Africa RISING establishes a partnership platform for adoption of innovations

Africa RISING works with farmers in testing technology packages on sustainable intensification.

Project partners and the Babati District Council have launched the Babati District research-for-development (R4D) platform in Tanzania to support the uptake of the project’s innovations, help research priority setting, and ensure the sustainability of the project.

About 60 farmers, local and regional government officials, national and international research institutions, extension workers, nongovernmental organizations, private sector representatives, and policymakers met for two days last week to launch an R4D platform in Babati, Tanzania. Each group selected two members to represent them on the R4D Platform Management Committee. The Babati District in North Eastern Tanzania is one of the intervention areas of the IITA-led Africa RISING project.

The Manyara Regional Commissioner, Hon. Erastus Mbwilo, officially opened the launch event, assuring the project of his support as its aim of improving the livelihoods of small-holder farmers in the region was well in line with the government’s development goals.

He was particularly happy to note that the Africa RISING project was working to improve the productivity of both crops and livestock through modern farming methods.

“Livestock is very important for our farmers in Babati. There are over 1.4 million heads of cattle in the district without counting the goats, the donkeys, and the chickens. Unfortunately, many development partners often neglect livestock and focus on crops only. Therefore, the livestock sector faces many challenges including pests and diseases, poor breeds, lack of feed and overstocking, and the farmers are not able to maximize on their livestock to increase their income,” he said. “If these challenges are tackled through these research efforts, then, the project will surely make a difference in improving the livelihoods of the farmers in Babati.”

He further lauded the Africa RISING approach of conducting research together with the farmers through demonstration plots which he said will ensure that the new technologies developed get to the farmers. He urged for the research findings to be scaled up and out beyond Babati District to include the whole of Manyara Region.

Also speaking during the official opening of the workshop, Irmgard Hoeschle-Zeledon, Africa RISING Program Coordinator, said the R4D platform was very important in ensuring the sustainability of the project’s impacts. She noted that the platform will help solve some of the constraints that limit the uptake and adoption of new technologies by farmers and which are beyond the project scope.
 
“Africa RISING alone is not able to tackle all the challenges faced by farmers in their livestock and crop production, hence, the need for an R4D platform. Furthermore, significant change in farm productivity will not happen through a few individual farmers who will adopt the technologies developed. Rather, it will depend on the simultaneous changes in all interdependent stakeholders including farmers, extension agents, research institutions, policymakers, finance institutions, market agents, and representative of different local and regional authorities among others,” she said.

Project boosting legume production to improve soil fertility, N2Africa, launched in Tanzania

N2Africa is seeking to increase the production of legumes such as cowpea, common beans, groundnuts and soybean, among small-holder farmers, due to their ability to enrich soils with Nitrogen and for their nutritive and commercial value.

Trials on the use of fertilizer to boost yield of climbing 

beans in Butere, Western Kenya as part of 

N2Africa Phase one activities.

The Putting Nitrogen Fixation to Work in Africa (N2Africa) project which aims at encouraging smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to grow legumes due to their ability to fix nitrogen from the air into the soils thus improving soil fertility, and for their nutrition and commercial value, has launched its activities in Tanzania.  

N2Africa was officially launched by the Director for Research and Development in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Fildelis Myaka on behalf of the Permanent Secretary Ms Sophia Kaduna at the start of a two-day project planning workshop, from 19 – 20 February in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

It was hosted by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) ―one of the project’s implementing partners. 

Speaking at the event, Dr Myaka lauded the project for singling out legumes. He said despite their obvious benefit to the country’s food security, employment, and even contribution to GDP, their productivity was low and yields were far below their potential. 

Expanding area under legume production and increasing yield

Dr Fidelis Myaka, Director for Research and Development 

making the opening remarks.He lauded the initiative for  

focusing on legumes.

He attributed the low yield to inadequate application of scientific knowledge by both farmers and development practitioners and other factors. He was therefore pleased to note that N2Africa was working to expand the area and enhance yields of grain legumes through the application of scientific knowledge including the use of improved varieties and rhizobium inoculants to maximize the yield potential of grain legumes. 

“The application of scientific knowledge, especially by smallholder farmers, has always been constrained by poor targeting of the technologies to the diversity of farmers and farming conditions, poor packaging of technologies, and issues relating to input supply and output market. I am aware that N2Africa’s approach puts into consideration all these factors through farming systems analysis to target technologies to the farming conditions of smallholder farmers and through a value chain approach,” he added.

Development for Research model

Other speakers at the forum included the Director of the Project, Prof. Dr Ken Giller from Wagenigen University who gave an overview of the project. Dr Giller said the aim of the project entitled ”Putting Nitrogen Fixation to Work in Africa” aims at increasing the land area cropped with legumes. 

Prof Ken Giller gives an over view of the project.

He said the project was following a Development-for-Research model and was disseminating the already available technologies for legume production such as improved varieties, and use of innoculants. The research would now focus on the challenges farmers were facing in adopting and adapting these technologies in their farming systems. 

Dr Bernard Vanlauwe, IITA’s Director for Central Africa, also at the event, conveyed greetings from IITA’s Director General, Dr Nteranya Sanginga. Dr Vanlauwe noted the initiative was important to IITA as part of its Natural Resource Management activities.

According to Dr Fredrick Baijukya, N2Africa team leader in Tanzania, said the project will be implemented in the Southern, Eastern and Northern parts of the country in Iringa, Ruvuma, Njombe, Lindi, Mtwara, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Shinyanga and Dodoma regions. It will focus on cowpea, common bean, groundnuts and soybean which are amongst the most important legumes in the country.

The project launch brought together a wide diversity of stakeholders from those in legume production, input development, and supplies including seeds and fertilizers, processing, marketing, and regulatory bodies to policy makers.

The project which is now in its second phase is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and led by Wagenigen University. Phase one of the project initiated in 2009 was implemented in DR Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe. The second phase started in January 2014 and will focus on five core countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda but will maintain activities in the other countries under Phase 1. 

N2 Africa target areas for Tanzania

Implementing partners are IITA, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). They will collaborate with the National Agriculture Research Systems and local and international NGOs.