Ripe tomatoes in a field (photo credit: IITA/Jonathan Odhong’).

By Andreas Gramzow, World Vegetable Center.

‘I grow vegetables because they provide ready cash for me and my family,’ says a beaming Hassan Saidi; one of the farmers who has benefited from activities led by the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC)  under the Africa RISING-NAFAKA and TUBORESHE CHAKULA project for fast tracking delivery and scaling of agricultural technologies in Tanzania.

Saidi is 20 years old and lives in Maweni village, about 25 km east of Babati town in Tanzania. He has participated in the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Tanzania mission-funded project since its inception in October 2014 and is finally reaping the benefits of making changes to his farming practices based on the advice of the project team.

Like the other 160 farmers trained by the project in April 2015 on vegetable garden establishment and maintenance, Saidi was also provided with an AVRDC vegetable seed pack with improved varieties to cultivate. His results have been impressive!

‘This is now the third time that I have reproduced my own vegetable seeds from the AVRDC varieties,’ he said. Out of the six varieties AVRDC has introduced to his village, he chose tomato (Tengeru 2010), African eggplant (DB3), and African nightshade (Nduruma).

‘These are the best I have ever grown. I don’t need any other crops. I was able to harvest 20 bags of African nightshade, where I previously produced only 1.5 bags. My tomato yields have doubled, and I am still harvesting African eggplant from the seed that I sowed half a year ago,’ he says. ‘Since I started with the AVRDC varieties eight months ago, my income has increased by more than TSH 400,000 (USD 190),’ explains Saidi.

Asked about the secret behind his exemplary success, he says the reasons are many but the main one is his use of the improved varieties from AVRDC. ‘But I also did other things like changing the spacing between seedlings. On the same plot (1/8 acre) where I sowed six lines of African nightshade before, I now sow only two lines. This is not to save seeds, but rather for disease control.’ As a result, Saidi now face much lower disease pressure and can harvest African nightshade for more than three months. Previously, he stopped harvesting after only one month because of pests and diseases. But now he even supplies African nightshade and African eggplant to other farmers and he hardly sprays any chemicals on tthe vegetables.

Saidi’s success has caught the attention of other farmers. Now the shy youthful farmer has a thing or two to teach his older neighbouring farmers. Perhaps his success can also just be the jolt his fellow youth need to get into farming. ‘My neighbours come to visit me regularly and are impressed by the crops they see on my plots,’ he says.

‘Vegetable farming can be so much fun…and profitable too,’ says Hassan Saidi (photo credit: AVRDC/Andreas Gramzow).

In a bid to improve his farm harvest, Saidi also experiments with different vegetable varieties. ‘I have established a separate one-acre plot on my farm, where I only grow AVRDC varieties and compare them with the local varieties grown on another plot in my farm. With the seeds I have produced from my first two harvests, I am also growing seedlings. Now my neighbors come and ask for seedlings and I give them some free of charge.’

This scaling project that brought success to Saidi and supports other vegetable growers in Manyara, Dodoma, Morogoro, and Iringa regions. Since the project started in October 2014, the implementing team has introduced improved agronomic practices and vegetable varieties to 12 villages in the four regions, trained 230 farmers and provided more than 800 farmers with AVRDC vegetable seed packs with improved varieties ready to be grown for home consumption and for sale in local and regional markets.

From East to West Africa,post-graduate students supported by Africa RISING are completing their research studies….and sharing their findings.In this brief,we feature four students who’ve recently defended their research theses – Clarisse Umutoni, Shitindi Mawazo, Daniel Apalibe and Alagma Henry. They are among a cohort of 47 MSc and 15 PhD students supported by the Africa RISING program in West Africa and East/Southern Africa from 2012 – 2016…..click  here to read more

Monica Paschal is a 48-year-old farmer and a mother of five. She has been involved in small-scale farming for 27 years and refers to herself as ‘mkulima wa kujikimu’ (Swahili for smallholder/subsistence farmer).

‘The past three years have been the most satisfying to me as a farmer because I have been able to gradually transform my farming from subsistence to a profitable mini-enterprise which has enabled me to ….click here to read more

The Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition global portal recently published a case study highlighting the success of Africa RISING interventions in improving vegetable varieties and production among smallholder farmers in Kilombero District, Tanzania.

The case study explains the innovative approaches used to overcome challenges in vegetable farming, the impacts already being realized and lessons learned by the World Vegetable Center, HORTI Tengeru and other partners who are implementing the project in the country.

The Bioversity for Food and Nutrition global portal publishes case studies (preliminary assessments) of projects that are being successfully implemented around the world linking agricultural biodiversity to nutrition and market outcomes.

Download the case study

With expansion of arable land and resultant decline in grazing resources, crop residues are becoming an increasingly important component of livestock feeds and a key livelihood resource in mixed crop-livestock production systems.

This poster, produced for the Tropentag 2016 conference, explains findings from studies which characterized the use of crop residues for livestock feed as an option for enhancing intensification in smallholder farms in Babati District in Tanzania.

Matilda Msangila, a farmer in Mahutanga Village, Kilombero District Tanzania harvests salt tolerant rice variety from her paddy field (Photo credit: Gloriana Ndibalema/IITA)

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Food Security in Washington DC has announced funding for a second 5-year phase of the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program beginning October 2016. Funded through the agency’s Feed the Future initiative the second phase of Africa RISING will focus on ensuring farming communities within target feed the future zones of influence in Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Mali get access to the best-bet/best-fit improved farming practices identified by the project’s research team during the first phase of the project.

“Farmers need access to improved agricultural technologies that have gone through an iterative research process to establish suitability and quality if they are to sustainably optimize the productivity of their farms in a way that lets them benefit from existing and future markets and add value to their crops and herds. This is the goal we aim to achieve through programs like Africa RISING that will now in this new phase have significant focus on ensuring farmers get their hands on improved technologies that have gone through this process,” said Jerry Glover, the USAID Bureau for Food Security’s Senior Sustainable Agriculture Advisor.

The goal of the Africa RISING program is to create opportunities for smallholder  farm households to move out of hunger and poverty through sustainably intensified farming systems that improve food, nutrition, and income security, particularly for women and children, and conserve or enhance the natural resource base. The program which brings together over 100 research and development organizations teaming up to achieve this goal is led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (in West Africa and East and Southern Africa) and the International Livestock Research Institute (in the Ethiopian Highlands). The International Food Policy Research Institute leads the evaluation and impact assessment.

“During first phase of the program, we focused on research with selected farming communities and successfully identified and validated various demand-driven agricultural technologies with the greatest potential of being scaled to reach more farmers. Our targets in the second phase is to continue validating these technologies and ensure that at least 500,000 small holder farm households get access and are able to benefit from these technologies,” notes Dr. Siboniso Moyo, Chair Africa RISING program steering committee.

Phase II of Africa RISING has an ambitious, but achievable vision of success across the six countries. Collectively, the three projects will engage with almost 25,000 participating research households. Guided by the technical, system and national priorities, the program will work directly with development partners to scale Africa RISING innovations into a further 500,000 households. The evidence base generated through this widespread scaling will help catalyse further partnerships that will put promising technologies and integrated interventions in the hands of millions of target rural people.

The Ethiopia project will formally align with the proposed CGIAR LIVESTOCK research program; the others to the CGIAR MAIZE program

Phase II begins on October 1, 2016. Download the phase II proposals:

• Africa RISING phase 2 umbrella proposal
• Africa RISING East and Southern Africa project phase 2 proposal
• Africa RISING West Africa project phase 2 proposal
• Africa RISING Ethiopian Highlands project phase 2 proposal
• Africa RISING Monitoring and evaluation scope of work for Phase II

Maize variety (DK9089) planted on tied ridges and fertilizer application is one of the technologies introduced to farmers. Demonstrations are being used as a key tool for the project to facilitate learning and the adoption of proven technologies (photo credit:IITA/Gloriana Ndibalema)

Improved agricultural technologies implemented by the Africa RISING project in Tanzania recently attracted praise from the Kongwa District Council as a project that promotes “practical improved agricultural technologies that can be applied to fight hunger in the District”. During a recent meeting (councillor’s Baraza) organized by the Kongwa District Council on 20 – 21 October; council members lauded Africa RISING efforts in the district over the past 5 years to provide farmers with effective technologies to mitigate against negative impacts of climate change.

“I am extremely impressed by what Africa RISING has been doing within our District. Farmers have been capacitated to improve their farming practices and provided with improved technologies like drought tolerant maize varieties that have made their lives much better. I believe Africa RISING is here at the right moment and we are keen for it to continue making its contributions to support Kongwa District Council in its campaign to fight against hunger through the ‘Ondoa Njaa Kongwa (ONJOKA)’ campaign,” noted the Kongwa District Commissioner, Mr Deogratias Ndejembi.

The District Commissioner also expressed optimism about the complementarity between Africa RISING’s planned scaling up of technologies and the ONJOKA initiative noting that the two initiatives will contribute in a major way to eradicating hunger in Kongwa District.

Africa RISING project partners at the meeting took the opportunity to also share some of the key results from research work done by the project and how the plans for scaling them up to reach as many farmers as possible.

Key technologies highlighted by the project team for scaling up in future included: Aflatoxin mitigation, food safety and market competitiveness; Gliricidia-pigeonpea doubled-up legume technologies;Integrated crop management technologies; Improving poultry genetics and feeding for enhanced productivity; Improved resilient legumes (groundnut and pigeonpea) and cereals like sorghum, pearl millet, Quality Protein Maize, among others.

The Africa RISING project has been implementing research for development activities in Kongwa and Kiteto districts since 2012. Partner institutions involved in implementing project activities in the two districts include International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT); Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) -Hombolo, Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), University of Dodoma (UDOM), the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

Certificates awarded to the two winning Africa RISING posters at a ‘partnerships for development week’ in Nigeria in November 2016.

Two posters on scaling techniques applied by the Africa RISING project in Tanzania were recently ranked 2^nd and 3^rd at a hotly contested poster competition featuring over 50 entries during the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) partnership for development (P4D) week on 20–25 November 2016 in Ibadan, Nigeria.

The two posters ‘Geographic information system (GIS) generated recommendations for scaling crop varieties in Tanzania‘ and ‘Taking agricultural technologies to scale‘ were presented by Africa RISING scientists Francis Kamau, a GIS specialist, and Haroon Sseguya, a technology scaling specialist.

They were ranked highly for demonstrating ‘innovative approaches on scaling and partnerships that ensure agricultural technologies developed through research are delivered at scale to address the most pressing challenges facing smallholder farmers in Africa‘.

The partnership for development (P4D) week is IITA’s premier biennial event attended by over 200 scientists who deliberate and share experiences about global trends and approaches for effective partnerships and scaling models that have the greatest potential   to show, or are already showing, how agricultural technologies that are developed from research can get into the hands of millions of smallholder farmers in Africa.

Download the two posters:

An Africa RISING scientist discussing with farmers
characteristics of Napier grass accessions

Originally published in Forages for the Future Newsletter, issue 3, December 2016

Livestock in Tanzania are largely underfed with farmers meeting only 65% of feed needs in a year, under best conditions. Farm areas with crops range from 0.3 to 0.7 ha, while the area committed to forages is <0.04 ha. Grazing areas are overgrazed and dominated by poor natural pasture species; and high-yielding planted forages lack, especially herbaceous legumes.

These problems are exacerbated by strong seasonal feed variations, high wastage of forage on farms during feeding, and knowledge gaps among farmers on how to select, plant, grow and use planted forages.

The Africa RISING program is working to introduce high-yielding improved forages into existing systems to reduce feed scarcity, nutrient losses and water pollution. A rapid assessment of the farming systems was conducted using the Feed Assessment Tool and the Farmer Centered Diagnosis (FCD) methodology.

This Integrated Livestock Feed Intervention Package, led by ILRI in collaboration with CIAT, consists of three sets of trials including: (a) assessing productivity of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpereum), herbaceous legumes and different combinations; (b) assessing productivity of cereal crop and forage combinations including the integration of fodder trees and shrubs on boundaries and soil conservation structures (contours); and (c) testing performance of forage-based diets. Within the Napier grass trials, soil moisture was measured weekly over a 2-year period.

The aim of the integrated package was to evaluate: (i) suitability and productivity of forages in different agro-climates and farming systems; (ii) the effect of forages on milk yield and; (iii) impacts of forages on water and nutrient fluxes through leaching and runoff to water ways.

A sole Napier grass plot on a farm in Long village

Giving farmers a choice of forage options

In every agro-ecological zone, at least one Napier grass accession was outstanding regarding dry matter yield (DM) or quality attributes, giving farmers options to choose from. In participatory assessment, in some cases farmers preferred certain accessions because of their leafiness, ability to endure drought and rapid regeneration after cutting even if they did not have the highest DM yield, indicating that farmers’ preferences need to be accommodated. Different combinations of Napier grass accessions with four legumes (Desmodium intortum cv. Greenleaf, Vigna unguiculata, Vicia villosa and Lablab purpureus) were tested. To encourage faster adoption, two farmer-managed centres for multiplying vegetative planting materials have been established in Long, Sabilo, Seloto and Haillu villages of Babati district.

A farmer harvesting Napier grass planting material at one of the bulking sites in Babati

Planted forages benefit the environment

Water runoff results indicated there were significant differences between the forage grass-legume combinations and the bare control. The control had higher runoff regimes (>60%) than the grass-legume combinations and the forage grasses and forage grass-legume interactions had a significant influence on water productivity.

Clearly graphical trends depicted that some Napier grass accessions were superior, both with Greenleaf and as sole components, over the two years. Overall, the Napier-Greenleaf combination performed better than the Napier-Lablab combination which, in turn, outperformed the sole forage grasses.
Credits:

All photos from Ben Lukuyu, ILRI

By Ben Lukuyu, with contributions from Chris Jones (ILRI)

Further reading:

Kizito, F., Lukuyu, B., Sikumba, G., Kihara, J., Bekunda, M., et al. 2016. The role of forages in sustainable intensification of crop-livestock agro-ecosystems in the face of climate change: The case for landscapes in
Babati, northern Tanzania. In: Climate Change and Multi-Dimensional Sustainability in African Agriculture (pp. 411-430). Springer International Publishing. http://hdl.handle.net/10568/78414

Originally published in Forages for the Future Newsletter, issue 3, December 2016

How switching to improved agricultural technologies like hybrid maize varieties and application of bladed fertilizers catalyzed a young female farmer’s dramatic rise from an off-season casual laborer to a champion farmer in rural Tanzania.

Some three odd years ago, 22year-old Siza Mkini was at a cross road in her life. She had just dropped out of school the previous year after it was apparent that she could not continue with her education because she could neither afford nor find a relative capable and willing to pay her school fees. Siza had also during that period become an orphan after her father passed on in early 2013. Her younger siblings now depended on her for their food and other daily needs almost entirely.

“At that point in time, my life seemed to be unravelling. So I had to do something fast to ensure that we get through the tough times,” explains Siza. “I initially started growing maize and poultry rearing in one corner of our family land. However because this wasn’t bringing in returns fast and often crop failures and disease infection to the poultry; I started working for neighboring families in Kitowo Village as an off season laborer,” she adds.

Siza’s challenges continued on and off; until in early 2015 when she got wind of the commencement of Africa RISING – NAFAKA project in Kilolo District. Through her participation in the project since its inception, Siza was trained on various agronomic practices of maize production and introduced to different improved maize varieties – some of which she has adopted.

From the income she gets from her farm, Siza Mkini can now buy clothes for her grandmother and her siblings too.Photo credit: Ahazi Mkoma/ICRAF

Of the different technologies she was introduced to, two stand out in Siza’s opinion – growing of hybrid maize verities and bladed fertilizer application. The two technologies, in her opinion, have revolutionized her life! From the 4 acres family land where she would grow maize and harvest a measly 0.2 tons of maize, she now harvests 4 tons!

 “I never thought that maize production at  this scale  was possible on our degraded land in Kitowo Village! Thank goodness,  I have seen it happening in our family farm after applying the new  knowledge and technologies from the Africa RISING – NAFAKA project. My family members look at me as a champion!” exclaims Siza.

Siza is now able to afford and provide for her family’s needs and comfortably put food on the table from the income she earns from the sale of her maize harvest. From this income she has also been capable to enroll her daughter into a nursery school and equally pay school fee for her younger siblings. She is equally taking on board bigger family responsibilities and decisions.

Her story proves that improved soil management, application of correct agronomic practices (including fertilizer application) and planting improved seed varieties leads as promoted by the Africa RISING-NAFAKA project leads to significant improvement in yields for farmers. The project aims to provide access to improved agricultural input technologies to male and female farmers in the semi-arid and sub-humid zones of Tanzania. The project is implemented along the rice, maize, and vegetable value chains and works with farmer communities in five regions of Tanzania: Dodoma, Iringa, Manyara, Mbeya, and Morogoro.

Siza Mkini’s farm is now a village attraction. Her fellow farmers in Kitowo village frequently visit her farm to ‘take a look’ at what she does that makes it so productive.Photo credit: Ahazi Mkoma/ICRAF

Recent agronomic research has generated innovative sustainable intensification technologies for increase food production while conserving natural resources. Development programs and extension services have invested significant effort to promote adoption of best-bet intensification technologies. However, the achievement of the much needed impact at scale with these improved technologies has been often hindered by low adoption by farmers.Proper targeting of sites to scale out agricultural technologies is a key determinant of the subsequent rate of adoption. Scaling technologies in locations with similar biophysical and socio-economic characteristics significantly increase probability of adoption. Such similar locations are referred to recommendation domains (RDs).

This poster presents a geospatial framework for delineating RDs for crop varieties which are part of the Africa RISING technology packages.The framework is therefore an evidence-based tool for guiding development and extension agencies on spatial targeting of sustainable intensification technologies to achieve maximum impact from limited resources.

CGSpace record: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/78113

Related story

Sustainable intensification which focuses on increasing agricultural productivity while meeting high standards for sustainability in environmental, economic and social terms is one of the critical approaches for addressing food insecurity and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2012, the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) program has developed, validated and refined agricultural technologies that can enhance productivity for specific agro-ecologies in eastern, southern and western Africa.

In 2014, the program embarked on a collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-led Tanzania Staples Value Chains (NAFAKA) project to enhance scaling of the research outputs through the  introduction of improved crop varieties, good agricultural practices, natural resource management, reduction of food wastage and spoilage and community capacity building in the country. The target is to jointly reach 47,000 households and have about 6 0,000 hectares under improved technologies by 2017.

Approach adopted under the partnership

The partnership uses a mother-baby-grand baby approach to facilitate technology promotion and learning by farmers and extension personnel. Each trainee in the previous year is expected to train others in subsequent years. Secondly, to enhance further scaling, partnerships with local institutions (extension, agro-input supply, markets and processing) are crucial. The crucial guiding principles of the project are:

• jointly planning and identifying new partners as we progress;
• capacity building for, and deepening collaboration with, local institutions;
• using geographic information system (GIS) for technology targeting; and
• having a functional communication and coordination mechanism.

Results

Now moving into its third year of operation, the project has succeeded in putting 13,000 hectares of land under improved technologies and 10,400 households have adopted the technologies within the project target zones.

CGSpace record: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/78193

Read a related story on Africa RISING collaboration with NAFAKA in Tanzania.

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is vital for tracking and measuring results, timely reporting, and keeping project managers and stakeholders up-to-date about successes and failures. For a big program such as the Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) that focuses on a wide variety of (localized) agricultural innovations and brings together a large number of local and international research centres, M&E is especially important.

The project’s complexity requires an M&E system that allows regional projects and country teams to track both global and localized socio-economic and environmental indicators that can later be aggregated in meaningful ways to assess program-level outcomes and progress.

Over the last five years, Africa RISING has generated a huge amount of data through agronomic trials, household surveys, and focus group discussions, to mention a few. With so much information, it is crucial that data are properly stored and accessible to researchers and non-researchers alike.

This poster provides a self-reflective look at the key lessons and what it takes to operationalize a robust M&E framework for a complex systems research program like Africa RISING.

CGSpace record: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/78118

Read a related story on monitoring and evaluation activities in Africa RISING.

Post-harvest grain losses are substantially high among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The losses vary among countries, crops, and between seasons with the average loss ranging from 20–40%. This high loss suggests the need for greater attention on reducing post-harvest grain losses in order to address the problem of household food insecurity in developing countries.

As part of reducing the problem of post-harvest grain losses, Africa RISING, through activities implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), has introduced improved hermetic grain storage technologies to smallholder farmers in Tanzania. The improved storage technologies have been tested for their effectiveness in reducing post-harvest grain losses. However, little is known about the economic benefits of using these technologies.

The study summarized in the poster below aimed to quantify the financial gains from the improved storage technologies and to examine how these gains compare with the traditional technology. Specifically, the economic advantage of using Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags over Polypropylene bags which are commonly used by the farmers was analyzed.

The results show that PICS are profitable and hence worth investing in. The net-benefit of PICS for an average maize producer is Tshs 3,727 (USD 1.7)  per bag per storage season which is equivalent to Tshs 67,087  (USD 30.7) per household per season. The net benefit is negative for low maize producers. This is because the average production of this category of farmers is small which could be depleted from the store before the pests are reproduced to the extent that they cause substantial damage. Nevertheless, the new storage bags are economically feasible for other groups of farmers and the size of the benefits per household increases as one goes from the lower middle producer category through to the top producer category with the minimum and maximum figures of Tshs 12,073 and Tshs 178,810 per household per season. The new storage bags remain economically feasible for these groups even if grain prices were lower than the base price by 20% or the price of the bags would be higher than the base price by 20%.

CGSpace record: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/78117

Read a related story on Africa RISING work in Tanzania.

Francis Muthoni, geographic information system specialist at the IInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Arusha, introduces himself and his work with the program. It is one of a series of portraits of key people in Africa RISING.

Francis Muthoni (left) talks to a farmer

Tell us about your background?

I hold a PhD in spatial ecology and MSc in Geo-Information and Earth Observation in Environmental Modelling and Management (GEM) from University of Twente-ITC in Netherlands. My research interests revolve around application of geospatial tools in natural resource management in agro-pastoral landscapes and I am also interested in spatial statistics and programming in R.

Prior to joining IITA, I worked as a GIS consultant for GFA consulting firm where he was involved in GIS training modules for IGAD. I have also served as a GIS Expert in several conservation projects in East Africa including; the Laikipia Elephant Project by University of Cambridge, Mapping spatial trends of human-elephant conflicts in Laikipia ecosystem, the Trans-boundary Environmental

Project (TEP). I also previously trained local institutions and community groups on the use of geospatial tools for mapping natural resources in rangelands. I helped establishment of Ishaqbini Community Conservancy for conservation of endangered Hirola antelope.

What do you do in your current position?

I use geo-spatial data and models to generate recommendation domains for scaling out best-bet agronomic technologies under the Africa RISING-NAFAKA scaling project. The recommendation domains are locations in the landscape with biophysical and socio-economic characteristics similar to pilot sites where particular technologies were tested. Identification of these domains is expected to improve targeting of sites for scaling out agricultural technologies. Scaling out agronomic technologies in the recommended domains is expected increase probability of success due to their similarity with the pilot sites.

What are your plans for Africa RISING –NAFAKA project (i.e. your next bit of work)?

My immediate plan is to collate relevant geospatial data relating to biophysical and socio-economic variables of the project action area. Biophysical data relates to elevation, rainfall and temperature that are largely acquired from remote sensing satellites. Socio-economic data using spatial models includes the population distribution and access to markets that are largely generated using spatial models.

What do you find unique about Africa RISING-NAFAKA partnership project?

The partnership is very unique as it fosters both research and development. The project has a multi-disciplinary team originating from local to international organizations. Despite the diversity of the team composition, they share synergies in fostering both research and development. It therefore enables scientists to come from ivory towers (laboratories and scientific journals) to the farm level where they get to work directly with the small holder farmers, on how to apply agricultural technologies.

I also find the fact that the project also focuses on improving nutrition among the small holder farming communities as a unique thing. This is because it means that the team recognize that rural farmers do not only need to increase productivity, but also improve their nutritional uptake to improve health.

What are the biggest Africa RISING-NAFAKA challenges and how do we deal with them?

In my opinion the main challenge is in adoption of technologies that are demonstrated to farmers. Current farming system in the project area is to a large extent influenced by socio-cultural norms like preference of certain crops. Cultural change takes longer than the 3 years that the project will be implemented. Despite demonstrating the potential of the planting improved crop varieties, their adoption may lag behind due to cultural norms that are confounded by poverty. Strategies for influencing farmers to adopt new crop varieties compared to local ones will evolve with time despite the potential benefits. However the project has an intuitive strategy of targeting lead farmers that can generate success stories and induce fast adoption.

Existence of the land tenure system in some of the project areas too is another challenge that can slow adoption of best-bet/best-fit technologies. This is because farmers that rent land are prohibited by the land owners in applying fertilizers on their farms. Therefore the project should also be training the land owners even if they are currently not involved in actual farming.

What are some of the main achievements of this project so far?

The main achievements include demonstrations of improved crop varieties that are high yielding and good agronomic practices and natural resource conservation measures such as water conservation in the rain-fed maize systems. Mapping of agro-ecologies suitable for growing different crop varieties and/or implementing best-bet/best fit technologies too is another significant achievement. After successful implementation of the project in 3 regions, initial plans have been initiated to expand the benefits to Iringa and Mbeya regions.

What do you most want to accomplish in your work with Africa RISING-NAFAKA scaling project?

I am aiming at developing accurate and reliable geospatial models to generate recommendation domains to guide thematic scientists locating sites with the highest probability of success if the best-bet technologies are implemented there. This will improve adoption rates that I identified as the main challenge.

How switching to improved agricultural technologies like hybrid maize varieties and application of bladed fertilizers catalyzed a young female farmer’s dramatic rise from an off-season casual laborer to a champion farmer in rural Tanzania.

Some three odd years ago, 22year-old Siza Mkini was at a cross road in her life. She had just dropped out of school the previous year after it was apparent that she could not continue with her education because she could neither afford nor find a relative capable and willing to pay her school fees. Siza had also during that period become an orphan after her father passed on in early 2013. Her younger siblings now depended on her for their food and other daily needs almost entirely.

“At that point in time, my life seemed to be unravelling. So I had to do something fast to ensure that we get through the tough times,” explains Siza. “I initially started growing maize and poultry rearing in one corner of our family land. However because this wasn’t bringing in returns fast and often crop failures and disease infection to the poultry; I started working for neighboring families in Kitowo Village as an off season laborer,” she adds.

Siza’s challenges continued on and off; until in early 2015 when she got wind of the commencement of Africa RISING – NAFAKA project in Kilolo District. Through her participation in the project since its inception, Siza was trained on various agronomic practices of maize production and introduced to different improved maize varieties – some of which she has adopted.

From the income she gets from her farm, Siza Mkini can now buy clothes for her grandmother and her siblings too.Photo credit: Ahazi Mkoma/ICRAF

Of the different technologies she was introduced to, two stand out in Siza’s opinion – growing of hybrid maize verities and bladed fertilizer application. The two technologies, in her opinion, have revolutionized her life! From the 4 acres family land where she would grow maize and harvest a measly 0.2 tons of maize, she now harvests 4 tons!

 “I never thought that maize production at  this scale  was possible on our degraded land in Kitowo Village! Thank goodness,  I have seen it happening in our family farm after applying the new  knowledge and technologies from the Africa RISING – NAFAKA project. My family members look at me as a champion!” exclaims Siza.

Siza is now able to afford and provide for her family’s needs and comfortably put food on the table from the income she earns from the sale of her maize harvest. From this income she has also been capable to enroll her daughter into a nursery school and equally pay school fee for her younger siblings. She is equally taking on board bigger family responsibilities and decisions.

Her story proves that improved soil management, application of correct agronomic practices (including fertilizer application) and planting improved seed varieties leads as promoted by the Africa RISING-NAFAKA project leads to significant improvement in yields for farmers. The project aims to provide access to improved agricultural input technologies to male and female farmers in the semi-arid and sub-humid zones of Tanzania. The project is implemented along the rice, maize, and vegetable value chains and works with farmer communities in five regions of Tanzania: Dodoma, Iringa, Manyara, Mbeya, and Morogoro.

Siza Mkini’s farm is now a village attraction. Her fellow farmers in Kitowo village frequently visit her farm to ‘take a look’ at what she does that makes it so productive.Photo credit: Ahazi Mkoma/ICRAF

The leadership team of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)-led Africa RISING project in east and southern Africa recently concluded monitoring visits to project sites in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. The team assessed the status and progress of implementation of various project activities by partners. These visits took place between 15–22 February 2017 in Malawi and Zambia, and 21–31 March 2017 in Tanzania.

Africa RISING management team delegation in Zambia during a visit to Good Nature Seed Ltd., which is multiplying breeder seed as part of the project’s activities aimed at improving the legume seed delivery systems in Zambia (photo credit: Jonathan Odhong’/ IITA).

The monitoring team was lead by the manager Africa RISING West Africa and East/Southern Africa projects, Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon, the Africa RISING ESA chief scientist, Mateete Bekunda, and in the Zambia leg of the visits, by Harry Ngoma, food security specialist with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Zambia Mission.

‘Overall, the work being implemented by our partners in all the these countries is impressive, said Hoeschle-Zeledon. ‘But we identified some issues that partners still need to address to ensure that we stay on course to achieve the research-in-development targets that we have committed to with our donor, USAID, and other stakeholders’.

The monitoring visit was the first made by the management team since Phase II of the program launched in October 2016.

‘This visit gave the project management team a chance to go one step beyond receiving reports from partners. It allowed us to verify the actual status of activity implementation on the ground,’ said Bekunda. He said the management team and partners discussed emerging operational challenges and opportunities and they reviewed how project activities are aligned with the overall Africa RISING vision of success.

While speaking at the end of the monitoring visit in Zambia, Ngoma lauded the project partners, encouraging them to ‘keep their foot on the gas’ in implementing project activities. He said USAID was still in the process of revising its Global Food Security strategy. He also pointed out opportunities for filling some research gaps on some of the scaling activities being implemented.

Find out more about the visits by clicking on the images and links below:

How Africa RISING technologies are improving farmers’ lives in Zambia – https://spark.adobe.com/page/EvmJ5a9xsWphe/

How Africa RISING technologies are improving farmers’ lives in Malawi – https://spark.adobe.com/page/9bEuavVs6Q5z6/

Farmers voices from Malawi and Zambia about how different Africa RISING technologies have touched their lives. This feedback and earnest reflections from the grassroots were captured during the recent monitoring visit by the leadership team of the IITA-led Africa RISING project in east and southern Africa. Click on the images and links below to read it, know it, see it and  feel it.

How Africa RISING technologies are improving farmers’ lives in Zambia – https://spark.adobe.com/page/EvmJ5a9xsWphe/

How Africa RISING technologies are improving farmers’ lives in Malawi – https://spark.adobe.com/page/9bEuavVs6Q5z6/

In 2015, livestock scientists implementing Africa RISING research-in-development activities (R-in-D) introduced forage chopper machines in seven villages in Babati District, northern Tanzania. One year later, social scientists evaluated the gender implications of the new processing practices through focus group discussions with male and female respondents. Respondents were selected from among the farmers’ groups that were formed for the management and use of the chopper machines.

The evaluation interrogated the following issues:

• How was labour renegotiated and reorganized between male and female household members after the introduction of the machines?
• How did the introduction of the machine affect sharing of benefits resulting from the higher production?
• Who in the households and farmer groups had access to the machines and how was it justified?

Initial findings from this study (see poster below) indicate that the forage chopper machine reduces women’s labour burden and decreases the time needed for livestock feeding. However, women’s access and use of the forage choppers is influenced by various factors including membership and gender dynamics in farmers’ groups. Men tend to have greater access, which they, in part, justify by claiming ‘lower technical skills’ of women. On the other hand, the benefits from improved feeding through the sale of milk and eggs have allowed some women–as they said–to become financially more independent. The results of this study will not only inform the project’s future R-in-D work, but also feed into the ongoing gender and mechanization debate.

See the poster

Written by Gundula Fischer, IITA