AGRA

Halima Jawadu Siyame, 40, is a single mother from Chikombo Village, Nkhotakota, rural Malawi. Just like most rural Malawians, especially women, poverty is a big challenge to her. Food security is always chief among the challenges. Ensuring that rural subsistence farmers like Halima have enough food to feed themselves and have surplus to sell, will help uplift thousands if not millions of people from poverty.

One of the ways of helping them realize more yields in their fields is by producing fertilizer blends that are specific to their areas. This will ensure that they use fertilizer that is appropriate for the socio-economic conditions of the farmers. Blanket fertilizer blends tend to disadvantage farmers where soil and other conditions are different.

To encourage farmers to adopt the new blends, the department has allowed them to carry out trials of the different available blends in their fields. 40 year-old Siyame is one of those farmers.

“I have two maize fields. One I have used our traditional methods here. The other one I planted hybrid seed and fertilizer that I was given by the department to try out. We used less fertilizer on that field but the yields are very good. For the traditional one the yields are poor yet I also applied fertilizers,” says the mother of three.

A number of farmers in the area have been trying the fertilizer blends so that in the end they can chose the one that gives them better yields. “The idea is that the farmers themselves try the different varieties and methods. This will help them make an informed decision and easily adopt the technologies since they were involved in the trials.” Says Deputy Director of Land Resources Gilbert Kupunda.

As for Halima, she can only smile at the quality and big size of cobs in the field. I am harvesting enough maize this year thanks to this project. I will be able to feed my children and my grandmother whom I also keep in my house. We have seen that this new blend is good for our soil here.” She says adding that the farmers in the area have selected 23-10-5+65+1Zn. “We will not be using C.A.N anymore here because we don’t harvest a lot,” Says the proud farmer who is confident she will buy corrugated iron sheets from the proceeds this year.

The Department of Land Resources in Malawi, with funding from the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) leveraging the support provided by development partners under Multi donor trust fund and IFAD. It is being implemented by the Department of Land Resources Conservations, AFAP and Story Workshop Education Trust jointly.

It aims to fast-track finalization of national soil nutrient deficient maps, develop and validate area specific fertilizer blends and create awareness on new fertilizer blends.

For most countries in Sub Saharan Africa, the major challenge to effective nutrient management is the lack of area specific fertilizer recommendations that are appropriate for the socio-economic conditions of the farmers. Available fertilizer recommendations are mostly generalized for all soil types and ecological conditions, irrespective of the huge biophysical, ecological and socioeconomic variability at different scales.

In Malawi, the Department of Land Resources Conservation has been working to introduce area specific fertilizers that are expected to help in boosting yields for local subsistence farmers. This is taking place under the strengthening fertilizer systems through promotion of area specific blending project which is being implemented with technical and financial support from Alliance from a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

According to Deputy Director for the Department of Land Resources Conservation, Gilbert Kupunda, the government is optimistic that soil mapping exercise it is conducting to find suitable fertilizer for specific areas would help boost agriculture production.

He said that the department is now producing fertilizers blends that will solve deficiencies in particular localities. “We will have two seasons trying the fertilizers and we are hopeful that it will work,” said Kupunda.

The research is being conducted in partnership with local farmers themselves instead of just choosing the fertilizer blends and introducing them to the farmers.

One of the trials have been taking place in the area of Traditional Authority Mphonde in Nkhotakota District. “We are working with farmers in this area to find the appropriate fertilizers for this area. We invited the farmers and have been working with them in all the 8 different demonstration plots that are here.” Says Kupunda adding, “We hope to come up with cheaper fertilizers from this research than what is on the market now.”

“The host farmer will harvest and weigh the maize to see which method and fertilizers have yielded the best result. We have varied the amount of maize used in the fields. What we have seen even before harvesting is that cobs of the field where we put two bags of fertilizers and where put four bags of fertilizers are not different in size and quality.” He says

Saidi Nabaya of Ntumbula Village in Nkhotakota, is a local farmer who has been hosting the mother trial. “We have also been check nutrient content of the maize upon harvesting to check how much nutrients are in maize from each of the eight fields so that we do not just focus on the yield size but nutritive content as well because we need food that contains more nutrients.” Says the farmer

Moses Munthali, a Scientist from Chitedze Agricultural Research Station in Lilongwe, says the trials are aimed at validating new area specific fertilizer formulations and making area specific fertilizer recommendations for farmers to use.

Government and Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) have been promoting the production of area specific fertilizer with the aim of increasing productivity and incomes among smallholder farmers in Malawi.

While Malawi continues to look for solutions to lack of adequate foundation seed for seed companies to satisfy their needs, a new breed of growers is emerging away from the traditional large-scale seed producers and companies. Small-scale farmers that have grouped themselves together are now rising up to the challenge to grow foundation seed to supply to the seed companies.

Chilimika Cooperative in Salima is one such group. The group, which has 60 members, has selected 10 of its dedicated farmers to produce groundnut seed for one of Malawi’s emerging seed companies, Global Seeds.

Mwatitha Bulainati is one of the 4 men and 6 women farmers growing groundnuts seed. “We are growing CG11 which is a new groundnut variety in this area.  We have always grown CG7 which is very susceptible to pests,” She says. We have been working with Global Seeds extension workers all these months just to ensure that we realize good yields, she adds.

With funding from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)Global Seeds are working with two farmers cooperatives in Lilongwe and Salima to produce CG11 ground nuts.

“The main aim of this project is to introduce roset disease resistant groundnuts seeds to these areas” Says Shane Phiri, Operations Manager for Global Seeds. “Apart from extension services, we are also providing the farmers with shelling and packaging materials” He says.

Manase Chijaro, Chairperson of Chilimika Cooperative, paints a brighter picture on the new variety. “We have always had problems with CG7 which has been our traditional groundnut variety here. With CG 7, we have not encountered those problems. There have been no pests or any diseases,” He says.

The company identified and trained the out growers to increase its capacity in seed production. “We also expect more women out growers to benefit from this project because in Malawi groundut is considered as a woman’s crop. We have also noted that the majority of the farmers taking part are women.” Says AGRA Country Manager for Malawi, Sophie Chitedze.

The company expects to realize 4metric tones of groundnut basic seed, which they will purchase from the cooperatives, according to Phiri.

Malawi’s agriculture faces many challenges chief of whom is lack of extension services among rural subsistence farmers who form the largest farming population in Malawi. While the recommended extension worker farmer ratio is 1-750, an average extension worker covers 3000 farmers. Apart from this, most farmers, especially those far from major trading centres, do not have access to quality seeds and farm inputs. This affects their output and development as farmers.

Private sector involvement is key to unlocking the wealth that such farmers can realize from farming. The establishment of hub agro-dealerships in some parts of the country is helping rid this problem. Under the Strengthening fertilizer systems through promotion of appropriate fertilizer blends in Malawi Project, The African Fertilizers and Agribusiness Partnerships (AFAP), is supporting hub agro-dealers in providing extension services and quality inputs to rural subsistence farmers. This project is being funded by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), International Fund for International Development (IFAD) and other donor partners.

Through the same project, AFAP has employed Extension workers that are attached to agro-dealers to support farmers in their catchment areas. Beatrice Lewani, 22, is one of them. She is a graduate of Malawi’s agricultural university, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR). She is an extension worker attached to one of the agro dealers in the central district of Dedza. She is now working with Mawindo Agro-dealers in the central district of Dedza.

“I am working with 4500 farmers, providing them with extension services,” says the young agriculturalist adding that she has managed to supply 2000 farmers with farm inputs in the 2019-2020 growing season. “We work with government extension workers to ensure that more farmers are being served. Farmers are now learning to pull resources together and buying inputs at once. This gives them an advantage of purchasing at a lower price and ensures they get quality certified inputs”.

While the project has assisted farmers in getting extension services and quality fertilizers and other inputs, it has also supported the growth of the agro dealers through capacity building and boosts in sales.

The project has also trained community agri-business advisers CAAs) who also provide extension services to fellow farmers. The CAAs work as link persons between the agro-dealers and the farmers.

“We are also running demonstrations and trials of different farming technologies in the farmers’ fields so that they can chose what best suits their needs,” says the Lewani.

Peter Mawindo of Mawindo Agro-Dealers is one of the agro-dealers benefitting from the project. He has five outlets in Dedza district. He says his business has benefitted a lot from the project. “Our sales have increased since the extension worker joined us. More farmers are coming to buy from us because apart from quality inputs, they are also receiving professional advice,” Says Mawindo who started his business in 1995.

“I have learnt the importance of having a qualified agriculturalist as a business dealing with small scale farmers. I will still need an extension worker even after the project finishes. I know how important this is,” he says.

AFAP Malawi Country Manager, Pyness Thembulembu, says 11 agro-dealers across the country have been supported under the Promotion of Fertilizer Blends through Promotion of Area Specific Fertilizers Project.

“One of the problems facing small scale farmers is the influx of fake inputs in their areas. This project has allowed them access to certified and quality inputs through the hub agro-dealers that are supplied by the legitimate fertilizer and seed companies,” Says Thembulembu.

“Our farmers are experimenting and seeing results in demonstration plots right in their villages. They are able to determine which farming methods and inputs give them more yield. They are easily adopting the new technologies because they can see the results with their own eyes.

The project, worth $645,000, is financed under Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) leveraging the support provided by development partners under Multi donor trust fund and IFAD. It is being implemented by the Department of Land Resources Conservations, AFAP and Story Workshop Education Trust.

It aims to fast-track finalization of national soil nutrient deficient maps, develop and validate area specific fertilizer blends and create awareness on new fertilizer blends.

Nairobi, Kenya – 02 June 2020

AGRA is pleased to announce that its Head of Partnership, Jennifer Baarn, has been appointed as a commissioner to a major new Commission on Sustainable Agriculture Intensification (CoSAI). Jennifer is one of twenty two renowned experts from across Africa, Asia and Latin America that will be serving as CoSAI commissioners. These scientists, experts and decision makers will collect and assess evidence to accelerate the urgently needed transformation of agriculture.

Within AGRA Jennifer is responsible for managing strategic partnerships and facilitating private investments in African agriculture. She is an experienced professional in the development and facilitation of international Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), with a particular focus on agriculture.

“I am very excited to be part of the CoSAI mission and will particularly focus on the catalytic role that public and private investments can play in driving sustainable intensification in Africa. Sustainable Intensification is critical to the millions of farmers that AGRA is working with ”

Initiated by the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), CoSAI will work over 18 months to guide investments in agricultural innovation.

Progress toward feeding growing global populations, while protecting the natural environment is behind schedule, according to a major recent study that calls for a “ruthless focus” on solutions. It follows a growing body of evidence on the imperative need to improve food security and nutrition, protect biodiversity, reduce poverty and bolster climate resilience.

In response to these challenges, CoSAI commissioners are setting out to fill persistent evidence gaps to support policy-makers and private sector investors to boost investments in innovation and accelerate progress toward sustainable intensification of agriculture (SAI). Their efforts will complement insights derived from past commissions and studies on agriculture, food and the environment.

“Our 22 newly appointed commissioners include some of the most eminent experts and decision-makers from Africa, Asia and Latin America,” said Dr. Ruben Echeverría, chair of CoSAI. “They are uniquely placed to bring to light the challenges the Global South is facing in developing and adopting innovations that can help meet our food needs, whilst regenerating the natural environment.”

CoSAI will have its official launch in June, in a global web event, featuring prominent experts sharing their insights on the Global South’s food future.

In many parts of the Global South, demand for food is quickly rising, resources are limited and external shocks – such as from extreme climate events – have become increasingly common.

“We are in the midst of an unprecedented global public health crisis, which is at risk of turning into a food and nutrition crisis for millions of poor families and smallholders,” said Izabella Koziell, WLE Program Director. “It’s time to tackle the shortcomings of our food systems, and turn around agriculture’s contribution to ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss. This requires innovation – in policy, institutions and financial instruments as well as in science and technology.”

The CoSAI Commissioners will follow a process of “open inquiry” – a process that will call upon a wide range of input – from farmer organizations to policy-makers, researchers, civil society and leading thinkers – to share their solutions to these big challenges, and debate the practicalities of implementation, taking a Global South lens.

The process aims to give more oxygen to some of the big practical questions in implementing sustainable agriculture intensification and spotlight some of the impressive work already generated in this field. CoSAI will also commission studies to fill in knowledge gaps, for example examining current investment flows supporting agricultural innovation for the Global South.

The results of CoSAI’s work will guide global and national decision mkers to support approaches to innovation that boost food production and access, ensure natural environments thrive, and reduce poverty and inequality.

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About the Commission on Sustainable Agricultural Intensification (CoSAI)

CoSAI brings together agricultural and food systems experts and decision makers from the Global South and is collaborating with scientists, innovators and partner organizations from across the globe. CoSAI was initiated and is supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). WLE is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund and other donors. CoSAI Commissioners are independent. CoSAI is facilitated by a Secretariat based at WLE’s headquarters at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Sri Lanka.

About AGRA

Established in 2006, AGRA is an African-led and Africa-based institution that puts smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. Together with our partners, we catalyze and sustain inclusive agriculture transformation to increase the incomes and improve food security for 30 million farming households in 11 African countries by 2021.

AGRA delivers the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 

Media Contacts:

Adam Hunt, CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), a.hunt(a)cgiar.org

Ngendo Machua, Communications Specialist, AGRA – nmachua@agra.org

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25, 2020

As COVID-19 continues to spread in Africa, women in agriculture are struggling to cope not only with the restrictions to limit the spread of the disease but also with endemic inequalities, which undermine their capacity to respond and recover from the impact of this pandemic. 

The pandemic is exacerbating already existing structural inequalities, increasing the burden on women as they struggle to fulfill their multiple roles of managing their families, farms, and small businesses.  Furthermore, the gendered access to opportunities means that women and men have different resources available to them to prepare for, cope with, and recover from such a crisis.

Women constitute nearly 50% of agricultural workforce and own one third of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa, they are a key pillar of Africa’s food systems. As the restrictions related to COVID-19 come into force in various countries, women’s livelihoods and business activities are threatened, so is household food and nutrition, and family well-being, a key priority addressed by women’s incomes. Their inability to freely access resources required to conduct primary production activities, find flexible financing to keep their SMEs afloat or earn wage income in rural markets will hinder food security and wellbeing of rural families.

AGRA, in consultation with continental partners or women agripreneur networks, calls on Governments in Africa, the development community, and the private sector, to urgently deploy resources to assist women access resources necessary to conduct agricultural activities, cushion their small businesses to avoid collapse and amplify their voices throughout this pandemic, to attract targeted support for recovery.

• Providing avenues for continued access to inputs, mechanization, and advisory services

With low saving capabilities, women small holders lack capital reserves to stockpile agricultural inputs, such as seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. Abrupt closures of input shops, lack of farm labor and machinery, fear and stigma associated with infections have led to farms being abandoned and farming operations disruptions. These primary agricultural production activities form the core of women’s incomes, the loss of which is detrimental not only to food and nutrition, but healthcare, education and a chain of rural economies fueled by this income. It is therefore crucial to assist women access inputs, farm labor, mechanization and advisory services to help them weather the immediate effects of this crisis.

• Facilitate off take activities to spur rural agricultural markets

Agricultural markets are the lifeline of rural communities. For women, proximity to local markets provide flexibility to combine home care with income generating activities. Disruptions of local activities is akin to stifling women’s incomes. It is crucial to keep local markets open, sanitize market infrastructure, provide protective attire for market operators, and improve information flow to increase awareness. Transportation and logistics of agricultural products should be considered essential services. They provide offtake of agricultural commodities and nourish local economies.

• Create women SME rescue fund and employ a swift disbursement system

Women’s agribusinesses are faced with existential threat, they are trapped in crippling cash flow crisis and liquidity challenges, resulting in disruptions to operations. From loss of sales revenue, cancellations of supply contracts, fear of spread of virus among workers, small women’s businesses are on the verge of collapse. Women SMEs are particularly vulnerable to these shocks due to their low level of capitalization resulting from limited access to long term financing. Risk financing instruments such insurance products and agricultural finance have very low uptake among women SMEs. It is crucial to rapidly deploy grants and flexible loan facilities to women’s agribusinesses and employ swift disbursement system to offset the pandemic economic affects.

• Deploy digital tools to access inputs, market products and access financing

Digital services have provided a crucial lifeline for businesses, women business managers shared how they have used socio media to market their products while accessing information on production, weather and agronomic advisories, financing and accessing markets. Instruments such as e-voucher systems and online marketing tools have been handy in facilitating access to inputs and outlets for products. This is however not applied at scale and does not reach the most vulnerable women (in part due to ownership of mobile technology and internet penetration).

Gender-inclusive digital services can facilitate rural supply chains and overall food security systems. Deploying digital capacity building at scale and increasing women entrepreneurs’ participation in the digital economy through digital finance, digital marketing and digital trade such as VALUE4HERConnect and www.SheTrades.com are pivotal for a rapid response and recovery of women-led companies. Reinforcing partnerships with the private sector, to tailor mobile and money transfer services to the needs of women will be particularly important during this pandemic.

• Tailored training and capacity building for women to respond, recover, and build resilience

With low literacy levels and limited networks, women’s access to relevant information and support mechanisms is curtailed. Women’s social networks and trusted messengers such as VBAs, women’s groups and savings group leaders are useful channels to assist women understand and mitigate the impact of COVID-19. Technical assistance is crucial to educate women on navigating complexities caused by this pandemic, skills such as prudent management of businesses expenses, renegotiation of supply contracts, or accessing rapid financing for restoration of businesses are absolute necessity.

• Bolster gender disaggregated data to aid response and recovery decisions

Gender data is not readily available, making COVID-19 policy responses gender neutral and women’s voices underrepresented. Gender data is crucial to enable stakeholder to decipher the differential impact of the pandemic on women and men, and tailor responses accordingly. Responses to the COVID-19 pandemic must recognize and address gender differences in vulnerability and economic resilience and ensure that gender inequalities do not continue to be reinforced. Simultaneously, AGRA will conduct a survey of 1000 women agripreneurs and their responses to COVID.

About AGRA
Established in 2006, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an African-led and Africa-based institution that puts smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. Together with our partners, we catalyze and sustain inclusive agriculture transformation to increase the incomes and improve food security for 30 million farming households in 11 African countries by 2021.

AGRA delivers the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). 

For more information, visit www.agra.org, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube or contact acox@agra.org

Nestlé, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and Sahel Grains have awarded three young farmers who have embraced agriculture as a business at Tumu in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region for their excellence in maize farming.

This strategic partnership formed in July 2019 between Nestlé, AGRA and Sahel Grains initiated the Youth Agri-preneurship Development Program (YADIS), to build the capacity of young farmers to address youth unemployment and to mitigate the declining workforce in agriculture due to ageing farmers.
 
The YADIS program since inception has trained 226 Young Agri-preneurs with females representing 36%. As part of the partnership, AGRA provides financial and technical support, Sahel Grains implements the YADIS program and buys the grains produced by the farmers for further cleaning and aggregation, while Nestlé provides technical assistance and ready market for the high-quality gains produced which meets the quality standard required for the production of Nestlé Cerelac® maize variant.
 
The recognition of the three for outstanding youth on the program for their exceptional performances is as a result of their output by applying trainings in good agronomic practices, post-harvest handling services, grain quality management and crop aggregation.

The awardees, Nagali Adams a 28 year old university graduate, Dajan Adams a 37 year old SHS graduate, and Kasim Sakina a 26 year old female university graduate, have received 1.5 metric tons of Yara Actyva fertilizer from YARA, support for an acre model farm, a certificate of honor, and Nestlé food and beverages.

Together, Nagali, Dajan, Kasim and the other youth on the YADIS program are not only making a business in agriculture, they have become role models for their peers and ultimately saving Ghana foreign exchange that hitherto could have been used to import maize into Ghana due to the high standards that Nestlé requires for the production of baby food.
 
Speaking on video, Fatih Ermis, Head of Agricultural Services at Nestlé Central and West Africa said “we entered this partnership to help equip and encourage young people to create jobs in Agriculture as it is an attractive venture. This will help bridge unemployment gap and help young people earn sufficient income to manage their families and have decent life in the rural area thereby reducing rural-urban migration. For us at Nestlé, this is a way we contribute to building thriving and resilient communities through agriculture.”

He added that the project is targeting to achieve minimum $2400 income for every Young Agri-preneur with improved technology and skills.
 
AGRA Ghana’s Country Manager, Kofi Biney, noted that “AGRA is delighted to support this program which is helping ensure the future of young farmers not only in Ghana, but also in Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria. He indicated that the objectives of YADIS is consistent with AGRA’s goal to transform smallholder agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives.

He added that, “YADIS program has trained 226 young agripreneurs in Ghana – 72 of them women – in good farming and post-harvest management techniques, to help them gain a better appreciation of the business side of farming,”
 
Kwame A. Boateng, the Founder and CEO of Sahel Grains, said that Ghana can meet the highest and most stringent maize quality standards, evidenced by our ability to consistently meet the highest quality requirements that Nestle demands.  Additionally, we are able to export maize to the UK and other countries in Europe.  This is a testament to hard work and dedication of the young and talented farmers that we work with under the Youth in Agriculture program (YADIS).

Source: Peacefmonline.com

One of the most devastating side effects of COVID-19 and the associated national lockdowns is the impact it is having on food access for the poor. Sub-Saharan Africa, with an already fragile food system, where rapid urbanisation and the rise of urban poverty pose substantial challenges to food security and nutrition, is likely to be hit the hardest. A simulation by the IGC shows that an eight-week lockdown could result in 168 million people across sub-Saharan Africa no longer being able to afford their usual food consumption. As leaders scramble to respond, various stakeholders have highlighted urban agriculture as a solution to improving the resilience of the urban poor to this, and other future shocks. But such a proposal requires further scrutiny: although urban agriculture can bring significant benefits of improved nutrition and community stability, urban land is scarce, and locking the city into a low-value activity could hamper future productivity if it is not adequately regulated.

Transforming unused city space into nutrition, economic opportunity, and resilience

Urban agriculture involves individuals, families, or communities growing crops or keeping livestock within their plots (backyard farming), on rented urban land, or on institutional lands such as schools and hospitals. It can also include using derelict or underutilised open spaces such as roadsides, along railway lines, under power lines, rooftops and marshland. A variety of crops and livestock are produced, often using novel methods to make the most of limited space and resources, including vertical gardens made from sacks and hydroponics systems using mineral nutrient solutions instead of soil.

It is surprising how much food can be produced from such little land: research shows that yields are usually much higher on smaller farms, and urban farming operations are no different. Just a square metre can yield 30kg of tomatoes a year, 100 onions in 120 days or 36 lettuce heads every 60 days; and with modest water requirements of just three litres a day. Old car tyres, lined wooden crates and redundant plastic containers are all inexpensive ways to grow root crops, vegetables, mushrooms and fruit. Moreover, vertically stacked chicken and rabbit houses, using locally sourced material, substantially increases the number of animals that can be raised, providing an important source of dietary protein.

Produce from urban agriculture is usually consumed by the family or community. For poor urban households that typically spend up to 80% of their income on food, home production has the potential to provide substantial savings, with the additional advantage of dietary diversification and improved nutrition. For larger operations, there is also often surplus that can be sold at the side of the road or at the increasing number of city farmers’ markets, providing welcome additional income for the farmer. Studies in Senegal have shown that just ten square metres can yield between USD I5 and USD 30 a month in excess produce sold. Other benefits include increased urban greening, shorter supply chains, building community cohesion, and creating productive opportunities for the youth, women, elderly and disabled.

What’s the catch?

Urban agriculture will never be the bedrock of national food security. Given the scarcity and high cost of urban land, it is unable to reach the scale required for mass affordable food production in the same way that rural agriculture can. High yields do not make up for the significant logistical costs of numerous micro-farms, and would require strong cooperatives for quality control, marketing and transportation of goods to even come close to competing with rural operations. Moreover, cities are only places that promote productivity and liveability when they are densely populated with close connectivity between people and work. Urban land needs to be invested in and transferred to its highest value use, reducing sprawl and enhancing the efficiency of city operations.

By this logic, however, vacant and underutilised urban land can be made more efficient by devoting it to more informal urban agriculture practices. In these cases, no market-related rents need to be covered, and any farming conducted will be on a micro-scale. However, this usually means farmers’ land rights will be tenuous, leaving them vulnerable to be removed by city authorities or legal owners of the land at any time. Contestation around land rights can also prevent vacant land being used for urban agriculture from being transferred to a more productive urban activity in the future. Thus, while land use may be made more efficient in the short run, it can be impeded in the long run.

Urban agriculture in times of crisis

Although not the solution to all economic and food security problems of the poor as many claim it to be, urban agriculture does have the potential to improve the resilience of communities to market shocks. Markets are prone to internal supply chain shocks as well as external physical and economic shocks, thereby impacting prices and market participation. The current coronavirus pandemic is a clear example of such a shock, disrupting supply chains and eliminating incomes to access food through the restrictions placed on movement of people and goods. In some countries, food prices have risen by more than 100% due to panic buying, in tandem with large portions of the population losing their incomes.

The trade and distribution disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the value of short and local supply chains during times of crisis, with less transportation, lower storage and refrigeration costs and greater variety of fresh food. Further, local produce from backyard gardens and other available spaces are proving to be vital safety nets for many low-income urban dwellers, providing essential food supplies within their neighbourhoods. In some cases, even taking off as viable economic enterprises as demand for local and innovative food delivery services increases. African cities may be particularly amenable given that vacant and underutilised land can often be found in abundance; while so too can the urban poor – a vast majority of whom are under-employed and vulnerable to crises.

Implications for cities’ COVID-19 policy response

Unfortunately, urban agriculture falls between the two stools of agricultural and urban development policies; as such, it is mostly unregulated, unrecognised and receives no public assistance. This results in a haphazard and high-risk approach by urban farmers. For urban agriculture to be a viable option to improving the resilience of urban dwellers to the economic shock of COVID-19, it first needs to be recognised as a legitimate solution. For example, urban farming has now been highlighted as a critical part of the Freetown City Council’s COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, with the rationale that it will increase compliance and resilience in informal settlement communities when lockdown measures are in place. Provisions have thus been made for training to be provided by extension officers, as well as distribution of vegetable seeds, holding devices (such as pots and tyres), tools and soil.

However, for long-term success, this recognition needs to be complemented by clear regulations that capture the short-term benefits whilst avoiding the long-term costs. We need to place urban agriculture within the broader food system, assessing trade-offs with urban land use planning and better distribution networks to low-cost, large-scale rural food production. Its promotion and control need to be integrated into national and local agricultural development strategies, food and nutrition policies, and urban planning policy instruments. Ongoing training would be needed to make urban farmers self-sufficient over time, and strong logistics solutions combined with e-commerce initiatives should be supported for more efficient distribution of goods. In this way, urban agriculture can provide a productive activity to help the most vulnerable citizens of the city weather this crisis, without impeding future urban development.

Written by our Head of State Capability, Thierry Hoza Ngoga and Victoria Delbridge, Cities Economist – Cities that Work

Rwanda has not witnessed any disruptions in the supply of seeds to its farmers despite the lockdown to control the spread of COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources.

The Ministry said the country is on course to achieve its target of being self-sufficient in seed supply. It is also exploring the possibilities of exporting seeds.

Jean-Paul Ndagijimana, the Country Manager of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), said that before 2018, Rwanda was importing around 3,000 tonnes of hybrid maize seed, 800 of wheat and 700 tonnes of soybean.

But in 2019, local production of maize seeds increased to above 50 per cent of the demand.

“We are in a good status because we had already started the seed self-sufficiency plan, which is currently at a good level, at 80-90 per cent, we could say that we are in a good status,” Dr Gerardine Mukeshimana, the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources said.

The positive development has been made possible because of a good partnership between the Government of Rwanda and AGRA.

The latter provides a series of grants for research, development, production, policy advice, inspection and certification of varieties of maize, beans, soybeans and Irish potatoes.

Fidele Nizeyimana, a maize breeder at Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), after the 2009 grant by AGRA, the first maize hybrid seeds were available in 2010, but there were no companies to multiply them.

A few years later, AGRA supported RAB through a project named, “Securing Early Generation Seed for Emerging Seed Industry in Rwanda”, which aimed to build capacity for local seed companies.

At the time, Rwandan companies did not have the ability to breed hybrid seeds, and the country relied on imports.

AGRA Rwanda is currently implementing Tera Imbuto Nziza Program since 2017, a five-year seed roadmap implementation strategy worth $11 million and funded by USAID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as Rockefeller Foundation.

It aims to inspire Rwanda to seed export level by 2021.

This is part of Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA), aimed at driving inclusive agriculture transformation across the continent.

Prof. Daniel Rukazambuga, Associate Program Officer, Seed Technology in AGRA, said that in July 2017, AGRA gave a grant to RAB to train seed companies on how to produce hybrid seeds. The training benefited 11 companies.

In the 2017A season, which started from September 2016 to February 2017, only three tonnes of hybrid maize seed variety named RHM104 were produced. A year later, following training of the seed companies, 219 tonnes of hybrid maize seed were produced in Season 2018A, and 40.8 tonnes in Season 2018B, which was from February to June 2018.

Prof. Rukazambuga said the hybrid maize seed production increased to 1,654 tonnes in Season 2019A. The production is projected to rise.

Currently, there are four maize seed varieties for mid-low altitudes; RHM104, RHM1402, RHM1407 and RHM1409.

There are also four varieties for high lands; RHMH1520, RHMH1521, RHMH1601 and RHMH1611.

Prof. Rukazambuga says that both season A and B of 2020 if all goes well, they are expected to produce more than 4,000 tonnes of hybrid maize, which is slightly more than the local demand for the same seed.

Dr Charles Bucagu, Deputy Director-General in charge of Agriculture at RAB, said that; “Our researchers got grants from AGRA to carry out researches on local production of seeds, capacity building, most especially and finding new varieties.”

The researchers include seven PhD holders in plant breeding and 12 Master’s degree holders in crop science.

He insisted that the 2018 National Leadership Retreat helped add impetus to local seed production efforts. The retreat tasked the agriculture ministry to end the seed imports by 2021.

On average, the production of today’s maize hybrid seed is seven tonnes per hectare, while the traditional varieties exceed two tonnes per hectare.

Citing the example of South Africa where farmers generate 10 tonnes from a hectare, Dr Bucagu said research is underway to see if Rwanda can get varieties with much bigger quantities.

“Seed is not something you can make once and use it for a long time, varieties are updated often because one variety ends up losing the capacity of giving you the same product due to different challenges like climate change and its effects, pests and diseases, which weakens the production,” he noted.

According to the official, a farmer has to buy hybrid seeds every season, because they cannot plant a hybrid seed and then plant grains they harvested the following season and expect the same amount of production.

“The advantage of using hybrid seeds is that we know the parents of the breed and we are sure that the production will be huge,” he discussed.

It takes around 3-years for a seed to come from a researcher to a farmer because the first year consists of the production of “pre-basic” seed, the “basic” in the following year, which is finally used to produce “certified” seed.

Though there are eight certified maize seed varieties, RAB researchers indicate that there are 10 more varieties that will be available next year.

Fidele Nizeyimana said once the local seed demand is satisfied, it will be a boost to Rwanda’s exports.

Rwanda has recently secured ISTA (International Seed Testing Association) membership and is seeking laboratory accreditation to be able to export quality seed.

“We have two rainy seasons, and we have marshlands and irrigated lands, which is an advantage for us to produce enough seeds for ourselves and for exports.

“For seed companies, selling hybrid seeds is more profitable than OPV seeds, and this could produce jobs for many, and farmers will buy at a reduced price,” Nizeyimana argued.

Instead of being sent abroad to import seeds, the money stays in the country and this means a lot to the country’s economy, he added.

The 2018 figures show that  81.3 per cent of the Rwanda population is food secure.

AGRA in partnership with Hinga Weze project is working with RAB to ensure seeds are availed to farmers across the country and all arable land is put under production to sustain gains already made.

Abubakar Ahmed Rufai, is a smallholder farmer and community-based advisor from Giwa Local Government Area, Kaduna State. He comes from a generation of farmers and cultivates soybean, maize and rice. He has been planting like his forefathers for years; he usually buys seeds from an open market and save some of his seeds for next season. Once he participated in the AGRA training under the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation (PIATA) activity on Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) he realized he has been farming the wrong way all along.

During the training, Abubakar learnt Good Agronomical practices; the benefits of using improved seeds, the right fertilizer application method and spacing for different crops. With these lessons, he decided to practice what he learnt and also buy improved seed varieties for his crops from Premier seeds.

Once it was time to harvest, he produced 1.9MT/ha compared to his usual 0.9MT/ha, more than twice his regular harvest. Through the PIATA activity program he was also linked to AFEX a structured offtake market to buy his soybeans. He was happy about the available market and used the extra profit from his harvest to buy farm implements and inputs for next season. In addition to the training, he also learnt about post harvest methods and business development. This enabled Abubakar negotiate,secure AFEX as an offtaker and deliver his produce by minimizing post harvest loss.

Abubakar was excited about the outcome of his planting season specifically for the extra profit he made. He said he was glad he enrolled in the AGRA training program. In his words “I used to purchase seeds from the open market and save some seed for next season but now I am happy that I now only go for improved varieties which is profitable”.