AGRA

Regional Hub partners AGRA and UNDP support RFS country projects in developing resilient and sustainable value chains, a key avenue for establishing more sustainable livelihoods and reducing food insecurity in smallholder communities.

In Africa’s drylands, small-scale farming is characterised by low productivity and financial returns. Smallholder farmers primarily produce food for their families and their local community. They operate within informal ‘short’ agri-food value chains, selling crops, livestock, and other raw materials, either directly or through middlemen, to small local off-takers, such as stores and consumers.

The income from these short value chains is inconsistent, and opportunities to grow and expand into other markets are few and far between.

Gaining entry to higher-value informal or formal agri-food value chains can put a small-scale farmer on a different track. The development of new agri-food value chains, or expansion or formalisation of existing value chains can expose smallholders to new markets, opportunities to pivot to higher-value crops, new skills and technologies and greater income security. 

The bottom line? Value chains are essential components of food systems. By integrating the green value chain development approach within food security projects and programmes, we can better identify barriers to smallholder development and leverage opportunities to improve the incomes and lives of small-scale farmers.  

In line with this understanding, Resilient Food Systems (RFS) has been integrating a cross-cutting value chain approach across all 12 country projects. Regional Hub partners, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), provide guidance and technical assistance to country projects in support of the development of resilient and sustainable, or ‘green’, agri-food value chains. Their support will span the entire duration of the RFS programme. 

‘Green’ agri-food value chain approach helps food security initiatives achieve the ‘triple bottom line’

‘Greening’ refers to the transformation of a process or practice towards a more holistically sustainable and resilient outcome. Green agri-food value chains proactively promote the sustainable use of natural resources to mitigate adverse environmental impacts on the landscape and generate positive results for nature and communities. A resilient and sustainable food value chain considers proper disposal and recycling of by-products and waste. It has a plan for recapturing value at every stage to reduce negative environmental, socio-cultural and economic impact overall.

By promoting the development of ‘green’ agri-food value chains, RFS aims to increase economic opportunities, introduce innovations in production operations, upgrade technologies and practices, and integrate smallholder farmers into upstream value addition activities.

Transformative interventions using the green value chain approach can contribute to the ‘triple bottom line’. Interventions can lead to improved human wellbeing (economic impact) and social equity (social impact) while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities (environmental impact).

For RFS projects, adopting a ‘green’ agri-food value chain approach means designing and implementing interventions that address challenges within specific agricultural production and post-harvest links, from input suppliers to end markets.Combining economic objectives with environmental and social goals and an enabling operating environment enhances the quality of smallholder livelihoods and aligns food system transformation with broader sustainable development goals.

AGRA and UNPD are supporting the development of sustainable and resilient agri-food value chains in 12 African countries

RFS Regional Hub partners AGRA and UNDP have supported country projects in developing resilient and sustainable value chains since the programme’s start. In September 2019, the two Regional Hub partners hosted a regional training workshop, which focused on formally introducing the green agricultural food value chain concept to RFS country project teams in Nairobi, Kenya. The event’s purpose was to find entry points for country project teams to identify and apply green value chain practices and technologies to priority crop and livestock farming operations, raise awareness of the need to make food value chains more sustainable and resilient, and, importantly, identify value chain greening training needs.

Thirty people attended, representing Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Malawi, Senegal, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. The trainees attended sessions on integrating climate-smart agriculture into value chains, building community resilience and adapting to climate change. At the end of the training, each country project developed specific action plans for greening their three priority food value chains.

With the knowledge gained from the initial training session and further country project engagements, UNDP and AGRA developed a training manual to help guide RFS country teams as they work to green food value chains. The guide aims to build value chain actors’ capacities and analytical skills, focusing specifically on encouraging smallholder producers and support service providers, such as farmer extensionists and marketers, to embrace food value chain greening.

The manual blends best practices and lessons learned from projects, programmes and initiatives that promote resilient and sustainable food value chain development in Africa. It will help country teams implement a holistic approach to agricultural productivity and agribusiness development in their smallholder farming systems and improve the health of their ecosystem.

In May and June 2021, AGRA and UNDP hosted a second round of targeted training to promote value chain greening with the aid of the manual. The three sub-regional training sessions were preceded by a pilot training in December 2020, which was attended by four country project teams: Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria and Eswatini. Each sub-regional training focused on building country team capacity to develop multi-stakeholder platforms (MSPs), identify priority value chains actors, and develop action plans. AGRA and UNDP covered all aspects of green value chain development, from mapping the value chain to financing its “greening”.

RFS awards three grants of USD 200,000 to organisations working to develop and strengthen green agri-food value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa

Complimenting their capacity-building efforts, AGRA and UNDP invited applications from experienced, competent and interested applicants for sub-regional catalytic grants for green agri-food value chain development in April 2020. AGRA and UNDP requested proposals addressing critical resilience, sustainability, production and marketing constraints affecting selected regional staple food crops and livestock.

AGRA and UNDP received sixty-three (63) value chain greening concept notes from interested organisations across the 12 RFS countries. The RFS partners shortlisted nine (9) concept notes for further development into full project proposals.

RFS ultimately awarded grants to three organisations: Kilimo Trust, covering Tanzania and Uganda; the GRAD Consulting Group in Burkina Faso; and African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnerships in Malawi and neighbouring countries. To learn more about the grant recipients, download the most recent RFS knowledge brief, which provides an overview of the three innovative value chain greening projects and documents the AGRA-UNDP approach and grant process.

Over the next 18 months, the grant recipients will work with over 40,000 smallholder farmers to strengthen agri-food value chains and integrate natural resource management into food systems in West, East and Southern Africa. The grants will support the adoption of climate-smart agriculture, provide labour-saving agricultural inputs and services to smallholder producers, build agricultural centres for aggregation and processing, facilitate trade agreements, and improve producers’ access to finance. 

As these three projects progress, AGRA and UNDP will produce knowledge products to communicate valuable lessons learned, experiences and knowledge that will help inform the implementation of RFS country projects and, more broadly, projects and programmes that focus on improving smallholder production and resilience across the African continent.

To keep up to date on project progress, sign up for the RFS newsletter for critical insights and stories as the awardees begin their work to upgrade agri-food value chains and, as a result, establish more sustainable livelihoods and reduce food insecurity in smallholder communities.

Originally published

The Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) launched in July 2020 by Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives (MoALFC) holds the promise of increased incomes for smallholder farmers through a reduction in post-harvest losses and price exploitation by middlemen.

The WRS was activated after a successful pilot in 2017 by the East African Grain Council supported by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). According to AGRA, during the trial period, nearly 13,000 smallholder farmers trained on post harvest management transacted about KSh 100mn (USD 1mn) worth of grain on the WRS, where 19,000 metric tons of maize was sold.  

“The WRS signifies increased income for smallholder farmers. For instance, the Mwihoko Self Help farmer group in Nakuru County increased its income by 11 percent (the equivalent of KSh24,975 or USD231) by storing 10 metric tons of maize for six months” said John Macharia, AGRA’s Kenya Country Manager.

Under the WRS, owners of commodities – producers or dealers – deposit produce in any of the certified five warehouses belonging to the National Cereals and Produce Board. The MoALF is evaluating six more warehouses owned by cooperative societies across the country, according to Samuel Ogola, the acting CEO of WRC. At the warehouse, the produce is tested, cleaned, graded and then stored, with the owners receiving a receipt as proof of ownership.

 “The WRS reduces the pressure on farmers to sell their produce immediately after harvest when prices are usually low. The system empowers farmers to make decisions as when to sell by giving them the option not to sell under distress at harvest when prices are low,” said David Ombalo, Principal of Agriculture at the MoALFC.

The receipt can also be used as collateral to access credit from participating financial institutions or traded in commodity markets.

“The system collateralizes the warehouse receipt which, as a document of title, can be used to get credit…something which cannot be achieved if the produce was at farmers’ homes because there is no guarantee that it will be kept safely,” Ombalo said.

The system took effect after the Kenya Parliament passed the WRS Act 2019 providing a legal and regulatory framework for its development, and establishment of the Warehouse Receipt Council (WRC).

AGRA played a key role in the establishment of the WRS by supporting the agriculture ministry in preparing the regulations and other institutional frameworks needed to make it operational in Kenya.

“This (WRS) took over eight years to be made, like many laws. AGRA was able to do study tours to South Africa, through the existing grain bulk handlers, where members of parliament were able to see in practice how it works; and, indeed, when they came back, the law was enacted,” said AGRA’s policy officer, Rachel Shibalira.

The WRS has proven important in encouraging the meaningful participation of women and youth in agriculture, added Shibalira.

“The WRS is a tool that will empower the smallholder farmers, and to cut it even closer, empower women and the youth. They [women and youth] can act work in groups to aggregate their produce and present that to the warehouse, where they obtain a receipt that is now collateral enabling them to access finance,” she said.

As the WRS advances, it is encouraging the aggregation of produce by small scale farmers enabling them access to large traders, processors and governments, from whom they get better prices. In coming days, the WRS will also be important in promoting the participation of farmers in the national commodity exchange.

“The warehouses, when linked to the commodity exchange, will participate in the competitive discovery of prices. A commodity exchange merges buyers and sellers, and the receipts owned by depositors can be taken to the exchange for buyers to bid on,” Ombalo said. 

In such ways, the WRS is helping alleviate the problems of poverty and food insecurity in Kenya, by reducing post-harvest losses, which represent 35 percent of the food produced in the country, according to Ombalo. Maize, in particular, has been constantly wasted, even as it remains an important staple food for Kenya.

“If 45 million is the number of bags we produce, then 10percent alone is already 4.5 million bags…sometimes the loss is equivalent to what we import,” Ombalo said.

In conclusion, Ombalo noted that sustaining the implementation of the WRS will lead to a transformation in farming and the trade of agricultural commodities

Despite the African continent holding the world’s most arable land and the agricultural sector employing over half of the population, Africa is still struggling with food production and food insecurity.

For a long time, the continent’s agricultural sector has been characterized by small farms, low yields and limited opportunities for innovation. Especially in the Sahel, the Great Lakes region, and the Horn of Africa, food insecurity is growing due to climate change and related challenges, with food production gravely affected by changing rainfall patterns. With over 239 million of its population classified as undernourished, more proactive and innovative measures are needed to boost agricultural production and increase food supply.  

Industrial agriculture has the potential to drive economic development, contribute to food security and generate income for millions of rural farmers. Recent years have seen a growth in digital innovations that can address the different challenges in the agricultural and food industry. Startups led by the private sector are tackling issues ranging from access to markets to provision of financial services. However, despite innovations and viable business models, challenges persist. This is due, in part, to constraints in sharing knowledge and lesson learned among countries and regions of the Global South. As a result, agricultural solutions have failed to achieve the wider impact that could modernize and transform the agricultural and food industry sectors of the continent.

South-South and triangular cooperation (SSTC) can provide a solution to these challenges. Through the exchange of knowledge and resources, this cooperation allows Southern actors to respond efficiently to common issues faced by developing countries. IFAD’s collaboration with AGRA through the Leveraging South-South and Triangular Cooperation to share rural development solutions for private sector engagement grant is embedded in this perspective. The two agencies are working to identify innovative rural solutions from the private sector in Africa and in Asia and the Pacific regions that can be shared and replicated for the benefit of target communities. A few of these are presented below. 

Counterfeit seeds

Two-thirds of Tanzania’s population is engaged in agriculture, mostly as small scale farmers. There is a high demand for seeds and pesticides; however, the supply has faced some challenges, especially due to the dubious origin and quality of these inputs. Cases abound of farmers being duped into buying counterfeit or recycled seeds in the belief that they are potentially higher-yielding hybrid ones.

Quincewood, a Tanzanian mobile services company, is working with the Tanzania Seed Certification Institute to help smallholder farmers detect counterfeit and adulterated inputs. Through eHakiki, an e-verification solution for tracking genuine agricultural inputs, farmers can verify the authenticity of seeds or pesticides via their mobile phones at agro-dealer shops. Each packet of seeds bears an eHakiki verification label with a unique code, which farmers use to see if the seed packet has been certified by the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) and is suitable for use. The same procedure is applied to pesticides, which are subject to verification by the Tanzania Pesticide Research Institute (TPRI). EHakiki is positively affecting thousands of lives in Tanzania’s largest economic sector by reducing the prevalence of counterfeit and adulterated agricultural inputs.

Access to agricultural information

In northern Ghana, agricultural extension services are limited in their ability to reach often-remote communities and promote improved farming practices.  Through the Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW) project, the Amplio Talking Book (ATB)has provided information to over  23,000 women farmers and their families in the Upper West Region. Designed for settings with limited or no access to the internet, they are pre-loaded with technical lessons, songs, drama skits and interviews to promote behavioral changes in farming practices. Topics include sustainable agriculture, financial literacy, value chain development, health, nutrition and gender. Beneficiaries have reported increased farm yields, as well as an overall improvement in their quality of life. 

Rural agricultural mechanization

Agricultural machines in most of Africa are often too large to be useful for the small plot sizes farmed by its smallholder farmers. This lack of mechanization means most farm work is manual – from land preparation to crop threshing, resulting in lower productivity and incomes, a limited ability to expand farmland and avoidable post-harvest loss. 

Nyabon’s solution packages and sells low-horsepower tractors targeted at specific crop value chains.  The company rents out tractors that are suitable for farms of 0.5 to 5 acres, to be used for land preparation, weeding, threshing and winnowing, canal maintenance and transport of produce. Farmers are trained in mechanization and agronomic practices and supported to link up with credit institutions and produce markets.

This collaboration between IFAD and AGRA reflects the enhanced efforts of the Fund to engage the private sector as an important partner for sustainable economic transformation. In this particularly critical period, the innovative products and services in technology, digitization and mechanization that the grant has identified can improve nutrition and open up new markets and job opportunities, especially for the youth. To ensure scaling-up, adaptation and replication in other regions and contexts, these solutions will be featured on the Rural Solutions Portal, the Fund’s web-based platform for knowledge sharing and SSTC.

For more case studies, visit the Rural Solutions Portal.

The fourth edition of the Agribusiness Deal Room has been launched  at a virtual event organized by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

The Agribusiness Deal Room is a match making platform at the annual AGRF Summit that convenes different stakeholders to facilitate partnerships and investments in African agriculture. The Deal Room specifically supports governments and companies with access to finance and partnership opportunities.

Since it was founded in 2018, the Deal Room has directly provided over 400 companies with targeted investor matchmaking and hosted more than 800 companies to explore networking opportunities. It has also supported 17 governments with investor engagements. Over the last three years, public and private actors have jointly presented an aggregate capital of US$ 11 billion in investment opportunities at the Deal Room.

‘The huge potential of the agricultural sector on the continent remains unmet, with agriculture being the engine of African economies. We designed the Deal Room to build the capacities of SMEs while at the same time connecting them with sources of financing. We are looking for investments and partnerships that will unlock the sector’s potential across the continent.’ Dr. Fadel Ndiame, Deputy President, AGRA.

Providing keynote remarks Dr. Beth Dunford, incoming Vice President forAgriculture, Human and Social Development at the African Development Bank said that across the continent, there is a growing class of “agripreneurs” who are looking for investment, partnerships, technical knowhow and financing to scale up their business.

“The African Development Bank is excited to grow its partnership to this initiative. The Agribusiness Deal Room compliments our efforts to expand finance for agribusiness to enable SMEs to grow and attract new and innovative sources of sustainable capital,” she said.

This year, the AGRF Agribusiness Deal Room will focus on addressing the challenges in agricultural lending to SMEs and investments towards government flagship priorities, as one of the strategies for meeting the objectives of continental and global frameworks including the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, Africa’s Agenda 2063, the Malabo Declaration, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

“Kenya welcomes investors and is well positioned to provide you with the right tools and dedicated support to ensure that your investment projects remain sustainable and profitable.” Dr. Moses Ikiara, Managing Director, Kenya Investment Authority.

THE REGIONAL EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY TRADE IN STAPLES PHASE-II (REACTS-II)

One of the constraints to the development of agricultural value chains and commercialization of agriculture by smallholder farmers in the East African region is the limited access to guaranteed and reliable markets.

The Regional East African Community Trade in Staples Phase-II (REACTS-II), a three year flagship project, sought to support smallholder farming households and value chain actors in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya to take advantage of structured national, regional and opportunistic international markets for agricultural products.

Another goal was to increase incomes by 20% for 315,795 smallholder farming households, of whom 105,265 were direct beneficiaries and 210,530 were indirect beneficiaries; and a 5% increase for other value chain actors including the SMEs.  Among the objectives was the strengthening and expanded access to input and output markets, and improving value chain coordination efficiency.

The transformation sought by REACTS-II was for profitable, structured and integrated trading systems; strengthened technical capacities for smallholder farmers and other value chain actors; improved and inclusive business linkages; and improved value chain coordination and efficiency.

However, the underlying challenges to the development of sustainable, structured and integrated trading systems drive the need for effective and efficient access for smallholder farmers to inputs, finance, technologies and markets.

The project relied on the Kilimo Trust Consortium Approach to Value Chain Development (KTCA2VCD) model, a facilitative initiative centered on market off takers and aggregators as anchor partners providing a market pull and crowding-in sufficient partners to develop market systems.  The REACTS-II project also integrated the village agent model to increase the participation of youth and women along different value chains.

The focus on SMEs growth, including cooperatives and large-scale national grain handlers, illustrated that the provision of tailored business development services could ease market access for smallholder farmers.   

The implementation of REACTS-II showed the strengthened capacity of trade associations to support their members enhanced their ability to take advantage of profitable trade opportunities. A case in point being the partnership between Agro Processors Association of Kenya (APAK) and the Network of Producers and Exporters Uganda Ltd (NePEU), to meet the required trade volumes and quality standards. This relationship resulted in over 15,000MT of maize and beans worth US$3.1 million imported by Kenya under the structured arrangements.

A lesson from the project’s implementation was that although agricultural infrastructure investments such as storage facilities were important, it was equally critical to invest in skills for their sustainable management.  For example, the engagement of youths in the target value chains as village-based agents (VBAs) and equipment operators, provided specialized commercial services and products to smallholder farmers.

Similarly, in Rwanda with and anticipated export target equivalent to 16MT of yellow beans per month, the challenge was to secure adequate volumes for the market as well as resolving quality issues. The multiplication of the desired yellow bean seed in adequate volumes for distribution to farmers, building their capacity to increase yields and quality through good agronomic practices and post-harvest handling resulted in a decline in bean rejects from 20% to 8%.

At the regional level, market off-takers require support to access low-cost trade financing to facilitate produce aggregation especially in the peak season. Access to timely, accurate information has greatly guided decision-making, reduced the cost of aggregation. The women cross-border traders and processors linked to NePEU and APAK participated in trading activities via the WhatsApp platform to make orders, transfer funds and receive cargo without having to travel physically across the Kenya-Uganda border to the source markets.  Within a nine-month period from June 2020, the women traders imported 2,000MT of maize and beans worth US$383,562 from Uganda.   

REACTS-II is proof that increased collaboration among implementing partners enhances synergies for greater impact in agricultural development.

Read REACTS II success stories below:

Reorienting business to create sustainable markets for farmers, Twezimbe ACE – Uganda

Youth find gainful employment as village-based agents, Justine Nayiga’s profile – Uganda

Smallholder agricultural commercialization on track for trade opportunities in regional markets, Bigando Area Cooperative – Uganda

Engaging SMEs and Farmer Cooperatives in structured cross-border trade despite COVID-19 disruptions – Uganda

Every year, people in Sub-Saharan Africa consume 34 million tons of milled rice, of which 43 percent is imported. But the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly hampered supply chains, making it difficult for imported rice to reach the continent. Indeed, if immediate action is not taken, the supply shortfall will further strain the region’s food systems which are already impacted by the pandemic.

Rice imports from Thailand, one of Africa’s largest suppliers, have declined 30 percent due to lockdowns, border closures and general limitations on supply chains in just over one year since the pandemic started.

Consequently, many poor urban dwellers, who traditionally struggle to afford staple foods, now have to contend with more expensive food as the price of the popular Indica White rice has increased by 22%.

On the flip side, however, these challenges can be viewed as a wake-up call for Africa to strengthen its domestic rice production and achieve self-sustainability. Undoubtedly, the continent has the resources for adequate rice production, and with increased investment, tremendous change can be achieved.

Ghana, for example, has increased its rice production by an average of 10 percent every year since 2008, with a sharp 25 percent rise being reported in 2019 following the rehabilitation and modernization of the country’s irrigation schemes. These investments led to a 17 percent rise in the country’s rice self-sufficiency between 2016 and 2019.

And while the West African nation has yet to produce enough rice to meet its local demand, the impressive increase in output makes it a model example of what can be achieved through supportive policies and investment. On this point, the country’s National Rice Development Strategy of 2009 and the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) campaign – launched in 2017 – not only prioritized rice but set ambitious expansion targets for domestic production.

Among the objectives of the two policies were the substitute on of rice imports and the production of higher-quality rice that is acceptable to Ghanaian consumers and can compete with imported products.

These policy frameworks played a pivotal role in de-risking market failures while speeding up the implementation of innovations in local rice production, including those that relate to genomics and e-commerce. At the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), we are first-hand witnesses to the transformation, and saw the positive impact of the government’s leadership in the development of favorable policies.

AGRA supported these developments; we helped the government in publicizing its ‘Eat Ghana Rice’ campaign, which sensitized local consumers on the economic and nutritional importance of consuming local products.

The clarion call inspired rice farmers, millers and other private sector players to increase domestic sourcing and marketing. The result, the country’s national production increased from just 138,000 metric tonnes in 2016 to 665,000 in 2019.

AGRA also played a major role in supporting the adoption of innovative technologies in rice production, particularly through the development and distribution of locally adaptable varieties. We remain a key player in availing suitable rice varieties and seed to farmers in the country, a goal we continually pursue by helping train scientists and researchers in the field.

Of the 680 crop breeders that we have trained at post graduate level in Africa since 2006, more than 50, or around 8 percent, have been rice breeders. These professionals have been instrumental in sustaining the production of varieties that are suited to local conditions and yield more per acreage than older types.

We are now delivering such technologies across Africa, and especially in countries with the potential for large scale rice production, most of which are spread across West and East Africa. In countries like Tanzania and Kenya, we soon hope to report a major rise in rice output attributable to our advocacy for the implementation of supportive policies related to the uptake of the best production and marketing practices.

But we cannot do it alone; we believe that investments of a genuinely great extent, like the ones we are pursuing, can only be achieved by the participation of all stakeholders. For this reason, we continue to appeal to all players in the rice value chain to support all efforts aimed at increasing the production of local rice, a crop that holds a leading role in the achievement of food security and economic stability for the continent.

OpEd by Fadel Ndiame – Deputy President, AGRA

Originally published

A tractor roars on Mzee Pascal Ouma’s three-acre land in Khulunyu, Busia County, attracting curious onlookers. It is interesting for the bystanders as the machine is not ploughing deeper into the soil.

“What I am doing is minimum tillage and many people here are seeing this for the first time,” says the 75-year-old retired agricultural researcher. Under the method, soil is minimally disturbed to minimize damage to its structure, evapo-transpiration, labour and general costs. A machine called a ripper is used to do the task.

Ouma had accessed the machine digitally on his smartphone from farmer Peter Ademba, who is offering the service. Ademba, who hails from Dadira village in Butula in the county, purchased the tractor five years ago for hiring out. In 2019, however, he registered it under “Hello Tractor”, a farm mechanization app, which links farmers to tractor owners.

Uber of farm mechanization

The app can best be described as the ‘Uber’ of farm mechanization. The app does not only help tractor owners get clients but also tracks their machines, know when the fuel is running out or is being siphoned, the distance the tractor has travelled, the acreage it has ploughed and one can also use it to immobilize the equipment.

To access the service, one buys a gadget, which is installed on the tractor’s engine. The cost of the gadget will depend on the features the farmer needs. They later pay annual subscription fee for the services rendered, which include links to farmers and monitoring the tractor.

“With this app, farmers have been able to reach me easily. In 2019, I ripped 40 acres mainly in Busia County. But in 2020 and the planting season this year, I have been able to do some 400 acres,” he says.

After buying the tractor, the first service was on his three acres. “I cultivated two acres using the minimum tillage technique, then one acre using the traditional intensive cultivation method for people to compare and contrast,” Ademba says.

“Work on the piece under minimum tillage was much easier, cheaper and the crop was healthier,” he adds.

To break even for tractor owners, Hello Tractor employs farmer agents, who aggregate smallholder farmers in an area, so that there is a reasonable cumulative work to be done to warrant the tractor owner to send his machine to the ground. 

Unlocking huge benefits

Ademba is the only tractor owner with a ripper in Busia County. He is invited to offer services in Siaya, Bungoma and Kakamega counties. “Charges depend on the services being rendered such as harrowing or normal cultivation. But for ripping services, we charge Sh2,500 per acre.”

As demand rises, Ademba has partnered with a friend to buy another tractor. “If need be, I will go for a third tractor given the growing demand for mechanization among smallholders.”

AGRA President, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, notes that putting nature at the heart of agriculture and land management can unlock huge benefits for people, health and the environment.

During a recent United Nations Food Systems Summit dialogue, Kenya Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Peter Munya said that there is need to exploit the digital platform to promote and improve food security. 

“Digitizing the agriculture sector helps farmers optimize their returns,” said the Cabinet Secretary.

After realizing the devastation that the Fall Armyworm (FAW) has on Africa’s food systems, Land O’Lakes 37 and Villa Crop Protection have prepared learning modules for training smallholder farmers on the appropriate response to the pest. 

The FAW is a voracious insect that targets maize and other food crops. Originating in the America, it reached Africa in 2016 and has just in four years spread to over 70 countries in Africa, Asia and the Near East.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the pest risks to damage up to 80 million tonnes of maize worth $18 billion per year in Africa, Asia and the Near East.

In Africa alone, it causes loss of up to 8-20 million tonnes of maize every year, with most of the damage allowed to go on due to the limited knowledge on control and eradication.

This has contributed to deteroriating food security in some parts of the continent, in Zimbabwe, for example, where recent studies show that smallholder maize-growing households blighted by the pest are 12% more likely to experience hunger.

Still in Zimbabwe, the scientists discovered that households affected by the FAW but failed to implement a control strategy had a 50% lower per capita household income, while their counterparts that implemented a control strategy did not suffer a significant income loss. Many other countries in Africa and beyond experience similar consequences from FAW invasion.

It is against this backdrop that Land O’Lakes 37 and Villa Crop Protection produced the learning modules to equip those who train or offer extension advice with the knowedge and skill on crop protection  that they can pass on to smallholder farmers.

The learning modules were produced with with support from AGRA under the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) comprising of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Rockefeller Foundation, Department for International Development (DFID), BMZ Germany and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The seven modules cover everything from FAW identification to the responsible use of agrochemicals when fighting the pest, and the economic and action thresholds of the pest.

Each module consists of recorded presentations to prepare trainers, a trainer’s guide, presentations, and accompanying training materials such as video clips, handouts, and illustrations. 

The modules are available for free download at the AgriTraining website.  

In the first two decades of the 21st century, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has changed rapidly for the better in many ways, counter to many outdated narratives. Many of these improvements—including those in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, poverty rates, health, life expectancy, education, and agriculture—have been mutually reinforcing (1, 2). SSA achieved the highest rate of growth in agricultural production value (crops and livestock) of any region in the world since 2000, expanding by 4.3% per year in real [inflation-adjusted US dollars (USD)] between 2000 and 2018, roughly double that of the prior three decades. The world average over the same period was 2.7% per year (1). Agricultural value added per worker in real 2010 USD rose from $846 in 2000 to $1563 in 2019, a 3.2% annual rate of growth. But to assert that Africa is rapidly developing does not mean that all livelihood indicators are improving, though most are in most countries (1, 3). SSA faces many major challenges. We focus below on one such challenge, which we see as a precondition for sustaining livelihood improvements in the region: transitioning from area expansion to productivity growth as the source of Africa’s agricultural development – http://www.sciencemag.org/about/science-licenses-journal-article-reuse

This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License. View Full Text

A bumper crop of PhD students from the African Centre for Crop Improvement (ACCI) in South Africa, recently graduated at a virtual ceremony. The group included some of the last cohort to be funded by AGRA.

Since opening its doors in 2002, ACCI have produced 135 Plant Breeding PhD graduates and will continue to train accomplished plant breeders with funding from other organizations.

William Titus Suvi

The productivity of rice is low in Tanzania, due to the rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) disease and the lack of improved varieties. William selected agronomically superior and RYMV-resistant breeding parents and new rice families for further evaluation and variety release in Tanzania. The study was financially supported by AGRA.
Read more

Yared Semahegn Belete

Yared developed new-generation bread wheat lines which are considerably drought tolerant and high yielding with farmer-preferred traits. The new breeds will enhance productivity in marginal and drought-prone wheat production areas in Ethiopia. The study was financially supported by AGRA.
Read more

Nelia Nkhoma Phiri

Cowpea is a multi-purpose grain legume cultivated in Zambia for food security and local markets. Nelia selected breeding parents using phenotypic and high-density single nucleotide polymorphism markers. New breeding populations were developed with enhanced yield and yield components for further genetic advancement. The study was financially supported by AGRA.
Read more

Happy Daudi

Groundnut rust disease causes low yields in Tanzania compared to the potential yield of the crop. Happy developed new breeding families with high combining ability effects for rust resistance and kernel yield. The study was funded by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics/India through Tropical Legumes III project. Read more

Chapwa Kasoma

The recent arrival of the fall armyworm (FAW) in Africa has been severely threatening maize production. Host-plant resistance has been identified as one of the most sustainable pest control options. Chapwa developed new FAW-resistant maize hybrids involving landrace varieties and donor parents. The study was financially supported by AGRA. Read more

Esnart Nyirenda Yohane

The grain yield of pigeonpea is low  in Malawi compared with the potential yield of the crop. Esnart developed new breeding populations with high yield and Fusarium wilt resistance for variety development and release in Malawi. The study was financially supported by AGRA.
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Boluwatife Olaolorun

The productivity of wheat has stagnated in sub-Saharan Africa due to the unavailability of improved cultivars, recurrent droughts and heat stress caused by global climate change. Boluwatife’s unique study used mutation breeding techniques and created superior mutant populations with enhanced biomass allocation, drought tolerance and agronomic performance. Her research costs were funded by her supervisor. Read more

Wilson Nkhata

The bean fly is a noxious insect pest causing low productivity of common bean in Malawi. Wilson used conventional and marker-assisted breeding methods to develop new genetic resources of common bean for bean fly resistance, to release market-preferred varieties. The study was financially supported by AGRA. Read more