phrases, fiery outlook, and passion for using science to make the world a less hungry place.

 
The music video combines archival footage of Dr. Borlaug and an inspiring soundtrack to highlight his tireless fight to bring new, useful technologies to farmers. The problems that motivated Dr. Borlaug are still relevant today, and the music video highlights these issues while showing how people can work toward solving them. Boswell, who produced the popular Symphony of Science music video series, transforms the spoken words of famous scientists into music.

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security honors the 100th anniversary of the birth and the legacy of Dr. Norman Borlaug, a legendary CIMMYT scientist who developed high-yielding, semi-dwarf wheat that is credited with saving over 1 billion people from starvation. The Summit will look back at Borlaug’s legacy as the father of the Green Revolution, which sparked key advances in food production. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 in recognition of his contributions to world peace through an increased food supply. Borlaug’s wheat varieties were grown in Mexico, Turkey, India and Pakistan, boosting harvests in those countries, avoiding famine in South Asia and sparking widespread adoption of improved crop varieties and farming practices.

In celebration of Dr. Borlaug’s centennial, throughout the year Biology Fortified will produce content – interviews, articles, blog posts, and other interactive features – about wheat and its importance around the world. Biology Fortified will aim to educate about the history and biology of the crop, and spark discussions of critical issues in its future. They will also include videos about how wheat is used in cuisines throughout the world, with recipes that people can try at home.

View the Play Hard video on YouTube.

For more information on the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security, visit www.borlaug100.org.

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: speaker roundup

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

 

More than 25 speakers will gather with nearly 700 participants in Ciudad ObregĂłn, Sonora, Mexico, next week for the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security, an event celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Norman Borlaug. Top wheat scientists, policy analysts, scholars and authors will address topics ranging from the history of wheat to current agricultural innovations. Take a look at what some of our speakers have been up to and see the whole list here.

 

  • Wheat scientist Graham Farquhar was recently honored with the U.K.’s Rank Prize for his work developing a technique that led to the “emergence of new commercial wheat varieties.”
  • Plant breeder Ronnie Coffman received the inaugural World Agriculture Prize in October.
  • Per Pinstrup-Andersen looks at the response of policymakers to food price crises.
  • Tony Fischer was recognized at CIMMYT last year for his contributions to wheat science.
  • Scholar Uma Lele addresses gender and agriculture on her blog.
  • Jikun Huang talks about food demand and supply in China in this Q&A.
  • Ashok Gulati gives his opinion on India’s agricultural sector.
  • Rikin Gandhi explains how farmers benefit from sharing videos.

 

Follow #Borlaug100 for more news from the Summit. Sessions will be streamed live from 26-28 March on www.borlaug100.org.

Radio broadcasts spread maize technology in Ethiopia

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By Seifu Mahifere/CIMMYT

The Nutritious Maize for Ethiopia project (NuME) has launched a series of participatory radio campaigns in the country’s regional states as an innovative approach to spread messages about protein and nutrition, with a special focus on quality protein maize (QPM), to Ethiopian small-scale farmers.

A farmer shows the radio in her home (Photo: courtesy of Farm Radio International presentation).

The campaign is a major part of the NuME communications strategy, which is designed to help the project improve household income as well as food and nutritional security, especially among women and children. NuME’s focus is the adoption of QPM and crop management practices that increase farm productivity.

The programs were launched in March 2013 and are broadcast in Amharic, Oromiffa and Tigrigna – three of the major languages spoken in Ethiopia. The first series focused on giving mothers information to improve their children’s health through balanced, nutritious diets, as a lead-up to the introduction of QPM varieties.  Follow-up campaigns will target male and female growers of hybrid maize and cover QPM, intercropping and other agronomic practices that will benefit small-scale farmers.

Transmitted in collaboration with three regional broadcasting stations, the 30-minute programs are aired weekly at 8:00 p.m., when families are often home and eating dinner. The success of the radio campaign is bolstered by training given to a select group of journalists on various aspects of QPM. Program content is also generated by a content advisory panel that includes NuME partner representatives and agriculture researchers focused on protein, CIMMYT staff (including a gender specialist), staff members from the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research and Ministry of Agriculture, nutrition specialists from the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute and universities, communications experts and seed enterprise representatives.

A farmer speaks about her experiences (Photo: SG 2000 staff).

Gender considerations also shape program content, and Farm Radio International (FRI), an international NGO and NuME partner, has secured female broadcasters for the NuME shows, according to Frehiwot Nadew, FRI country director in Ethiopia. Radio remains the most trusted and most utilized communication medium in rural Ethiopia, and access to radio by small-scale farmers is very high. FRI’s participatory radio campaigns help small-scale farmers learn about, evaluate and benefit from low-cost, sustainable and productive farming practices.

The methodology has already been successful in trials with 25 radio stations in 5 countries in Africa. Data from those trials demonstrate that, on average, a participatory radio campaign will result in 21 percent of all farmers trying a new technology, such as QPM maize, in the first year within the broadcast area of the radio station producing the campaign. NuME is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development of the Government of Canada (DFATD).

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: wheat facts and fiction

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The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security will celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Norman Borlaug while addressing wheat’s role in food security today. The event will take place in Ciudad ObregĂłn, Sonora, Mexico, on 25-28 March.

Sam Storr/CIMMYT

 

Wheat is the most widely cultivated cereal worldwide, providing micronutrients and up to 20 percent of dietary protein for 4.5 billion people in 94 developing countries. Changing diets and the ability of wheat to adapt to different conditions has expanded consumption. At the same time, the crop has faced new criticism, particularly from proponents of popular diets in the developed world.

A survey of the most recent academic literature addressing, “Does wheat make us fat and sick?” finds most of the accusations leveled at wheat to be misconceptions, underlining the crop’s continued importance for global nutrition. Wheat consumption is blamed for causing obesity, cardiovascular problems and diabetes.

 

Foto: Xochiquetzal Fonseca/ CIMMYT

However, the study finds little evidence that wheat in processed foods is directly responsible for adverse health effects. Wheat was widely consumed long before the modern obesity epidemic. In fact, the consumption of whole grains in the U.S.A. and Europe has recently been found to be associated with the reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer.

 

Those with celiac disease (less than 1 percent of the population) or gluten sensitivity (estimated at between 5 and 10 percent) can suffer from eating wheat, the study authors agree, and more research is needed to understand these conditions. Study authors say that the science behind claims that wheat is unhealthy is often misinterpreted. One example is glycemic index, a measure of how blood glucose rises after a food is eaten, which is wrongly seen as evidence that wheat is bad for you.

 

Cardiologist W.R. Davis, author of Wheat Belly, claims that wheat contains addictive opioids that make it impossible for people to regulate their diet. Although laboratory tests have shown that the protein gliadin can break down into an opiate under certain conditions, it is impossible for it to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Humans have cultivated and bred wheat for more than 8,000 years, but plant breeding since the 1960s is accused of creating unhealthy or unnatural wheat in the search for higher yields. Gliadin is highlighted as an “unnatural” component of wheat, even though its presence dates back to ancient wheat and it is found in rye and barley as well.

 

CIMMYT wheat breeders have more on their minds than just yields. Dr. Norman Borlaug understood from the outset that successful breeding must produce high-quality wheat. He thus established the CIMMYT wheat quality lab in the late 1960s, now a central part of the breeding program, recalled Javier Peña, former CIMMYT wheat grain quality specialist.

 

Thinking about quality keeps wheat relevant to the world. Different culinary traditions require wheat with different characteristics, but the global diet is changing. “Many of the foods now popular around the world were at one time only regional favorites,” Peña said. “This has to do with lifestyles, such as greater participation of women in the work force.” The genetic diversity of wheat means that breeders can find varieties with higher levels of micronutrients such as iron and zinc, a lower glycemic index, or polysaccharides that mimic the action of fiber to make food more satisfying.

 

As CIMMYT scientists work to improve wheat’s characteristics to benefit global food and nutritional security, it is important to include traits that can make food more appealing and healthy.

Pioneering advocate of innovation, resource conservation and technology adoption visits South Asia

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By Andrew McDonald/CIMMYT

 

A former CIMMYT scientist recently returned to South Asia to share his expertise in conservation agriculture.

 

Peter Hobbs worked for CIMMYT as a regional agronomist from 1988 to 2002 and co-led the creation and management of the Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) for the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Hobbs now works at Cornell University, most recently as associate director of International Programs. The Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project invited Hobbs to Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh and the Terai region of Nepal from 18 to 24 January, where he offered perspectives on South Asia’s progress in the last decade in ricewheat systems research, and heard comments from colleagues.

Former CIMMYT scientist Peter Hobbs. Andrew McDonald/CIMMYT
Former CIMMYT scientist Peter Hobbs. Andrew McDonald/CIMMYT

“Peter Hobbs is the pioneer of zero tillage wheat in South Asia – one of CIMMYT’s best contributions in this region after Norman Borlaug,” said R.K. Malik, a member of CSISA’s senior management team who accompanied Hobbs through India. Malik was a core member of the RWC during Hobb’s time and a champion of zero tillage (ZT) for sowing wheat in rice-wheat rotations. Malik recalled CIMMYT’s early efforts to introduce conservation agriculture in India. Hobbs was integral, bringing the first ZT machine to India from New Zealand in 1989 -the Aitchison drill which was later modified, improved and widely adopted in India.

 

He said that Hobbs applied innovative and multi-disciplinary approaches that united the efforts of the national research programs with an array of public and private stakeholders. “This technology was dependent on identifying champions in the areas where we worked to engage innovative farmers, energize the scientists involved and link them with local machinery manufacturers and farmers, Hobbs said. Hobbs shared observations on his travels through the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains. “After seeing the fields in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, there is no question that ZT and reduced-tillage technologies do work and do provide benefits as long as they are done properly and the enabling factors are in place,” he said.

 

He stressed that farmers must have access to machinery, inputs and related expertise, perhaps through a network of service providers. “That means we have to look at the way research can help farmers – having a more participatory approach and providing incentives to scientists and extension workers based on accountability and performance is critical for success,” Hobbs stated. “The RWC and legacy of pioneering scientists like Peter Hobbs, Raj Gupta and R.K. Malik established the foundation for CIMMYT’s ongoing work and impact with farmers in the region through projects like CSISA,” said Andrew McDonald, CSISA project leader. “It was a true pleasure to have Peter’s insights into where we are succeeding and where we can do better. South Asia is changing quickly, but the core lessons from where we’ve come still resonate.”

 

Hobbs is optimistic about the potential of these technologies in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. “It was very rewarding to see that interest in resource- conserving technologies has grown and continues to thrive in this region, and specifically in the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains, where there is great potential to benefit farmers and also contribute to food security in a more environmentally friendly way.”

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: Borlaug buzz

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

Dr. Norman Borlaug’s research, the impacts of the Green Revolution and the state of food security today are garnering attention as the world prepares to celebrate what would have been Dr. Borlaug’s 100th birthday. Starting in two weeks, CIMMYT’s Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security will recognize his accomplishments while asking what interventions are needed today.

 

Dr. Norman E. Borlaug and Dr. R.A. (Tony) Fischer, Australian wheat physiologist and a former director of the Global Wheat Program, stand in the D5 agriculture trial at CIMMYT headquarters in El BatĂĄn, Mexico in the mid-1990s.
Photo submitted by Tony Fischer/CIMMYT

 

Want to join the conversation? Check out what other people are saying:

 

  • CIMMYT Director General Thomas Lumpkin looks at Borlaug’s life and contributions to CIMMYT in this Cosmos Magazine article.
  • An op-ed in Forbes Magazine addresses opposition to the Green Revolution.
  • This Texas A&M article looks at the upcoming dedication of Dr. Borlaug’s statue in  the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall.
  • Julie Borlaug advocates for more discussion on GMOs at a Bayer CropScience forum.

 

Follow #Borlaug100 for live updates from the Summit.

Seed systems team strategizes and plans for Africa

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By Florence Sipalla/CIMMYT

 

The CIMMYT-Africa seed systems team met in Nairobi, Kenya, on 7 February to take stock of progress in 2013, identify challenges and brainstorm on turning those challenges into opportunities. Global Maize Program (GMP) Director B.M. Prasanna and members of the breeding, communications and socioeconomics teams also attended.

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Nepal project explores wheat diversity

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT
A CIMMYT project in Nepal made significant progress in identifying local wheat diversity last year.

Members of a seed cooperative in the Changathali village, Lalitpur district near Kathmandu, Nepal. The group has been practicing participatory
varietal selection (PVS), seed production and dissemination for the last 10 years, but is now facing problems due to urbanization. Maiya Maharjam (wearing the yellow scarf) is the leader of this cooperative and previously won the NARC award for PVS and seed distribution.

The project, “Collection, multiplication, characterization and safety duplication of wheat and barley landraces from Nepal,” led by Arun Kumar Joshi, principal scientist for the Global Wheat Program, began in January 2013 and will run until October 2015. National partners include Madan Raj Bhatta and Bal Krishna Joshi from the Nepal Agriculture Research Council, Khumaltar, Lalitpur.

Since the project began, researchers have developed guidelines “to explore, collect and characterize wheat and barley diversity,” according to the project’s 2013 Technical and Financial Progress Report. They found that traditional wheat diversity exists with opportunities for further exploration.

A cabinet in the headquarters of the National Wheat Research Program, Bhairhawa, displays a selection of wheat seed. Photos: Emma Quilligan

Researchers focused on the Baitadi, Dadeldhura and Doti districts in western Nepal, a traditional wheat region. Researchers visited Village Development Committees and farmers to collect seed and interviews. Farmers are still cultivating a variety of landraces, which feature drought tolerance and good chapatti quality. In total, 85 wheat accessions were collected and mapped along with 16 barley landraces. Employees from Nepal’s gene bank also helped with the effort.

The collections are currently under regeneration. The gene bank will send about 180 wheat and 50 barley collections to CIMMYT and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) by June 2015 for duplication.

The Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security: worldwide celebrations

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By Brenna Goth/CIMMYT

CIMMYT isn’t the only organization recognizing what would have been the 100th birthday of scientist and hunger fighter Dr. Norman E. Borlaug. There’s about one month to go until Dr. Borlaug’s birthday on 25 March but the celebrations will continue throughout the year.

We’ve mapped them out below, based on this list compiled by the World Food Prize.

View the interactive version here.

There’s still time to participate. CIMMYT is collecting stories and photos in advance of the Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security in March while the World Food Prize is asking how you’ll help feed the world in honor of Dr. Borlaug. Submit your response here.
Follow #Borlaug100 on social media for the latest celebration news.