IITA Bulletin 2327

The IITA

CGIAR

No. 2327

23–27 May 2016

DG Sanginga visits new Southern Africa Hub Campus

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n 24 May, IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga was at the new Southern Africa Research and Administration Hub (SARAH) campus at Kabangwe, Lusaka Province, Zambia, touring the facility and interacting with staff based there. The visit to the campus coincided with the attendance of the DG to the 2016 African Development Bank (AfDB) annual conference held in Lusaka on 23-27 May, during which he also delivered a presentation about the IITAled TAAT program and the African youthin-agriculture initiative.

The DG’s visit came on the heels of similar visits by the DDG for Research-forDevelopment, Ylva Hillbur, the previous week and by the DDG for Corporate Services, Kwame Akuffo-Akoto, two weeks ago.

The DG was welcomed to SARAH by David Chikoye, IITA Director for Southern Africa. Along with other scientists and staff, Chikoye showed DG Sanginga around the campus, briefing him about the various on-campus research and administration facilities. The DG also met some members of the Zambia IITA Youth Agripreneurs, who were on site for a training activity.

“Congratulations on your new ‘home’,” DG Sanginga told staff. “This new facility

The DG greeting some IITA-Zambia staff.

David Chikoye (right) giving DG Sanginga a tour of IITA SARAH’s main research and administration block.

is a testament to our commitment to our R4D work in this country and in this region. Basically, we are saying that IITA is here to stay for the long term,” added the DG.

have to build this campus up first to its full potential as a state-of-the-art agricultural research campus as contained in the SARAH Master Plan. We will achieve this,” he assured everyone.

“I remember when I first visited Zambia as IITA DG and donors were asking me where our research facilities were as they were looking for proof that we are not some fly-by-night entity. I promised them that we will be investing and building our facilities here. Although it took some time, that promise is now a reality,” DG Sanginga recounted.

At the meeting with IITA-Zambia staff, the DG also hinted at plans for his second term as IITA chief if the Board of Trustees approves.

“When I first started as IITA DG, the Institute’s budget was about US$40+ million. Today, it is almost triple that amount. We have also almost doubled the number of our scientists and support “As the first step [of building this campus] staff. These are despite the numerous has been taken, we now need to look budget cuts from the CGIAR and shifting forward to increasing and improving donor priorities, which normally would have resulted in the reverse.” the facilities and services that we offer,” Sanginga added. He enumerated, “If I continue on as DG, I would have among other things, the addition of to raise the bar even higher―doubling laboratories, a youth training center, and IITA funding and staffing from what we Business Incubation Platform (BIP) units already have today, and continuing to as priority plans for SARAH. improve and add more infrastructure across the regions to support our R4D “I have also received inquiries from other work in Africa,” he stressed.

CGIAR centers operating in Zambia about the possibility of having their offices “To this end, I ask for your cooperation hosted here [at SARAH],” DG Sanginga and help in making sure that we, as an revealed. “I am confident that this will institute, continue with our successes,” happen, just like in Ibadan, but we do he concluded.

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Malawi farmers demand for more organized soybean market

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oybean farmers in the Machinga District of Malawi say a more organized soybean market, like the tobacco market, can spur more production of the crop in the district.

Senior Group Village Headman Mbere from the area of Traditional Authority Chikweo in Machinga said this during a field day in his area organized to brief farmers about the harvesting practices of the crop in the area.

The field day was organized as part of the Malawi Improved Seed Systems and Technologies (MISST) project implemented by IITA and funded by USAID. The area falls under Chikweo Extension Planning Area.

“Let me thank IITA and USAID for bringing this project to our area. Soybean is a good crop because it is much easier to cultivate than tobacco. The labor requirements are less for soybean than for tobacco. The other advantage is that soybean can also be used as a food crop unlike tobacco. However, you will notice that farmers still grow tobacco because they are assured that the crop has a ready market on the auction floors.

Let me call upon government and other development partners like IITA to assist in coming up with ready markets for crops such as soybean so that farmers are motivated to produce more”, explained Senior GVH Mbere while addressing hundreds of farmers who attended the demonstration field day held at the farm of Dyna Pichesi.

Pichesi said she has discovered the advantages of soybean farming as it involves less labor and inputs, compared to the other cash crops such as tobacco.

“I think I will continue with soybean farming because I have noticed and learned that growing soybean is less involving

Pichesi in her soybean field explaining to fellow farmers about agronomic practices of the crop during the field day

compared to other crops. Although finding markets had been a challenge for soybean, I believe that if we as farmers produce more, we are eventually going to attract buyers to come and buy our produce”, explained Pichesi.

Speaking on behalf of IITA, Joseph Mhango, the Seed Production and Technology Dissemination Specialist, expressed happiness and promised the farmers of IITA’s continued support to them.

Commodities Exchange (AHCX)―a market platform for many crops including soybean where farmers can realize better prices. He, however, encouraged the farmers to form cooperatives so that they have more bargaining power for prices.

“On the availability of markets for soybean, yes, let me agree somehow that not many farmers―especially in the remote areas―know where and how to sell crops like soybean. However, it may not be completely true that there is no organized market for soybean. Since 2012, there has been an organized auction-based market for soybean at Auction Holdings Commodities Exchange. All you need to do as farmers is to organize yourselves into cooperatives so that you can gather bigger volumes of soybean for sale. As farmers you also need to develop the spirit of keeping your produce for later so that you sell when prices improve”, Mhango said.

“Firstly, let me thank each one of you for coming to this field day. That is an indication of your eagerness to acquire new skills and knowledge in soybean production. And I urge you all to keep the knowledge you have gained from this day so that you produce more. As for the seed varieties, we have all seen today that Tikolore has done very well despite the fact that this area has experienced less rainfall during the 2015-2016 farming season.

We will therefore bring more Tikolore in the next farming season so that more farmers During the field day, over 50 new farmers expressed an interest in growing soybean benefit”, revealed Mhango. under the MISST project and had their Mhango also explained to the farmers names registered in readiness for the that Malawi now has an Auction Holdings next cropping season.

Announcements • 7th African Soil Science Society ASSS conference, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 29 May - 1 June.

• 7th Africa Agricultural Science Week and FARA General Assembly, Kigali, Rwanda, 12-17 June. More information available at http://www.faraafrica.org/aasw7/.

• Africa RISING ESA project review and planning meeting, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, 30 June -2 July • Africa RISING - NAFAKA scaling project review and planning meeting, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, 4-5 July • 3rd All Africa Horticultural Congress, Theme: “Horticultural for Improved Livelihoods”, Conference Center, IITA, Ibadan, Nigeria, 7-12 August.

• 7th International Nitrogen Initiative Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 4–8 December.

More details on the conference are available here.

Got a story to share? Please email it with photos and captions every Wednesday to Katherine Lopez (k.lopez@cgiar.org), Jeffrey T. Oliver (j.oliver@cgiar.org), Catherine Njuguna (c.njuguna@cgiar.org), or Adaobi Umeokoro (a.umeokoro@cgiar.org).

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Nwoya District learning alliance provides an opportunity for inclusive climate change local planning

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one of us here will dispute that the climate in Nwoya has changed,” said the Chief Administrative Officer, Gabriel Bwayo, in his opening remarks at a recently concluded district climate change learning alliance meeting.

“Nwoya climate of the 1980s is not the one we see today.”

Bwayo explained that Nwoya is very hot but when he goes to his hometown Mbale, it is the rains that affect the people there. He said this to emphasize the context-specific nature of climate change impacts that cannot be generalized but need specific and targeted planning to address.

The two-day meeting was organized by Nwoya District Climate Change Learning Alliance spearheaded by Nwoya District Local Government with Support from the Policy Action for Climate Change Adaptation (PACCA) project. PACCA is an activity of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which is implemented by IITA, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and local partners in Uganda and Tanzania.

The Learning Alliance meeting was held on 17-18 May at the District Council

Hall to plan for locally appropriate Climate Smart Agriculture options for the different agroecological zones in the district. Options given priority will be integrated into the district development plans.

Bwayo told stakeholders that they were all affecting the environment and subsequently the climate in one way or another, and gave examples of stationery used in the workshop and meals cooked using firewood or charcoal from felled trees. He reiterated that it was important for people to work together to change the way they do things, particularly in Participants planning for locally appropriate reducing the impacts of climate change Climate Smart Agriculture options. and emphasized the relevance of the district climate change learning alliance and actions that would advance the enterprise. Other areas of discussion in this regard. included the role of natural resources, Zonal planning approach. Stakeholders policies, institutions, and norms that suggested key sources of livelihood or affect the enterprise, and actions to scale agriculture enterprises as the criteria out the enterprise. for zoning Nwoya District and came up with four zones, namely: Banana The Learning alliance/platform is an & Coffee, Sesame, Rice & Maize, and approach promoted by PACCA project partners. They are established at national National Park. and district levels with the objective of Discussions were held in each zone promoting science-policy dialog, climate to identify key enterprises, climatic change capacity enhancement, and effects on the enterprises, gender building synergies to develop solutions to constraints at the household, farm, problems that may be difficult to solve by community, market, and policy levels, an individual actor. (See more information possible solutions, opportunities, here.)

Burundi holds sensitization workshop on aflatoxin

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workshop to sensitize stakeholders and partners on the status and effects of aflatoxin in Burundi was jointly organized by Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU) and IITA on 4 May at the King’s Conference Centre in Bujumbura.

The event was officially opened by Séverin Bagorikunda, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture who represented the Minister. Participants came from various stakeholder categories, representing research, NGOs, traders, policy makers, and the private sector.

The workshop discussed avenues to engage and inform policy makers, project managers, and NGOs about aflatoxin and its consequences on human and animal health; solicit partners’ efforts to include aspects of aflatoxin in their ongoing and future projects IITA Bulletin 2327

for sustainable management and Similar aflatoxin sensitization workshops prevention, and establish linkages among are being planned for other cities at the partners, with the possibility of initiating provincial level. a platform for future collaboration to fight aflatoxin.

Among the resolutions reached by the participants were to conduct research on other mycotoxins affecting various crops such as cowpea and cassava, and fish and sample livestock products and carry out tests on aflatoxin to know the risks associated with traditional handling of products/feed destined for livestock.

Other recommendations were to build the capacity of quarantine officials on rapid methods to detect aflatoxin at the border; organize a nationwide sensitization and awareness campaign about aflatoxins, and involve government in strategizing for the control of aflatoxins Aflatoxin contaminated maize. at the national level. page 3

ATASP-1 holds community sensitization in 30 LGAs across Nigeria...

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n preparation for full implementation of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Program Phase one (ATASP-1), the project implementation unit concluded sensitization workshops in the 30 local government areas (LGAs) where the program is being implemented. The LGAs cut across the seven states of Enugu, Anambra, Niger, Jigawa, Kano, Sokoto, and Kebbi.

In attendance at the event were local government authorities, traditional rulers, farmers, extension agents, processors, youth, and women.

The event afforded the commodity specialists the opportunity to explain to the stakeholders how the project will benefit them, mechanization plans, the value chain activities, the youth component, and their role and how it would ensure food sufficiency in cassava,

rice, and sorghum commodities as well as jobs for young people.

While thanking the ATASP-1 team for selecting their LGAs out of the 774 LGAs in Nigeria, they expressed optimism that the program will fill the agricultural and marketing gaps they face which is making their interest in farming decline.

The authorities of the LGAs charged the farmers in their domain to take advantage of the program to make their life better.

Also, they gave a firm assurance that they will provide farmland for demonstration and other support that will guarantee smooth implementation of the project in their communities.

previous IITA projects had touched and are still improving their lives and pledged absolute support to make ATASP-1 work.

Some of the women who participated in the sensitization especially in Isi Uzo in Enugu State and Anyamelu in Anambra State were delighted to see IITA back in their communities. They narrated how

Earlier in the year, a similar sensitization workshop was held in the four Staple Crop Processing Zones (SCPZs) of AdaniOmor, Bida-Badegi, Kano-Jigawa, and Sokoto-Kebbi.

Workshop participants.

...and trains youth agripreneurs on sorghum, rice, and cassava value chains

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he six-day specialized commodities training organized by ATASP-1 for youth agripreneurs has just ended at the IITA Abuja station. The training drew over 40 participants from Kano, Rivers, and Abuja, and was facilitated by the ATASP-1 Cassava, Rice and Sorghum Commodity Specialists including Richardson Okechukwu of IIITA, Philip Idinoba of AfricaRice, and Hakeem Ajeigbe of ICRISAT.

The Agripreneurs are expected to cascade the training in their various catchment areas. The Abuja group is expected to cover the North Central, the Rivers group will cover the South East, whereas the Kano group will cover the North West.

During the training, the visibly excited youth Agripreneurs were taken through the nitty-gritty of cassava, rice, and sorghum production including mechanized farming and value addition through processing, packaging, and marketing to enable them to discover the ample income-generating opportunities in the commodities. The training is intended to enable them to pass on the knowledge gained to other young people in their communities when they go back.

Youth Agripreneurs preparing food products during the training.

for which he had no prior knowledge.”

Another participant from Kano, Veronica Magaji, said: “This training is an eye-opener to so many things. Light has been shed on areas of farming and processing which is worth investing in and I will take the bull by the horns.” In another instance, Chinwe from Abuja who also participated in the training gushed “I never knew that agriculture could be so profitable until this training. I have seen opportunities to invest in”.

After the training, Joshua Adewale, a youth The highpoint of the training was the Agripreneur from Onne, said that he has display of the confectionary that the gained the “ability to train youth in production, trainees prepared during the training;

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they include cassava bread, cake, sausage roll, chin chin, and tid bits. The exhibition was witnessed by the facilitators as well as the ATASP-I team.

The whole group went into a frenzy when Okechukwu announced that he would buy a cooker for the agripreneurs if they come up with a good business plan for production and marketing of their products in Kubwa. In the same vein, Gbassey Tarawali, Head IITA Abuja station also assured the Agripreneurs that their products will henceforth be used for meetings at the Abuja station.

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