Africa
CIMMYT’s work in Africa helps farmers access new maize and wheat systems-based technologies, information and markets, raising incomes and enhancing crop resilience to drought and climate change. CIMMYT sets priorities in consultation with ministries of agriculture, seed companies, farming communities and other stakeholders in the maize and wheat value chains. Our activities in Africa are wide ranging and include: breeding maize for drought tolerance and low-fertility soils, and for resistance to insect pests, foliar diseases and parasitic weeds; sustainably intensifying production in maize- and wheat-based systems; and investigating opportunities to reduce micronutrient and protein malnutrition among women and young children.
Mother-baby trials promote conservation agriculture in Manica, Mozambique
Climate adaptation and mitigation
A testament to increased climate variability and risk for farming systems already operating on the razor’s edge, the 2014-15 cropping season will be recognized as a sad write-off by most farmers in Central Mozambique. The rains started six weeks late and most of the rainfall fell in only two months (normally it’s distributed over four), followed by a long drought and some few showers at the end.
Industrial water run-off can sustainably boost crop production
Nutrition, health and food security
An irrigation project in Ethiopia uses industrial runoff from a brewery to nourish wheat crops, diverting it from a nearby river and protecting the health of local residents.
Seed improvement to prevent rust disease key to boosting wheat productivity
Capacity development
A new project in Ethiopia aims to improve the livelihoods of wheat farmers by encouraging the development and multiplication of high-yielding, rust-resistant bread and durum wheat varieties.
SIMLESA’s seamlessly integrated solution for a perennial problem
Innovations
Southern Africa smallholder farmers can attain food security and more income through sustainable intensification of maize-based farming systems. This was revealed during recent field learning tours in Malawi and Mozambique last month. On show were farmer-tested improved maize–legume technologies being disseminated by CIMMYT’s Sustainable Intensification of Maize-Legume Cropping Systems for Food Security in Eastern and Southern Africa (SIMLESA) project.
Malawi Principal Secretary praises CIMMYT contributions to climate change adaptation
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Malawi’s Principal Secretary for Agriculture, Erica Maganga, led a delegation of Government Principle Secretaries and seed company representatives to Mpilisi and Ulongue in Balaka District on 11 March to observe progress in conservation agriculture (CA) adoption, as part of the country’s Agriculture Sector Wide Approach Program (ASWAP).
USAID Approves USD 17.8 Million Grant for a New Project to Support Seed Scaling in Eastern and Southern Africa
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Water program targeting smallholders sustains food insecure households
Nutrition, health and food security
A CARE International program aims to sustain food security for food insecure households in rural Ethiopia.
Sustainable land and water management improve productivity
Nutrition, health and food security
The World Food Programme provides support to the Ethiopian government’s Growth and Transformation Plan, a development agenda which addresses food security.
Lack of rain can jeopardize maize seed production
Climate adaptation and mitigation
World Bank program shores up drought losses by providing Senegalese farmers with short cycle, drought-resistant seeds to help them salvage the season’s crops.
Gravity water flow project aids farmers in Ethiopian village
Climate adaptation and mitigation
Nguse Adhane, a smallholder farmer who lives in a small village in Ethiopia, collects his water from a spring source, which runs dry for months at a time.
Industrial water run-off can sustainably boost crop production
Climate adaptation and mitigation
This irrigation reservoir at the Kulumsa Agricultural Research Center in Ethiopia’s highlands captures water from a nearby beer distillery, diverting it from a river.
Studies confirm the value of biofortification
Nutrition, health and food security
A study published early this month in the Journal of Nutrition shows that biofortified maize can meet zinc requirements and provide an effective dietary alternative to regular maize for children in vulnerable areas of rural Zambia.